Screening and behavioral treatments
Screening and behavioral treatments
Screening and brief intervention: The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends that primary care clinicians (1) conduct alcohol screening in adults aged 18 years or older and (2) provide brief behavioral counseling interventions for the full range of unhealthy drinking behaviors, from risky drinking to alcohol dependence. The USPSTF concludes that brief behavioral counseling interventions reduce heavy drinking episodes and increase adherence to recommended drinking limits.
Additional behavioral treatments: For some students, brief counseling sessions may not be sufficient for resolving drinking problems. In these cases, more intensive behavioral treatments can be beneficial, including cognitive-behavioral therapy and motivational enhancement therapy. Ultimately, choosing to get treatment may be more important than the approach used, provided it avoids heavy confrontation and incorporates empathy, motivational support, and a focus on changing drinking behavior.
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Effectiveness: Not rated by CollegeAIM
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Cost: Not rated
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Research Amount: Not rated
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Public Health Reach: Not rated
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Primary Modality: In-person individual/offsite
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Staffing Expertise Needed: Health professional
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Target Population: Individuals
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Duration of Effects: Not rated
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.
The “Interventions delivered by health professionals” were not rated relative to other individual-level strategies in CollegeAIM because of differences in research populations, along with wide variations in costs and barriers to providing these services across campuses.
Instead, they are included in CollegeAIM based on
(1) The recommendation by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force that “clinicians screen adults aged 18 years or older for alcohol misuse and provide persons engaged in risky or hazardous drinking with brief behavioral counseling interventions to reduce alcohol misuse” and
(2) Approval of three medications for alcohol use disorder by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
See Potential Resources for support in providing these and other interventions, or referrals when needed
No studies
NIAAA, Treatment for Alcohol Problems: Finding and Getting Help (2014)
