Personalized feedback intervention (PFI): College Drinker’s Check-up (CDCU)
Personalized feedback intervention (PFI): College Drinker’s Check-up (CDCU)
The College Drinker’s Check-up (CDCU) is a single-session, web-based program for students who drink heavily and is an adaptation of the well-established in-person Drinker’s Check-Up, originally developed for heavy-drinking adults. Students receive personalized feedback on the quantity and frequency of their alcohol use in comparison with same-gender college peers. Students also receive blood alcohol content feedback. The CDCU is a commercial product. Campuses pay a one-time cost based on size: $2,500 for smaller institutions (<15,000 students) and $4,500 for larger institutions.
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Effectiveness: X = Too few studies to rate effectiveness
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Cost: $ = Lower
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Research Amount: * = 3 or fewer studies
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Public Health Reach: Broad
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Primary Modality: Online
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Staffing Expertise Needed: Coordinator
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Target Population: Individuals or specific groups
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Duration of Effects: Short-term (< 6 months) and long-term (≥ 6 months) effects
Effectiveness ratings are based on the percentage of studies reporting any positive outcomes. Strategies with three or fewer studies did not receive an effectiveness rating due to the limited data on which to base a conclusion. Cost ratings are based on the relative program and staff costs for adoption, implementation, and maintenance of a strategy. Actual costs will vary by institution, depending on size, existing programs, and other campus and community factors. Barriers to implementing a strategy include cost and opposition, among other factors. Public health reach refers to the number of students that a strategy affects. Strategies with a broad reach affect all students or a large group of students (e.g., all underage students); strategies with a focused reach affect individuals or small groups of students (e.g., sanctioned students). Research amount/quality refers to the number of randomized controlled trials (RCT) that evaluated the strategy. Duration of effects refers to the timeframe within which the intervention demonstrated effects on alcohol-related behavioral outcomes; follow-up periods for short-term effects were <6 months; follow-up periods for long-term effects were ≥6 months.
Strategies are listed by brand name if they were evaluated by at least two RCTs; strategies labeled generic/other have similar components and were not identified by name in the research or were evaluated by only one RCT; strategies labeled miscellaneous have the same approach but very different components.
Additional studies not identified in prior reviews
- Hester, R.K.; Delaney, H.D.; and Campbell, W. The college drinker's check-up: Outcomes of two randomized clinical trials of a computer-delivered intervention. Psychology of Addictive Behavior 26(1):1–12, 2012. (Only one version appears available)
References from 2019 update
- Carey, K.B.; Balestrieri, S.G.; Miller, M.B.; et al. Efficacy of the college drinkers check-up for student drinkers living off campus. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 78(4):571–579, 2017.
Information on the College Drinker’s Checkup is available at: https://checkupandchoices.com/
For information about intervention designs and implementation, check the articles in the References tab.
