Project e-PBI+ - Parent Intervention to Reduce College Student Drinking and Cannabis Use

NCT05345951 | Recruiting DMC

• 1 other identifier: 226723
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 2,425
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

College students' risky drinking and cannabis use are major public health problems. The harms associated with risky drinking have been well-documented (such as deaths, blackouts, injuries, assaults, arrests, sexual consequences, academic consequences). Both college health administrators and parents have requested electronic parent-based interventions (e-PBIs) with additional content on cannabis. Parents have demonstrated ample motivation to communicate with their teens. The proposed research will attempt to enhance an existing effective e-PBI, curb the alarming trends noted in the literature, and move the field forward by conducting a randomized controlled trial testing a modified version of the e-PBI that includes updated content including the most up-to-date scientific information from cannabis studies (e-PBI+).

Conditions

Underage Drinking; Cannabis Use; Drinking, Teen; Drinking, College; College Drinking; Teen Drinking

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Examine Changes in Alcohol Use

  A standard drink definition will be provided, indicating that a standard drink consists of 12 oz. of beer or wine cooler, 8.5 oz. of malt liquor, 4 oz. of wine, or 1.5 oz. of hard liquor. Using the Timeline Followback (TLFB; Sobell \& Sobell, 1996), participants will indicate how many drinks they consumed on each day of the past three months. For days alcohol was consumed, participants will also note the number of hours spent drinking.

  Baseline, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month

• Examine Changes in Cannabis Use

  Self-reported measures of retrospective cannabis use will be collected via the TLFB calendar with modifications that incorporate current methods of consumption (e.g., joint, blunt, pipe/bowl, bong, edible, vaporizer cartridges, concentrate \[including wax, oil, rosin, capsules, and tinctures\], and other) and amount (e.g., in grams/mg).

  Baseline, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Examine Changes in Consequences of Alcohol Use

  Baseline, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month

• Examine Changes in Consequences of Cannabis Use

  Baseline, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month

• Examine Changes in Co-Use of Alcohol and Cannabis Use

  Baseline, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month

Other Outcomes (16)

• Examine Changes in Parental Communication

  Baseline, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month

• Examine Changes in General Parental Practices

  Baseline, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month

• Examine Changes in Alcohol Use Motives

  Baseline, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month

Study Arms (3)

e-PBI+

EXPERIMENTAL

The e-PBI+ is an electronic handbook developed by the PI to guide parents in discussing drinking, behaviors, and consequences with their teens, with additional content on cannabis use.

Behavioral: e-PBI+

e-PBI

EXPERIMENTAL

the e-PBI is an electronic handbook developed by the PI to guide parents in discussing drinking, behaviors, and consequences with their teens.

Behavioral: e-PBI

e-AC

NO INTERVENTION

The e-AC is the attention matched control. They will receive general university-related materials to read, sections on parent and family resources (e.g., message from administrators, getting involved, academic calendar), advising, money matters, financial aid, campus life (arts, entertainment, housing, etc.), health and safety (health, counseling services, alcohol and drug laws). It is equivalent to the e-PBI+ and e-PBI on length of content and time to read. This group will not receive an intervention.

Interventions

e-PBI BEHAVIORAL

The e-PBI is currently a model prevention resource at NIAAA's College Alcohol Intervention Matrix and the research was discussed in the most recent Surgeon General's Report as one of two prevention approaches that met the rigorous criteria to be considered "efficacious". The first section of the e-PBI provides an introduction to the problem of substance use. The second section focuses on specific skill building strategies that parents can use to improve communication channels with their teen. Third is a section that addresses peer influence and provides strategies for developing assertiveness. The fourth section is an in-depth discussion of underage drinking, physiological and psychological effects, mixing alcohol with other drugs, motives for why students drink and don't drink, warning signs, risky binge-type drinking, impaired driving, riding with impaired drivers, alcohol and sexual assault, and how to communicate about parents' experiences when they were young.

e-PBI

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 19 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Parent and teen both consent and complete baseline (forming a dyad testing unit)

You may not qualify if:

• Outside of the teen age range; both parent and teen do not consent and complete baseline

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Penn State University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Penn State University

University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, United States

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Underage Drinking; Alcohol Drinking in College

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Adolescent Behavior; Behavior; Alcohol Drinking; Drinking Behavior

Study Officials

• Robert Turrisi, PhD

  Penn State University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Robert Turrisi, PhD

CONTACT

814-865-7808; rjt13@psu.edu

Sarah Ackerman, MS

CONTACT

814-865-4222; sdf5013@psu.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: INVESTIGATOR
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor of Biobehavioral Health

Model Details: The first group receives the e-PBI; the second group receives the e-PBI+; and the third group is the attention-matched control

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 20, 2022
• First Posted: April 26, 2022
• Study Start: July 13, 2023
• Primary Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2026
• Last Updated: July 17, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-07

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)