Personalized feedback intervention (PFI): eCHECKUP TO GO (formerly, e-CHUG)
Alcohol eCHECKUP TO GO is a web-based survey that provides students with personalized feedback about their drinking patterns and how their alcohol use might affect their health and personal goals. The program has a special focus on two high-risk groups: first-year students and athletes. eCHECKUP TO GO is a commercial program. Campuses pay an annual subscription fee of about $1,000 for unlimited use of a customized program.
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Effectiveness: = Higher effectiveness
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Cost: $ = Lower
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Research Amount: **** = 11+ 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, specific groups, or all students
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Duration of Effects: Short-term (< 6 months) effects; mixed 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.
Larimer, M.E.; and Cronce, J.M. Identification, prevention, and treatment revisited: Individual-focused college drinking prevention strategies 1999–2006. Addictive Behaviors 32:2439–68, 2007.
- Walters, S.T.; Vader, A.M.; and Harris, T.R. A controlled trial of Web-based feedback for heavy drinking college students. Prevention Science 8(1):83−8, 2007. (No version stated)
Cronce J.M.; and Larimer M.E. Individual-focused approaches to the prevention of college student drinking. Alcohol Research and Health, 34(2):210–21, 2011.
- Doumas, D.M.; and Andersen, L.L. Reducing alcohol use in first-year university students: Evaluation of a Web-based personalized feedback program. Journal of College Counseling 12(1):18–32, 2009. (No version stated)
- Hustad, J.T.P.; Barnett, N.P.; Borsari, B.; and Jackson, K.M. Web-based alcohol prevention for incoming college students: A randomized controlled trial. Addictive Behaviors 35:183–89, 2010. (No version stated)
- Walters, S.T.; Vader, A.M.; Harris, T.R.; Field, C.A.; and Jouriles, E.N. Dismantling motivational interviewing and feedback for college drinkers: A randomized clinical trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 77(1):64–73, 2009. (No version stated)
Additional studies not identified in prior reviews
- Alfonso, J.; Hall, T.V.; and Dunn, M.E. Feedback?based alcohol interventions for mandated students: An effectiveness study of three modalities . Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy 20(5):411–23, 2013. (No version stated)
- Doumas, D.M.; Haustveit, T.; and Coll, K.M. Reducing heavy drinking among first year intercollegiate athletes: A randomized controlled trial of Web-based normative feedback. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology 22(3):247–61, 2010. (No version stated)
- Doumas, D.M.; Kane, C.M.; Navarro, B.B.; and Roman, J. Decreasing heavy drinking in first-year students: Evaluation of a Web-based personalized feedback program administered during orientation. Journal of College Counseling 14(1):5–20, 2011. (No version stated)
- Doumas, D.M.; Workman, C.; Navarro, A.; and Smith, D. Evaluation of Web-based and counselor-delivered feedback interventions for mandated college students. Journal of Addictions & Offender Counseling 32:16–28, 2011. (No version stated; same sample as Doumas et al., 2011)
- Doumas, D.M.; Workman, C.; Smith, D. and Navarro, A. Reducing high-risk drinking in mandated college students: Evaluation of two personalized normative feedback interventions. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment 40(4):376–85, 2011. (No version stated)
- Murphy, J.G.; Dennhardt, A.A.; Skidmore, J.R.; Martens, M.P.; and McDevitt-Murphy, M.E. Computerized versus motivational interviewing alcohol interventions: Impact on discrepancy, motivation, and drinking. Psychology of Addictive Behavior 24(4):628–39, 2010. (No version stated)
References from 2019 update
- Alfonso, J. The role of social norms in personalized alcohol feedback: A dismantling study with emerging adults. Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse 24(6):379–386, 2015.
- Ganz, T.; Braun, M.; Laging, M.; et al. Effects of a stand-alone web-based electronic screening and brief intervention targeting alcohol use in university students of legal drinking age: A randomized controlled trial. Addictive Behaviors 77:81–88, 2018.
- Jouriles, E.N.; Brown, A.S.; Rosenfield, D.; et al. Improving the effectiveness of computer-delivered personalized drinking feedback interventions for college students. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors 24(4):592–599, 2010.
- Tahaney, K.D.; and Palfai, T.P. Text messaging as an adjunct to a web-based intervention for college student alcohol use: A preliminary study. Addictive Behaviors 73:63–66, 2017.
A commercial program developed by San Diego University is available at http://www.echeckuptogo.com/.
For more information about intervention designs and implementation, check the articles in the References tab.
