Increasing Readiness to Change Alcohol Use in College Students: Development and Piloting of a Text-Messaging Intervention

We tested the feasibility and effectiveness of motivational interviewing integrated with social network counseling intervention delivered via personalized text messages for college students with problem alcohol use. Text messages were derived from a 20 minute Motivational Interviewing and Social Network counseling intervention (Mason et al., 2011). College students (n=663) ages 18-25 completed online substance use and mental health questionnaires serving as a screen for problem alcohol use. Students who screened positive were invited to be randomized to intervention (n=8) or control groups (n=10) and were assessed at one month past baseline. The intervention group received four to six text messages daily for four days that required responses lasting no more than 1-2 minutes during the week following the web-based baseline assessment. The intervention group could also receive booster texts for extra support as requested. All texts were personalized, using data collected at baseline to provide feedback and to encourage reflection on ambivalence regarding drinking. Repeated measures ANOVA found that the intervention group increased in Readiness to Change from baseline to follow-up compared with the control group (p<.01).  Other promising trends were a) the intervention group reported increased confidence in their ability to change and b), intentions to reduce alcohol use, compared to the control group.  Results indicate that the technological texting platform developed for this study works well within the brief intervention context with young adults. The clinical trial results suggest that text-based interventions utilizing evidence-based interventions are promising and warrant further study.