Brief alcohol interventions with mandated or adjudicated college students

This article summarizes the proceedings of a symposium presented at the 2003 RSA Meeting in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, organized and chaired by Nancy Barnett. The purpose of the symposium was to present information and efficacy data about approaches to brief intervention with students who get into trouble on their campuses for alcohol and as a result are required to attend alcohol education or counseling. Presentations were (1) Differences Between Mandated College Students and Their Peers on Alcohol Use and Readiness to Change, by Tracy O'Leary Tevyaw; (2) An Effective Alcohol Prevention Program for Mandated College Students, by Kim Fromme; (3) Two Brief Alcohol Interventions for a Referred College Population, by Kate Carey; and (4) Brief Motivational Intervention With College Students Following Medical Treatment or Discipline for Alcohol, by Nancy Barnett. The data presented in this symposium indicated that students who are evaluated or disciplined for alcohol use are on average heavy drinkers who drink more heavily than their closest peers. Brief intervention approaches described by the speakers included group classroom sessions, individual motivational intervention, individual alcohol education, and computerized alcohol education. Reductions in consumption and problems were noted across the various intervention groups. Brief motivational intervention as a general approach with mandated students shows promise in that it reduced alcohol problems in a group of mandated students who were screened for being at risk (in the Borsari and Carey study) and increased the likelihood that students would attend further counseling (in the Barnett study).