Web-based screening and brief intervention for student marijuana use in a university health center: pilot study to examine the implementation of eCHECKUP TO GO in different contexts.
This pilot study sought to test the feasibility of procedures to screen students for marijuana use in Student Health Services (SHS) and test the efficacy of a web-based intervention designed to reduce marijuana use and consequences. Students were asked to participate in voluntary screening of health behaviors upon arrival at SHS. One hundred and twenty-three students who used marijuana at least monthly completed assessments and were randomized to one of four intervention conditions in a 2 (intervention: Marijuana eCHECKUP TO GO vs. control)×2 (site of intervention: on-site vs. off-site) between-groups design. Follow-up assessments were conducted online at 3 and 6 months. Latent growth modeling was used to provide effect size estimates for the influence of intervention on outcomes. One thousand and eighty undergraduate students completed screening. The intervention did not influence marijuana use frequency. However, there was evidence of a small overall intervention effect on marijuana-related consequences and a medium effect in stratified analyses in the on-site condition. Analyses of psychological variables showed that the intervention significantly reduced perceived norms regarding peer marijuana use. These findings demonstrate that it is feasible to identify marijuana users in SHS and deliver an automated web-based intervention to these students in different contexts. Effect size estimates suggest that the intervention has some promise as a means of correcting misperceptions of marijuana use norms and reducing marijuana-related consequences. Future work should test the efficacy of this intervention in a full scale randomized controlled trial.
Department of Psychology, Boston University, 648 Beacon St., Boston, MA 02215, United States. Electronic address: palfai@bu.edu.
Tibor P
TP
Palfai
Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, 801 Massachusetts Ave, Boston, MA, United States.
Richard
R
Saitz
Data Coordinating Center, Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, 801 Massachusetts Ave, Boston, MA, United States.
Michael
M
Winter
Department of Psychology, Boston University, 648 Beacon St., Boston, MA 02215, United States.
Timothy A
TA
Brown
School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, HMRI Building, Level 4 West Lot 1 Kookaburra Circuit, New Lambton Heights, NSW, Australia.
Kypros
K
Kypri
Department of Psychology, Boston University, 648 Beacon St., Boston, MA 02215, United States.
Tracie M
TM
Goodness
Department of Psychology, Boston University, 648 Beacon St., Boston, MA 02215, United States.
Lauren M
LM
O'Brien
Data Coordinating Center, Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, 801 Massachusetts Ave, Boston, MA, United States.
Jon
J
Lu
D000328:Adult; D001900:Boston / Q000453:epidemiology; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D002189:Marijuana Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010379:Peer Group; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013333:Student Health Services / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult
Cannabis; College student; Computer; Prevention; Student health