Moderating Binge Drinking: It Is Possible to Change Behaviour if You Plan It in Advance

Abstract

Recent theories of enactment suggest that behaviour change is increased by planning how, where, and when to execute a behavioural response. Drawing on these theories, a brief planning intervention was designed and its effectiveness compared to an information-based health promotion programme (control). All participants were given information about the safe limits per drinking occasion and the adverse consequences of binge drinking, and were asked to drink within the safe limits in order to avoid these consequences. In addition, participants in the planning group received an option menu of possible responses for refusing a drink, asked to choose one strategy and specify a time and place in which the chosen strategy would be implemented. The planning intervention group did not differ from the control group on reported likelihood of future binge drinking, nor on levels of past drinking, age and gender. At a 2-week follow-up, members of the planning intervention group reported lower drinking frequency than controls. The implications of prior planning for interventions aimed at reducing alcohol-related harm are discussed.

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).…”

“…Implementation intentions have also been found to reduce the likelihood of choosing a voucher for a free alcoholic drink (versus tea/coffee) following participation in an experiment (Chatzisarantis & Hagger, 2010), the frequency of binge drinking at two-week follow-up (Murgraff, White, & Phillips, 1996), and alcohol consumption on Friday nights at two-month follow-up (Murgraff, Abraham, & McDermot, 2007) in university students.…”

Crossing two types of implementation intentions with a protection motivation intervention for the reduction of saturated fat intake: A randomized trial

“…However, in the dietary studies, the intervention periods have been a week or less (e.g., Bamberg, 2002;Verplanken & Faes, 1999) and/or generated weak effects (e.g., Armitage, 2004;Bamberg, 2002). Moreover, within Gollwitzer and Sheeran"s meta-analysis, only two of the published studies were concerned with the reduction of unwanted behavioural responses (binge drinking -Murgraff, White, & Phillips, 1996;smoking-Higgins & Conner, 2003, cited as Stephens & Conner, 1999.…”

The BRENDA Model: Integrating Psychosocial Treatment and Pharmacotherapy for the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorders

“…64 This approach offers an effective solution to the challenge of addressing the patient's needs and achieving goal-directed planning that leads to improved outcomes. 65 An important component of the BRENDA direct advice is a discussion with the patient about how a particular intervention or medication would help him or her based on the results of the biopsychosocial evaluation performed at Step 1 of BRENDA. This discussion allows the BRENDA provider to evaluate the patient's level of motivation.…”