# Enhancing the Efficacy and Duration of a Brief Alcohol Intervention Using Self-Affirmation

> **NIH NIH R01** · BROWN UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $367,291

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
High volume drinking and related adverse consequences pose significant health concerns at US colleges and
universities; drinking behavior often leads to students being sanctioned for violations of campus alcohol policy.
Given the widespread use of mandated alcohol interventions for these students, optimizing their initial effects
and their duration could substantially mitigate adverse alcohol outcomes. Self-affirmation represents a
promising adjunct to brief alcohol interventions, particularly those delivered via computer that are popular but
tend to have smaller effects. Basic research shows that when self-affirmation exercises precede the receipt of
health information, they decrease defensiveness and resistance to threatening health information and increase
acceptance and processing of health messages. Furthermore, the facilitative effects of self-affirmation are
strongest among those at higher risk. Because many mandated students display both defensiveness and high
drinking severity, use of self-affirmation to enhance information processing and reduce defensive responding
could optimize the efficacy of an active alcohol intervention in this at-risk subpopulation. We propose to use a
two-group randomized design to investigate the effect of a self-affirmation exercise prior to an empirically
supported brief alcohol intervention consisting of computer-delivered personalized normative feedback (PNF).
Building on an extensive history of academic-student affairs collaborations, we will recruit 450 mandated
students from a large public university over the course of 5 semesters. Our primary aim is to examine the
additive effects of an initial self-affirmation (SA) manipulation prior to receiving PNF (SA + PNF) relative to
Control + PNF on alcohol use and consequences. This study extends prior work by evaluating the ability of
self-affirmation exercises to supplement active alcohol interventions (rather than just health messages), and
tracking the impact on alcohol use over a longer (12-month) follow-up period. Secondary aims include (a)
testing theoretically-derived mediation sequences that explain the SA + PNF effects on alcohol use and alcohol
consequences, incorporating mechanisms of action associated with both self-affirmation and brief alcohol
interventions, and (b) the examination of theoretical moderators of the effects of SA + PNF on alcohol use and
alcohol consequences. We will use latent growth curve modeling analyses to examine direct and indirect
intervention effects on alcohol use and consequence trajectories from (pre-intervention) baseline assessment
across 1-, 3-, 6-, 9- and 12-month follow-ups. The public health goal of this research is to reduce the acute and
chronic effects of alcohol misuse by improving the efficacy of a low intensity brief alcohol intervention. The
findings of this study have both practical and theoretical implications. Demonstration of the additive utility of a
very brief self-affirmation...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9936097
- **Project number:** 5R01AA025643-04
- **Recipient organization:** BROWN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** KATE B CAREY
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $367,291
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-07-20 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9936097

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9936097, Enhancing the Efficacy and Duration of a Brief Alcohol Intervention Using Self-Affirmation (5R01AA025643-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9936097. Licensed CC0.

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