MyStudentBody.com (MSB: Alcohol)

COUNTRY: UNITED STATES

REGION: AMERICAS

Developer: Inflexxion, Inc.

Partners: The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the Inflexxion Institutional Review Board, Dr. Kim Fromme (primary consultant)

Program Overview: MyStudentBody.com (MSB: Alcohol) is an interactive website that offers a brief, tailored intervention to help heavy drinking college students reduce their alcohol use.

Program Design: MSB: Alcohol is designed to be interactive by giving students motivational feedback as a means of helping them identify potential problems and take steps to exhibit risk-reduction behaviors. Rate Myself, a brief intervention based on the BASICS model, is the site's centerpiece. It comprises four sets of questions:

1. Beliefs regarding alcohol
2. Lifestyle issues (e.g. Greek and athletic involvement, residence type)
3. Risks they take when they drink (driving, vandalism, violence, risky sexual behavior, consuming other drugs)
4. Consequences they suffer as a result of drinking (alcohol dependence, interpersonal problems, poor grades)

After completing the questions students receive immediate tailored feedback. The website also includes a variety of college-specific articles, strategies, and interactive tools related to alcohol and drinking on campus.

Evaluation: Evaluation was conducted using a randomized, controlled clinical trial in which participants who used MyStudentBody.com were compared with participants who read a variety of online educational articles on the effects of excess drinking, but who did not answer questions nor receive personalized feedback. Control and intervention groups were evaluated at baseline, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up. Evaluation consisted of two different measures, the Daily Drinking Questionnaire (DDQ) and an enhanced DDQ. The first DDQ collected information on students' past week average consumption, binge episodes, and maximum drinks consumed during the day. The enhanced DDQ took into account special occasions (e.g. homecoming, holidays, etc.).

Key findings: Reductions in alcohol use occurred in all groups. However, MSB: Alcohol resulted in positive findings for 3 important subgroups: women, persistent heavy drinkers, and low-motivation drinkers.

• Female students in the intervention group significantly reduced their peak and total consumption during special occasions and reported significantly fewer negative consequences related to drinking compared to female students using the control site.
• Persistent heavy drinkers in the intervention group showed evidence of significantly more rapid decreases in average and peak consumption.
• For low motivation students (those who are less willing to change their drinking behavior), those in the intervention group reduced the number of drinks they consumed per day significantly faster than those in the control group. 

Website: https://www.mystudentbody.com

References:

1. Chiauzzi, E. P., Green, T. C. M., Lord, S. P., Thum, C. M., & Goldstein, M. B. (2005). My Student Body: A High-risk drinking prevention web site for college students. Journal of American College Health, 53(6), 263-274.

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