title: A randomized study of four cards designed to prevent problems during college students' 21st birthday celebrations.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of sending cards designed to prevent alcohol-related problems during 21st birthday celebrations.
  
  
  METHODS
  College students were randomly assigned to receive cards with one of the following messages: (1) a neutral birthday greeting; (2) harm reduction information; (3) messages designed by the Be Responsible About Drinking (B.R.A.D.) Foundation, including harm reduction information and a description of the tragic death of Brad McCue during his 21st birthday celebration; (4) social norming messages designed to correct misperceptions of drinking; or (5) the combination of messages from Cards 2 and 4. A total of 994 students completed a post-21st birthday phone survey. Effects were evaluated in two cohorts with 444 and 550 students, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no significant effects of the cards on drinking or alcohol-related problems.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These null findings, plus some unexpected trends in our data, highlight the importance of carefully evaluating mailed interventions before deploying them on a large scale.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Barnwell College, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, USA. SmithBrad@sc.edu
authors.forename: Bradley H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Kristin E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Bogle
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Talbott
authors.forename: Rick
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gant
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Castillo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000846:Anniversaries and Special Events; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D040261:Harm Reduction; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D008297:Male; D013334:Students