Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
Haringey Advisory Group on Alcohol, London, 0HJ, UK.
Transl Behav Med. 2019 Nov 25;9(6):1122-1130. doi: 10.1093/tbm/ibz110.
Despite the potential of brief online interventions for reducing alcohol consumption, their effectiveness may be compromised by low levels of engagement and the inclusion of ineffective behavior change techniques. To test whether (i) a tunneled version of an intervention (where the content is delivered in a prespecified order) leads to greater engagement and greater reductions in alcohol consumption than a free-roam version (where the content can be viewed in any order) and (ii) forming if-then plans linking strategies to cut down with high-risk situations leads to greater reductions in alcohol consumption than only choosing strategies to cut down. Participants (N = 286 university staff and students) were randomly allocated to one of four versions of a brief online alcohol intervention in a 2 (structure: tunneled vs. free-roam) by 2 (planning: strategies vs. if-then plans) factorial design. Engagement (pages visited, time) was recorded automatically. Alcohol consumption (weekly units) was assessed at baseline and 1- and 6-month follow-up. Participants who received the tunneled version viewed significantly more pages and spent significantly more time on the website than those who received the free-roam version. Significant reductions in alcohol consumption were observed at follow-up; however, neither the structure of the intervention nor planning had a significant effect on reductions in alcohol consumption. Tunneled online interventions can increase engagement, but this may not translate into greater changes in behavior. Further experimental research using factorial designs is needed to identify the key behavior change techniques to include in brief online interventions.
尽管简短的在线干预措施有可能减少饮酒量，但由于参与度低和包含无效的行为改变技术，其效果可能会受到影响。本研究旨在检验以下两种情况：（i）隧道式干预（按预定顺序提供内容）是否比自由式干预（可以按任何顺序查看内容）更能提高参与度和减少饮酒量；（ii）制定如果-那么计划，将削减策略与高风险情况联系起来，是否比仅选择削减策略更能减少饮酒量。研究采用 2（结构：隧道式与自由式）×2（计划：策略与如果-那么计划）析因设计，将 286 名大学教职员工和学生随机分配到简短在线酒精干预的四种版本之一。自动记录参与度（访问的页面数、时间）。在基线和 1 个月及 6 个月随访时评估饮酒量（每周单位）。与接受自由式版本的参与者相比，接受隧道式版本的参与者访问的页面明显更多，花费在网站上的时间也明显更长。随访时观察到饮酒量显著减少；然而，干预措施的结构或计划都没有对饮酒量的减少产生显著影响。隧道式在线干预措施可以提高参与度，但这可能不会转化为行为的更大改变。需要进一步使用析因设计的实验研究来确定包含在简短在线干预措施中的关键行为改变技术。
