An Intervention to Reduce Alcohol Consumption in Undergraduate Students Using Implementation Intentions and Mental Simulations: A Cross-National Study

Abstract

Results support the implementation intention component of the intervention in reducing alcohol drinking in excess of guideline limits among Estonian and UK undergraduates. There was no support for the motivational intervention or the interaction between the strategies. Results are discussed with respect to intervention design based on motivational and volitional approaches.

Combining self-affirmation and implementation intentions to reduce heavy episodic drinking in university students.

“…However, these effects are mitigated by the fact that students allocated to the implementation intentions condition were more likely to drop out of the study after randomisation. Significant effects of forming implementation intentions on alcohol consumption in students have been reported in other studies (Hagger et al, 2012;Murgraff et al, 1996Murgraff et al, , 2007. Taken together these results indicate that forming an implementation intention is a powerful technique for reducing alcohol consumption that could be easily incorporated into brief interventions (Moyer, Finey, Swearingen & Vergun, 2002).…”

“…Second, the one-week follow-up period was relatively short. However, previous tests of implementation intentions have reported significant effects on alcohol consumption over two (Murgraff et al, 1996), four (Hagger et al, 2012) and eight weeks (Murgraff et al, 2007).…”

“…A few studies have used implementation intentions to reduce alcohol consumption in university students. Hagger et al (2012) found that participants who formed an implementation intention to drink within safe limits reported consuming fewer units of alcohol at one-month follow-up than control participants.…”

Implementation intention and planning interventions in Health Psychology: Recommendations from the Synergy Expert Group for research and practice

“…The discussions resulted in strong support for future investigations focusing on identifying possible intrapersonal factors (e.g., personality, individual differences; Churchill & Jessop, 2010;Luszczynska, Schwarzer, Lippke, & Mazurkiewicz, 2011;Prestwich & Kellar, 2014;Webb, Christian, & Armitage, 2007), format and delivery modes (Armitage, 2009;Chapman, Armitage, & Norman, 2009), and type of behavioural response such as engaging in a health behaviour (healthy eating, physical activity) or disengaging from an unhealthy behaviour (e.g., reducing alcohol content, avoiding unhealthy foods; Adriaanse et al, 2011;Hagger et al, 2012;Luszczynska, Sobczyk, & Abraham, 2007) that moderate the effectiveness of planning interventions. These types of moderating variables featured prominently on the long list of initial priority areas.…”

“…Many will be related to motivational interventions which may interact with planning interventions. Current recommendations reflect the recognition of the importance of motivation and intention formation as prerequisites for planning interventions and how to pave the way for plan development and use in populations with low motivation and self-efficacy, or ambivalent motives, for behavioural change (Chatzisarantis, Hagger, & Wang, 2010;Hagger et al, 2012;Koestner, Lekes, Powers, & Chicoine, 2002;Milne, Orbell, & Sheeran, 2002).…”