# A Multi-Component Alcohol and Sex Risk Intervention for College Students

> **NIH NIH R34** · LEHIGH UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $191,967

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Risky alcohol use, sexually transmitted infections, and sexual violence in college student populations constitute
highly prevalent and interrelated public health concerns. Although alcohol is associated with increased rates of
STIs, more sex partners, sexual victimization, and decreased likelihood of condom use, no intervention to date
has specifically targeted students’ alcohol use, safe sex behavior, and sexual violence in an integrated
package. The current dual-site proposal will develop and evaluate the initial efficacy of the Sex Positive
Lifestyles: Addressing Alcohol & Sexual Health (SPLASH), an innovative tri-pronged group intervention that
includes normative re-education to modify peer misperceptions, protective behavioral skills (PBS) training to
increase drinking-related and sexual-risk protective behaviors, and bystander intervention training to reduce
alcohol problems and sexual violence among college students aged 18-24. The intervention will use a sex-
positive framework to educate students about shared contextual risk factors and address the influence of
heavy alcohol use on protective and bystander behaviors. The components will be appropriate for students
identifying as a sexual or gender minority. To refine SPLASH components, we will conduct focus groups (six
groups, total N = 48) (Aim 1). We will use the refined protocol to conduct an open trial (n = 64) to pilot test
enrollment and assessment methods; improve upon the clarity, content, acceptability, and feasibility; and
evaluate participant acceptance of intervention components (Aim 2). We will then revise the intervention
manual, procedures, and training protocol, and evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and initial efficacy of the
intervention in a randomized controlled pilot trial comparing the SPLASH intervention to a dose-matched
attention control condition (total n = 110) (Aim 3). We will test preliminary hypotheses that SPLASH
participants, relative to controls, will report reduced alcohol use and alcohol-related negative consequences,
increased protective behaviors related to drinking and sex risk, reduced risky sex behaviors (fewer partners,
fewer unprotected sex occasions, less alcohol before sex), and increased engagement in proactive bystander
behavior and related outcomes (increased labeling of the problem and decreased barriers to intervention) at 3-
and 6-months post-intervention. We will also explore if intervention effects are mediated by changes in
perceived norms, intentions and self-efficacy to use PBS, and intentions and self-efficacy to engage in
bystander behaviors. With an eye towards dissemination, we will interview campus stakeholders (N = 3 at each
site) at the beginning and end of the project. There is a critical need for an empirically supported universal
intervention that addresses interrelated risky drinking, unsafe sex, and sexual violence in college populations.
This research will lay the groundwork for a cost-effective, integrat...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9938314
- **Project number:** 5R34AA026032-03
- **Recipient organization:** LEHIGH UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Shannon Reilly Kenney
- **Activity code:** R34 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $191,967
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-06-15 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9938314

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9938314, A Multi-Component Alcohol and Sex Risk Intervention for College Students (5R34AA026032-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9938314. Licensed CC0.

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