A Serious Look Inside Computer Delivered Interventions for College Students

As we seem to have entered a profoundly “digital age,” it is no surprise that the availability of alcohol-related information for college students is no exception. Over the past 10+ years we have seen a plethora of computer delivered interventions (CDI) come to market providing innovative approaches to and provocative advertised claims about the delivery of alcohol information and interventions for college students. These claims are often accompanied by creative—and sometime aggressive—marketing, but do such advertised approaches to addressing collegiate drinking work, and if they do, is there a concomitant resulting change in their drinking behaviors?

Included in a new book by Christopher Correia, James Murphy, and Nancy Barnet entitled, College Student Alcohol Abuse: A guide to assessment, intervention, and prevention, copyright 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, N.J., is a chapter that addresses the above questions regarding the use of CDIs with college students among other related issues. Authored by William Campbell and Reid Hester, this chapter (#10 – pages 246 - 267), Computer Interventions, may be the best review I have yet to read on the topic. These authors have managed to review the rather complex literature on CDIs and synthesize a very readable review of ten of the more prominent examples of CDIs, including a very objective review of the empirical evidence supporting (or not) the claims made by those marketing these program. In addition, they include a simple yet thorough matrix that compares and contrasts the ten better known CDIs on six specific criteria: Developer & Contact Information, Purpose, Completion Time, Design & Components, Administrative Features, and cost.

Of particular importance—and one of the more practical reasons that all Student Affairs administrators are recommended to read this chapter—is that this matrix (see pp 252-253) and its accompanying review of the 10 cited CDIs provides an excellent vehicle by which otherwise under-informed administrators can sort through the often hyperbolic PR related to the many computerized products that are commercially available and vying for student affairs dollars. Suffice it to say that a quick review of Campbell and Hester’s chapter suggests that quality and cost are not necessarily positively correlated.

This is but the first of two reviews I will write on this chapter—and considering that the lead editor on the text has asked that I review the entire book, subsequent posts will address other chapters and ultimately the entire text as well. That said, here are some quick reference materials related to both the text and the Campbell & Hester chapter that may be of interest:

1. A link to the text on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/College-Student-Alcohol-Abuse-Intervention/dp/1118038193
2. A link to the Google Books page on the text: http://bit.ly/Uu9ket (Note: You can “sample” this text and all its chapters at this site). 
3. A Link to the Campbell & Hester chapter: http://bit.ly/TD4UfC (Note: Scroll down to pages 252 – 253 to see the matrix referenced above).

Next Post: Why CDIs are appropriate for consideration in higher education’s quest to address the heavy drinking of some collegians and what the future of CDIs, according to Campbell and Hester, holds…stay tuned!