Personalized drinking feedback is an evidence-based and increasingly common way of intervening with high-risk college drinking. This article extends an earlier review by Walters and Neighbors (S. T. Walters & C. Neighbors, 2005, Feedback interventions for college alcohol misuse: What, why, and for whom? Addictive Behaviors, 30, 1168–1182) by reviewing the literature of published studies using personalized feedback as an intervention for heavy drinking among college students. This article updates and extends the original review with a more comprehensive and recent set of 41 studies, most of which were not included in the original article. This article also examines within-subject effect sizes for personalized feedback interventions (PFIs) for high-risk alcohol use and examines the content of PFIs more closely to provide insight on the most essential components that will guide the future development of feedback-based interventions. In general, PFIs appear to be reliably effective at reducing harmful alcohol misuse among college students. Some components are almost universally included (i.e., drinking profile and normative comparison), precluding inferences regarding their unique contribution. Significantly larger effect sizes were observed for interventions that included decisional balance, practical costs, and strategies to limit risks. The present research provides an important empirical foundation for determining the relative contribution of individual components and facets in the efficacy of PFIs.

Transdermal alcohol sensors continuously collect reliable and valid data on alcohol consumption in vivo over the course of hours to weeks. Transdermal alcohol readings are highly correlated with breath alcohol measurements, but transdermal alcohol levels lag behind breath alcohol levels by one or more hours due to the longer time required for alcohol to be expelled through perspiration. By providing objective information about alcohol consumption, transdermal alcohol sensors can validate self-report and provide important information not previously available. In this article we describe the development and evaluation of currently available transdermal alcohol sensors, present the strengths and limitations of the technology, and give examples of recent research using the sensors.

Using alternate forms derived from 6 scales from the Revised Ways of Coping Checklist (P. P. Vitaliano, 1993), the authors obtained daily coping scores from students as they prepared for a demanding test, then obtained a 7-day retrospective measure of their coping. On average, only 25% shared variance was found between the daily and retrospective accounts. A consistent pattern of retrospective overestimation of daily coping occurred, and large individual differences in degree of correspondence were observed. Among students who reported the highest level of exam-related stress, less than 10% of the retrospective coping score variance was predicted by the daily measures. The results indicate that retrospective coping reports cannot be considered equivalent to measures obtained in closer proximity to the event.

HIV treatment requires lifelong adherence to medication regimens that comprise inconvenient scheduling, adverse side effects, and lifestyle changes. Antiretroviral adherence and treatment fatigue have been inextricably linked. Adherence in HIV-infected populations has been well investigated; however, little is known about treatment fatigue. This review examines the current state of the literature on treatment fatigue among HIV populations and provides an overview of its etiology and potential consequences. Standard systematic research methods were used to gather published papers on treatment fatigue and HIV. Five databases were searched using PRISMA criteria. Of 1,557 studies identified, 21 met the following inclusion criteria: (a) study participants were HIV-infected, (b) participants were prescribed antiretroviral medication, (c) the article referenced treatment fatigue, (d) the article was published in a peer-reviewed journal, and (e) text was available in English. Only seven articles operationally defined treatment fatigue, with three themes emerging throughout the definitions: (1) pill burden, (2) loss of desire to adhere to the regimen, and (3) nonadherence to regimens as a consequence of treatment fatigue. Based on these studies, treatment fatigue may be defined as “decreased desire and motivation to maintain vigilance in adhering to a treatment regimen among patients prescribed long-term protocols.” The cause and course of treatment fatigue appear to vary by developmental stage. To date, only structured treatment interruptions have been examined as an intervention to reduce treatment fatigue in children and adults. No behavioral interventions have been developed to reduce treatment fatigue. Further, only qualitative studies have examined treatment fatigue conceptually. Studies designed to systematically assess treatment fatigue are needed. Increased understanding of the course and duration of treatment fatigue is expected to improve adherence interventions, thereby improving clinical outcomes for individuals living with HIV.

MI interventions for adolescent health behavior appear to be effective. In addition, the magnitude of the aggregate effect size does not appear to differ meaningfully from reports of interventions targeting only substance use in adolescents. However, significant lack of clarity exists regarding interventionist training requirements necessary to ensure intervention effectiveness.

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surprisingly little is known about the efficacy of stimulants in the slightly older emerging adult population. A focus has emerged, however, on illicit stimulant use among undergraduates, with studies suggesting such behavior is not uncommon (e.g., Arria et al., 2013). Unfortunately, details are lacking regarding outcomes and personal characteristics associated with different patterns of stimulant misuse. The current study compares the characteristics of four groups of college students, including those with stimulant prescriptions who use them appropriately (i.e., appropriate users), those who misuse their prescription stimulants (i.e., medical misusers), those who obtain and use stimulants without a prescription (i.e., nonmedical misusers), and those who do not use stimulant medications at all (i.e., nonusers). Undergraduates (N � 1,153) from the Southeastern, Midwest, and Rocky Mountain regions completed online measures evaluating patterns of use, associated motives, side effects, ADHD symptomatology, and other substance use. Both types of misusers (i.e., students who abused their prescriptions and those who obtained stimulants illegally) reported concerning patterns of other and combined substance use, as well as higher prevalence of debilitating side effects such as insomnia and restlessness. Research and practical implications are discussed.

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