title: A pre-post study on the appropriateness and effectiveness of a Web- and text messaging-based intervention to reduce problem drinking in emerging adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Problem drinking, particularly risky single-occasion drinking (RSOD), also called "binge drinking", is widespread among adolescents and young adults in most Western countries. Few studies have tested the effectiveness of interventions to reduce RSOD in young people with heterogeneous and particularly lower educational background.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To test the appropriateness and initial effectiveness of a combined, individually tailored Web- and text messaging (SMS)-based intervention program to reduce problem drinking in vocational school students.
  
  
  METHODS
  The fully automated program provided: (1) online feedback about an individual's drinking pattern compared to the drinking norms of an age- and gender-specific reference group, and (2) recurrent individualized SMS messages over a time period of 3 months. Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) analyses were used to investigate the longitudinal courses of the following outcomes over the study period of 3 months: RSOD, alcohol-related problems, mean number of standard drinks per week, and maximum number of standard drinks on an occasion.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The program was tested in 36 school classes at 7 vocational schools in Switzerland. Regardless of their drinking behavior, 477 vocational school students who owned a mobile phone were invited to participate in the program. Of these, 364 (76.3%) participated in the program. During the intervention period, 23 out of 364 (6.3%) persons unsubscribed from participating in the program. The GEE analyses revealed decreases in the percentage of persons with RSOD from baseline (75.5%, 210/278) to follow-up assessment (67.6%, 188/278, P<.001), in the percentage of persons with alcohol-related problems (20.4%, 57/280 to 14.3%, 40/280, P=.009), and in the mean number of standard drinks per week: 13.4 (SD 15.3) to 11.3 (SD 14.0), P=.002. They also revealed a trend toward a decrease in the mean of the maximum number of drinks consumed on an occasion: 11.3 (SD 10.3) to 10.5 (SD 10.3), P=.08.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results show high acceptance and promising effectiveness of this interventional approach, which could be easily and economically implemented within school classes.
authors.affiliation: Swiss Research Institute for Public Health and Addiction at Zurich University, Zurich, Switzerland. severin.haug@isgf.uzh.ch
authors.forename: Severin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Haug
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Schaub
authors.forename: Vigeli
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Venzin
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: John
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gmel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D063425:Binge Drinking / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D012309:Risk-Taking; D013334:Students; D013557:Switzerland; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000379:methods*; D060145:Text Messaging; D014829:Vocational Education; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Internet; alcohol intervention; problem drinking; text messaging; young people