A new study has discovered a novel method to reduce alcohol-related problems among college students without cutting their alcohol consumption. The intervention, Counter-Attitudinal Advocacy (CAA), focuses on altering perceptions around heavy drinking.
College students, known as the demographic most prone to heavy drinking in the United States, often face significant alcohol-related consequences. These include blackouts, academic struggles and interpersonal issues, as well as secondhand impacts such as aggression and disrupted studies for their peers.
A new study from researchers at Brown University’s School of Public Health introduces an innovative approach to mitigate these harms: Counter-Attitudinal Advocacy (CAA). Unlike traditional methods that focus on reducing alcohol consumption, CAA provides an intriguing strategy by targeting students’ positive perceptions of heavy drinking.
New Intervention: Counter-Attitudinal Advocacy
CAA works by encouraging students to advocate against behaviors they once believed necessary, in this case, heavy drinking as integral to the college experience. The method pushes students to reflect on the reasons it is beneficial to avoid drinking-related problems and compels them to identify personal strategies to minimize risks.
This method was compared in randomized controlled trials against Personalized Normative Feedback (PNF), a proven approach that provides students with data on their drinking habits relative to their peers.
The study involved 585 college students across two sites.
“Both interventions take just 5–10 minutes, making them ideal for broad prevention efforts,” co-lead investigator Kate Carey, a professor of behavioral and social sciences at Brown, said in a news release. “Our results showed that PNF did reduce alcohol consumption, as expected. But CAA specifically reduced the number of problems participants reported due to drinking. So, while they had different effects, they were complementary — giving us another useful tool for harm reduction.”
Study Findings
The trials revealed that:
- Participants who received PNF reported significantly fewer drinks per week than the control group.
- Those who underwent CAA reported notably fewer alcohol-related problems but did not show a reduction in alcohol consumption, consistent with the intervention’s focus.
“Instead of directly telling students what to do, we prompt them to generate their own strategies,” Carey added. “This makes the intervention personalized and non-confrontational. Unlike some interventions that make people feel defensive about their drinking, CAA frames the discussion more broadly: ‘Why is it good for young people to avoid problems?’ rather than ‘You personally need to change.’”
Complementary Tools for Better Outcomes
Carey emphasized the importance of providing various brief interventions, pointing out that no single approach is effective for everyone.
By combining both PNF and CAA, the researchers believe they can address the diverse needs of college students more effectively.
The research team, including co-primary investigators Angelo DiBello from Rutgers University and Clayton Neighbors from the University of Houston, are optimistic that CAA offers another valuable tool, especially for students who may not respond to PNF.
These findings, published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, underscore the potential of CAA to complement existing strategies and offer a more comprehensive approach to reducing the harms associated with heavy drinking among college students.