Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Addictive Behavior Interventions Among College Students

  • Addiction and College Students (D Foster, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Addiction Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

Addictive behaviors among college students are a significant public health concern. This manuscript reviews the past 2 years of the literature on prevention and treatment approaches for college students who engage in addictive behaviors.

Recent Findings

In-person skill-based interventions and motivational interventions that incorporate personalized feedback are effective in the short-term, but little support was found for long-term effects. Although web-based interventions reduced certain addictive behaviors (e.g., alcohol, problematic gambling), in-person interventions that include motivational interviewing components and personalized feedback appear to be more efficacious.

Summary

Research has largely focused on alcohol and little is known about the utility of interventions for students who use tobacco or illicit substances or who engage in problematic gambling. Research on interventions for these high-risk behaviors is recommended.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance

  1. Johnston LD, O’Malley PM, Bachman JG, Schulenberg JE. Monitoring the future: national survey results on drug use, 1975-2012. Bethesda, MD: Department of Health and Human Services. 2013

  2. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Results from the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: summary of national findings, NSDUH Series h-48. Rockville, MD. 2014

  3. Kerr DL, Ding K, Chaya J. Substance use of lesbian, gay, bisexual and heterosexual college students. Am J Health Behav. 2014;38(6):951–62. doi:10.5993/AJHB.38.6.17.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Blinn-Pike L, Worthy SL, Jonkman JN. Disordered gambling among college students: a meta-analytic synthesis. J Gambl Stud. 2007;23(2):175–83.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Horton J. Identifying at-risk factors that affect college student success. Int J Proc Educ. 2015;7(1):83–101.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Terlecki MA, Ecker AH, Copeland AL, Buckner JD. Treating drug abuse. In: Correia CJ, Murphy JG, Barnett N, editors. College student alcohol abuse: a guide to assessment, intervention, and prevention. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons; 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Dennhardt AA, Murphy JG. Prevention and treatment of college student drug use: a review of the literature. Addict Behav. 2013;38(10):2607–18. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2013.06.006.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Miller MB, Leffingwell T, Claborn K, Meier E, Walters S, Neighbors C. Personalized feedback interventions for college alcohol misuse: an update of Walters & Neighbors (2005). Psychol Addict Behav. 2013;27(4):909–20. doi:10.1037/a0031174.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Blanco C, Okuda M, Wright C, Hasin DS, Grant BF, Liu S-M, et al. Mental health of college students and their non-college-attending peers: results from the National Epidemiologic Study on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2008;65(12):1429–37. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.65.12.1429.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Hingson R, White A. Prevalence and consequences of college student alcohol use. In: Correia C, Murphy J, Barnett N, editors. College student alcohol abuse: a guide to assessment, intervention, and prevention. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc; 2012. p. 3–24.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Miller WR, Rollnick S. Motivational interviewing: preparing people for change. 3rd ed. Motivational interviewing: helping people change. New York: Guilford Press; 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Dimeff LA. Brief alcohol screening and intervention for college students (BASICS): a harm reduction approach. Guilford Press; 1999

