Objective: An 18-site randomized trial was conducted to determine the effectiveness of social norms marketing (SNM) campaigns in reducing college student drinking. The SNM campaigns are intended to...

Background. Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, and the risk of disease increases the earlier in life smoking begins. The prevalence of smoking among US adolescents has increased since 1991. Despite bans on television tobacco advertising, smoking on television remains widespread. Objective. To determine whether youth with greater exposure to television viewing exhibit higher rates of smoking initiation. Methods. We used the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, Child Cohort to examine longitudinally the association of television viewing in 1990 among youth ages 10 to 15 years with smoking initiation from 1990–1992. Television viewing was based on the average of youth and parent reports. We used multiple logistic regression, taking into account sampling weights, and controlled for ethnicity; maternal education, IQ, and work; household structure; number of children; household poverty; child gender; and child aptitude test scores. Results. Among these youth, smoking increased from 4.8% in 1990 to 12.3% in 1992. Controlling for baseline characteristics, youth who watched 5 or more hours of TV per day were 5.99 times more likely to initiate smoking behaviors (95% confidence interval: 1.39–25.71) than those youth who watched 4 to 5 hours per day were 5.24 times more likely to initiate smoking than youth who watched <2 hours (95% confidence interval: 1.19–23.10). Conclusions. Television viewing is associated in a dose-response relationship with the initiation of youth smoking. Television viewing should be included in adolescent risk behavior research. Interventions to reduce television viewing may also reduce youth smoking initiation.

This article reports the results of a content analysis of 23 direct-to-consumer (DTC) product-specific television prescription drug advertisements broadcast during 2001. A majority of ads used both medical and lay terms to convey medical ideas. Most gave consumers somewhat more time to absorb facts about benefits than those about risks, which could have implications for the “fair balance” requirement. Complete references to additional product information were given only in text, casting doubt on whether these ads are making “adequate provision” for dissemination of detailed product information. Overall, our results call into question the potential of these ads to educate consumers.

This article outlines a typology of programs and policies for preventing and treating campus-based alcohol-related problems, reviews recent case studies showing the promise of campus-based environmental management strategies and reports findings from a national survey of U.S. colleges and universities about available resources for pursuing environmentally focused prevention. The typology is grounded in a social ecological framework, which recognizes that health-related behaviors are affected through multiple levels of influence: intrapersonal (individual) factors, interpersonal (group) processes, institutional factors, community factors and public policy. The survey on prevention resources and activities was mailed to senior administrators responsible for their school's institutional response to substance use problems. The study sample was an equal probability sample of 365 2- and 4-year U.S. campuses. The response rate was 76.9%. Recent case studies suggest the value of environmentally focused alcohol prevention approaches on campus, but more rigorous research is needed to establish their effectiveness. The administrators' survey showed that most U.S. colleges have not yet installed the basic infrastructure required for developing, implementing and evaluating environmental management strategies. The typology of campus-based prevention options can be used to categorize current efforts and to inform strategic planning of multilevel interventions. Additional colleges and universities should establish a permanent campus task force that reports directly to the president, participate actively in a campus-community coalition that seeks to change the availability of alcohol in the local community and join a state-level association that speaks out on state and federal policy issues.

Aims: To test the feasibility of online alcohol screening and brief intervention (BI) by comparing (i) two approaches to inviting all students to be screened, and (ii) a minimal versus a more extensive BI. Methods: Freshmen students at one university were randomized to receive one of two types of email invitations to an online anonymous: (i) general health assessment, or (ii) alcohol-specific assessment. All were linked to the same alcohol screening survey. Those with unhealthy alcohol use (AUDIT ≥8) were randomly assigned to minimal or more extensive online alcohol BI. Results: In both invitation groups (4008 students), 55% of students completed the online screening. Overall, 37% of men and 26% of women had unhealthy alcohol use. Compared to minimal BI, more extensive BI was associated with intention to seek help among men and with a greater increase in readiness to change among women. One month after BI, 75% of students completed another assessment, 33% of women and 15% of men with unhealthy alcohol use at baseline no longer had unhealthy alcohol use. There were no significant differences on drinking measures by BI randomization group. Conclusions: Over half of an entire freshman class of college students were reached by email and completed alcohol screening and brief intervention. Even an alcohol-specific invitation did not deter students. Although brief interventions that differed had some gender specific effects on readiness to change and intention, in general, unhealthy alcohol use decreased after brief intervention. Web screening and brief intervention show promise for addressing unhealthy alcohol use by college students.