Comparing the Efficacy of Several Popular Online Interventions to Reduce Hazardous Alcohol Consumption

Comparing the Efficacy of Several Popular Online Interventions to Reduce Hazardous Alcohol Consumption

Comparing the Efficacy of Several Popular Online Interventions to Reduce Hazardous Alcohol Consumption: Randomized Controlled Trial

There are a number of popular, freely available online interventions targeting hazardous alcohol consumption. Unfortunately, most have limited or no published evidence regarding their efficacy. Of particular interest is the intervention, 'Hello Sunday Morning.' The current project proposes to evaluate its' efficacy employing a RCT, using The Check Your Drinking intervention as an active comparator in the trial. Participants will be recruited through Amazon's MTurk crowdsourcing platform. Potential participants identified as problem drinkers based on an initial survey will be invited to complete another survey in 6 months time. Those who agree to be followed-up will be assigned by chance to be asked versus not asked to access one of the interventions and then recontacted 6 months later to ask about their drinking and their impressions of the online intervention. The primary hypothesis to be tested is that participants receiving access to any of the online interventions will report a greater level of reduction in number of drinks in a typical week between the baseline survey and six-month follow-up as compared to participants in the control condition.

A questionnaire that asks individuals what components of an online intervention they might find useful.

The CYD is a brief online intervention designed to provide personalized normative feedback aimed at motivating reductions in drinking

Internet based program designed to assess drinking patterns, and support self-determined goals for abstinence, by providing users with an online platform and community to discuss progress and goals.

A anonymous brief survey designed to provide normative feedback of individual's drinking with the intent of motivating reductions in drinking

Brief online intervention that allows Individual's reflect on their drinking reductions progress and goals.

Change in the variable, number of drinks in a typical week, from baseline measurement to 6-month follow-up

Inclusion Criteria: 18 years of age or over A score of 8 or over on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) Typically consumes 15 or more drinks per week, Willingness to complete a 6-month follow-up survey Exclusion Criteria: None

Schell C, Godinho A, Cunningham JA. To thine own self, be true: Examining change in self-reported alcohol measures over time as related to socially desirable responding bias among people with unhealthy alcohol use. Subst Abus. 2021;42(1):87-93. doi: 10.1080/08897077.2019.1697998. Epub 2020 Feb 10.

Cunningham JA, Godinho A, Bertholet N. Outcomes of two randomized controlled trials, employing participants recruited through Mechanical Turk, of Internet interventions targeting unhealthy alcohol use. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2019 Jun 14;19(1):124. doi: 10.1186/s12874-019-0770-4.

Information about research at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Canada's largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital, fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, and a PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centre