  13. Terlecki MA, Buckner JD, Larimer ME, Copeland AL. The role of social anxiety in a brief alcohol intervention for heavy drinking college students. J Cogn Psychother. 2011;25(1):7–21. doi:10.1891/0889-8391.24.4.5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Terlecki MA, Buckner JD, Larimer ME, Copeland AL. Brief motivational intervention for college drinking: the synergistic impact of social anxiety and perceived drinking norms. Psychol Addict Behav. 2012;26(4):917–23. doi:10.1037/a0027982.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Monahan CJ, McDevitt-Murphy ME, Dennhardt AA, Skidmore JR, Martens MP, Murphy JG. The impact of elevated posttraumatic stress on the efficacy of brief alcohol interventions for heavy drinking college students. Addict Behav. 2013;38(3):1719–25. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2012.09.004.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Merrill JE, Reid AE, Carey MP, Carey KB. Gender and depression moderate response to brief motivational intervention for alcohol misuse among college students. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2014;82(6):984–92. doi:10.1037/a0037039. Results of this study add to a growing body of literature demonstrating that college students with psychological problems, such as depression, may not fully benefit from BASICS interventions and thus may need more personalized interventions.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  17. Terlecki MA, Buckner JD, Larimer ME, Copeland AL. Randomized controlled trial of brief alcohol screening and intervention for college students for heavy-drinking mandated and volunteer undergraduates: 12-month outcomes. Psychol Addict Behav. 2015;29(1):2. doi:10.1037/adb0000056.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Kazemi DM, Levine MJ, Qi L, Dmochowski J. Brief motivational intervention for heavy drinking mandated and voluntary freshmen: a 1-year follow-up assessment. Nurs Outlook. 2015;63(3):349–56. doi:10.1016/j.outlook.2014.11.002.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Logan DE, Kilmer JR, King KM, Larimer ME. Alcohol interventions for mandated students: behavioral outcomes from a randomized controlled pilot study. J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2015;76(1):31–7. doi:10.15288/jsad.2015.76.31.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Fromme K, Marlatt GA, Baer JS, Kivlahan DR. The Alcohol Skills Training Program: a group intervention for young adult drinkers. J Subst Abuse Treat. 1994;11(2):143–54.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Linowski SA, DiFulvio GT, Fedorchak D, Puleo E. Effectiveness of an electronic booster session delivered to mandated students. Int Q Commun Health Educ. 2016;36(2):123–9. doi:10.1177/0272684x16628726.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Walters ST, Neighbors C. Feedback interventions for college alcohol misuse: what, why and for whom? Addict Behav. 2005;30(6):1168–82. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2004.12.005.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Neighbors C, Rodriguez LM, Rinker DV, Gonzales RG, Agana M, Tackett JL, et al. Efficacy of personalized normative feedback as a brief intervention for college student gambling: a randomized controlled trial. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2015;83(3):500. doi:10.1037/a0039125. Notably, this is the first PNF intervention for gambling among at-risk college students. Results indicated that a PNF intervention reduces perceived norms, reduces gambling problems, and reduces gambling. The effect of the intervention was mediated by reductions in perceived norms.

  24. Bewick BM, West R, Gill J, O’May F, Mulhern B, Barkham M, et al. Providing web-based feedback and social norms information to reduce student alcohol intake: a multisite investigation. J Med Internet Res. 2010;12(5):86–96. doi:10.2196/jmir.1461.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Neighbors C, LaBrie JW, Hummer JF, Lewis MA, Lee CM, Desai S, et al. Group identification as a moderator of the relationship between perceived social norms and alcohol consumption. Psychol Addict Behav. 2010;24(3):522–8. doi:10.1037/a0019944.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Neighbors C, Lewis M, LaBrie J, DiBello A, Young C, Rinker D, et al. A multisite randomized trial of normative feedback for heavy drinking: social comparison versus social comparison plus correction of normative misperceptions. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2016. doi:10.1037/ccp0000067.

    PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  27. Walters ST, Vader AM, Harris TR. A controlled trial of web-based feedback for heavy drinking college students. Prev Sci. 2007;8(1):83–8. doi:10.1007/s11121-006-0059-9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Doumas DM, Nelson K, DeYoung A, Renteria CC. Alcohol‐related consequences among first‐year university students: effectiveness of a web‐based personalized feedback program. J Coll Couns. 2014;17(2):150–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Bendtsen P, Bendtsen M, Karlsson N, White IR, McCambridge J. Online alcohol assessment and feedback for hazardous and harmful drinkers: findings from the AMADEUS-2 randomized controlled trial of routine practice in Swedish universities. J Med Internet Res. 2015;17(7):e170-e. doi:10.2196/jmir.4020.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Rodriguez LM, Neighbors C, Rinker DV, Lewis MA, Lazorwitz B, Gonzales RG, et al. Remote versus in-lab computer-delivered personalized normative feedback interventions for college student drinking. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2015;83(3):455–63. doi:10.1037/a0039030.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  31. Lewis MA, Neighbors C. An examination of college student activities and attentiveness during a web-delivered personalized normative feedback intervention. Psychol Addict Behav. 2015;29(1):162. doi:10.1037/adb0000003.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Geisner IM, Varvil-Weld L, Mittmann AJ, Mallett K, Turrisi R. Brief web-based intervention for college students with comorbid risky alcohol use and depressed mood: does it work and for whom? Addict Behav. 2015;42:36–43. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2014.10.030.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Herman KC, Fahnlander B. A motivational intervention to reduce cigarette smoking among college students: overview and exploratory investigation. J Coll Couns. 2003;6(1):46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Pardavila‐Belio MI, García‐Vivar C, Pimenta AM, Canga‐Armayor A, Pueyo‐Garrigues S, Canga‐Armayor N. Intervention study for smoking cessation in Spanish college students: pragmatic randomized controlled trial. Addiction. 2015;110(10):1676–83. doi:10.1111/add.13009.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Hutton HE, Wilson LM, Apelberg BJ, Tang EA, Odelola O, Bass EB, et al. A systematic review of randomized controlled trials: web-based interventions for smoking cessation among adolescents, college students, and adults. Nicotine Tobacco Res. 2011;13(4):227–38. doi:10.1093/ntr/ntq252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Brown J. A review of the evidence on technology-based interventions for the treatment of tobacco dependence in college health. Worldviews Evid Based Nurs. 2013;10(3):150–62. doi:10.1111/wvn.12000.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Berg CJ, Stratton E, Sokol M, Santamaria A, Bryant L, Rodriguez R. Novel incentives and messaging in an online college smoking intervention. Am J Health Behav. 2014;38(5):668–80. doi:10.5993/AJHB.38.5.4.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  38. Mussener U, Bendtsen M, Karlsson N, White IR, McCambridge J, Bendtsen P, et al. Effectiveness of short message service text-based smoking cessation intervention among university students: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2016;176(3):321–8. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.8260.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Lupton JR, Townsend JL. A systematic review and meta-analysis of the acceptability and effectiveness of university smoke-free policies. J Am Coll Health. 2015;63(4):238–47. doi:10.1080/07448481.2015.1015029. This meta-analytic review demonstrated that campus-wide policies, such as making campuses smoke-free, show promise in reducing tobacco use rates among college students.

