Wired for wellness: e-interventions for addressing college drinking

In an effort to address problematic drinking among American college students, there has been increasing interest in the use of technology. This article reviews evidence for the efficacy of computer and internet interventions and provides information on five commercially available alcohol education and intervention programs that target college drinkers. Most programs use a mix of educational, skills-based, and motivational strategies to present material. All programs include assessment questions and provide personalized drinking feedback or other information that is customized to each user. Despite limited outcome research, there appear to be a number of advantages to computer and internet programs that focus on alcohol reduction. Future studies will need to determine how to best make use of technology to reach larger numbers of students with an effective, individual approach. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.