Publication year
2015
Citation Title
Personalized drinking feedback intervention for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: A randomized controlled trial.
Journal Name
Journal of Studies on Alcohol Drugs
Journal Volume
76
Issue Number
3
Page Numbers
355-359
DOI
10.15288/jsad.2015.76.355
Summary
The efficacy of personalized drinking feedback intervention among OEF/OIF/OND Veterans were examined on peak blood alcohol concentration, alcoholic drinks per week, and alcohol-related problems. Veterans were randomly enrolled in personalized intervention or education-only intervention and effects of interventions were examined. Findings included supportive trends of personalized intervention lowering the three conditions, but only lowering peak blood alcohol concentration was a significant result.
Key Findings
Personalized drinking feedback intervention showed significant results in lowering peak blood alcohol concentration for subsamples, “heavy drinkers”??men/women who consumed 5+/4+ drinks in one occasionÑand “drinkers only” who consumed any alcohol at baseline, as well as the full study sample.
The conditions of (1) drinks per week and (2) alcohol?related problems showed a trend of decreasing for the sample receiving the personalized intervention.
Participants receiving the education?only intervention showed a decrease in both drinks per week and alcohol?related problems from baseline to 1?month, but an increase at 6?month, although not at significant levels.
Implications for Program Leaders
Include a personalized feedback type of curriculum that discusses social norms, financial and caloric impacts of alcohol misuse, and outline potential alcohol?related problems to recognize
Incorporate user?friendly technology to deliver curriculum, such as email, text, or mobile application
Build into curriculum some of the participant’s current decisions or behaviors that support abstaining from alcohol use, such as journaling or reflection
Implications for Policy Makers
Support the creation of an underlying consistent format for a personalized feedback type of curriculum to have tailored yet comparable information for wider dissemination for Service members and families
Explore alternative development and delivery systems for alcohol curricula for Service members who misuse alcohol
Consider integrating preventative interventions as necessary for Service members and families who may be at risk of misusing alcohol
Methods
Veterans were recruited through a letter noting the purpose of the study and contacted within a week of their appointment to discuss the study, answer questions, and gauge participation interest.
Participants provided self?report data at baseline, 1?month, and 6?month follow?up intervals using a modified Daily Drinking Questionnaire, the Short Inventory of Problems, and demographic data.
Participants at the clinic privately reviewing printed feedback which included social norms data comparing their level of drinking to national and Veteran norms along with other personalized data.
Participants
Veterans of OED/OIF/OND who presented to the Seamless Transition Clinic at the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans’ Hospital in Columbia, MO were eligible for participation.
The sample size was 325 Veterans of which 93% were male, 82% White, and 75% served in the Army, with the average age of 32.20 years (SD = 8.18).
The baseline, self?reported alcohol consumption from participants showed an average of 10.66 drinks per week (SD = 13.82), 6.55 drinks at peak drinking occasion over past 30 days (SD = 6.99), and 1.78 alcoholrelated problems (SD = 2.69).
Limitations
The only significant finding was regarding the effects of the personalized?only intervention on lowering peak blood alcohol concentration while other findings, while indicating trends, were not significant.
The sample was homogenous and the study did not include long?term follow?up, not allowing for a clear understanding of what impact personalized?only intervention would have on a broader scale.
As the intervention materials were reviewed privately by the participants, there were no fidelity checks in place to confirm the materials were actually read.
Avenues for Future Research
Include longer follow?up periods in the study after six months and follow?ups upon study completion
Diversify the participants in the study by having more women, minorities, and other branches of the military in the study sample while including a civilian comparison group
Assess the efficacy of the individual components of the personalized intervention to measure the impact of each component and further tailor the personalized nature of the intervention
Focus
Army
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Branch
Military Component
Abstract
Research has shown that U.S. military veterans are at risk relative to the general adult population for excessive alcohol consumption, and veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (Operation Enduring Freedom [OEF], Operation Iraqi Freedom [OIF], and Operation New Dawn [OND]) particularly so. The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of a brief personalized drinking feedback intervention tailored for veterans. Method: All veterans who presented to the OEF/OIF/OND Seamless Transition Clinic at the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans’ Hospital (Columbia, MO) were eligible to participate. Participants were 325 veterans (93% male; 82% White, 75% Army, Mage = 32.20 years) who were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: personalized drinking feedback (PDF) or educational information (EDU). Those in the PDF condition received personalized information about their alcohol use, including social norms comparisons, risks associated with reported drinking levels, and a summary of their alcohol-related problems. Follow-up assessments were completed at 1 and 6 months after intervention (response rates = 93% and 86%, respectively). Results: Results indicated a significant (p < .05) Omnibus Group _ Time effect for estimated peak blood alcohol concentration, although tests of simple main effects did not indicate between-group differences at the individual follow-up points. Among baseline abstainers, those in the PDF condition were more likely than those in the EDU condition to remain an abstainer at 6-month follow-up (p < .05). Conclusions: These findings provide preliminary support for the efficacy of a brief, inexpensive alcohol prevention/intervention for young adult military veterans.
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