RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, PO Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA, 90407-2138, USA.
Department of Psychology, Loyola Marymount University, 1 LMU Drive, Los Angeles, CA, 90045, USA.
Addict Sci Clin Pract. 2019 Aug 20;14(1):32. doi: 10.1186/s13722-019-0162-4.
This study protocol describes a proposed randomized controlled trial that builds upon a successful pilot intervention study to address problematic and dangerous drinking among young adult college students studying abroad in foreign environments. Despite universities and colleges citing alcohol misuse as the most concerning issue for their students abroad, most institutions offer no empirically-based prevention efforts tailored to this at-risk population. The proposed intervention attempts to fill a major gap for the nearly 333,000 students completing study abroad programs each year by using empirically-based and theoretically-informed risk and protective factors to correct misperceived peer drinking norms and promote cultural engagement abroad. In addition to preventing heavy and problematic drinking, the intervention seeks to prevent risky sexual behaviors (e.g., sex without a condom) and experience of sexual violence victimization, which are strikingly common among study abroad students and have the potential for lasting physical and psychological effects upon return home.
METHODS/DESIGN: We will conduct a randomized controlled trial of an intervention with a sample of 1200 college students studying abroad from approximately 50 US universities and colleges. The brief, online intervention is text and video based and contains evidence-based components of personalized normative feedback to correct students' misperceived drinking norms, content to promote engagement with the cultural experience abroad and address difficulties adjusting to life in the foreign environment, and tips and strategies to prevent risky sexual behaviors and sexual violence victimization abroad. Participants will complete online surveys at five time points (predeparture, first month abroad, last month abroad, 1-month post-return, and 3-months post-return) to assess for intervention effects on drinking behavior, drinking consequences, risky sex, and sexual violence outcomes. We will examine whether the mechanisms targeted by the intervention (changes in perceived norms, engagement in the cultural experience abroad) serve as mediators of intervention efficacy.
The proposed study has the potential to fill an important gap in the research literature and provide empirical support for an online accessible, brief, and targeted approach that can easily be distributed to study abroad students to help prevent heavy alcohol use and sexual risk abroad. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT03928067.
本研究方案描述了一项拟议的随机对照试验，该试验基于一项成功的试点干预研究，旨在解决在国外环境中留学的年轻成年大学生中存在的问题性和危险饮酒问题。尽管大学和学院将酗酒视为留学生最关心的问题，但大多数机构并未提供针对这一高危人群的基于实证的预防措施。拟议的干预措施试图通过使用基于实证和理论的风险和保护因素来纠正对同伴饮酒规范的误解，并促进在国外的文化参与，从而填补每年有近 33.3 万名学生参加留学项目所留下的主要空白。除了预防重度和问题性饮酒外，该干预措施还旨在预防危险的性行为（例如，无保护措施的性行为）和性暴力受害经历，这些行为在留学生中非常普遍，并且有可能对回国后的身体和心理造成持久影响。
方法/设计：我们将对一项干预措施进行一项随机对照试验，样本为来自约 50 所美国大学和学院的 1200 名出国留学的大学生。这项简短的在线干预措施是基于文本和视频的，包含个性化规范反馈的循证成分，以纠正学生对饮酒规范的误解，促进对国外文化体验的参与，并解决在外国环境中适应生活的困难，以及预防在国外发生危险性行为和性暴力受害的技巧和策略。参与者将在五个时间点（出发前、在国外的第一个月、在国外的最后一个月、回国后一个月和回国后三个月）完成在线调查，以评估干预措施对饮酒行为、饮酒后果、危险性行为和性暴力结果的影响。我们将研究干预措施针对的机制（感知规范的变化、参与国外文化体验）是否作为干预效果的中介。
该研究有潜力填补研究文献中的一个重要空白，并为一种在线可及的、简短的、有针对性的方法提供实证支持，这种方法可以很容易地分发给留学生，以帮助他们在国外预防重度饮酒和性风险。
ClinicalTrials.gov 标识符 NCT03928067。