  40. American College Health Association. National College Health Assessment II: reference group executive summary fall 2012. Hanover, MD. 2013

  41. Caldeira KM, Arria AM, O’Grady KE, Vincent KB, Wish ED. The occurrence of cannabis use disorders and other cannabis-related problems among first-year college students. Addict Behav. 2008;33:397–411. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2007.10.001.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Palmer RS, McMahon TJ, Moreggi DI, Rounsaville BJ, Ball SA. College student drug use: patterns, concerns, consequences, and interest in intervention. J Coll Stud Dev. 2012;1:124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Palfai TP, Saitz R, Winter M, Brown TA, Kypri K, Goodness TM, et al. Web-based screening and brief intervention for student marijuana use in a university health center: pilot study to examine the implementation of eCHECKUP TO GO in different contexts. Addict Behav. 2014;39(9):1346–52. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2014.04.025. This study demonstrated that, although widely utilized, the Marijuana eCHECKUP TO GO did not reduce cannabis use or related problems among cannabis-using college students. These results highlight the need for more useful interventions for these students.

  44. de Oliveira Christoff A, Boerngen-Lacerda R. Reducing substance involvement in college students: a three-arm parallel-group randomized controlled trial of a computer-based intervention. Addict Behav. 2015;45:164–71. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2015.01.019.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Yurasek AM, Dennhardt AA, Murphy JG. A randomized controlled trial of a behavioral economic intervention for alcohol and marijuana use. Exp Clin Psychopharmacol. 2015;23(5):332–8. doi:10.1037/pha0000025.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  46. Nowak DE, Aloe AM. The prevalence of pathological gambling among college students: a meta-analytic synthesis, 2005–2013. J Gambl Stud. 2014;30(4):819–43. doi:10.1007/s10899-013-9399-0.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Martens MP, Arterberry BJ, Takamatsu SK, Masters J, Dude K. The efficacy of a personalized feedback-only intervention for at-risk college gamblers. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2015;83(3):494–9. doi:10.1037/a0038843.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Lee CM, Neighbors C, Lewis MA, Kaysen D, Mittmann A, Geisner IM, et al. Randomized controlled trial of a Spring Break intervention to reduce high-risk drinking. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2014;82(2):189–201. doi:10.1037/a0035743.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, 236 Audubon Hall, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA

    Emily R. Jeffries, Austin W. Lemke, Sonia M. Shah, Kimberlye E. Dean, Ashley A. Richter & Julia D. Buckner

Authors
  1. Emily R. Jeffries
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Austin W. Lemke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sonia M. Shah
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Kimberlye E. Dean
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Ashley A. Richter
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Julia D. Buckner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Julia D. Buckner.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

Julia Buckner reports that she is the principal investigator on a grant funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse (1R34DA031937-01A1). Ashley Richter reports that she is being funded through a grant by the National Institute of Drug Abuse (1R34DA031937-01A1). Emily R. Jeffries, Austin W. Lemke, Sonia M. Shah, and Kimberlye E. Dean declare no conflicts of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Addiction and College Students

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jeffries, E.R., Lemke, A.W., Shah, S.M. et al. Addictive Behavior Interventions Among College Students. Curr Addict Rep 3, 368–377 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-016-0117-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-016-0117-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation