Substance use patterns among first-year college students: Secondary effects of a combined alcohol intervention (original) (raw)

The current study explored secondary effects of a multi-site randomized alcohol prevention trial on tobacco, marijuana and other illicit drug use among a sample of incoming college students who participated in high school athletics. Students (N = 1275) completed a series of web-administered measures at baseline during the summer before starting college and ten months later. Students were randomized to one of four conditions: a parent-delivered intervention, a brief motivation enhancement intervention (BASICS), a condition combining the parent intervention and BASICS, and assessment only control. A series of ANOVAs evaluating drug use outcomes at the 10-month follow up assessment revealed significant reductions in marijuana use among students who received the combined intervention compared to the BASICS-only and control groups. No other significant differences between treatment conditions were found for tobacco or other illicit drug use. Our findings suggest the potential utility of targeting both alcohol and marijuana use when developing peer and parent-based interventions for students transitioning to college. Clinical implications and future research directions are considered.