Individual-Level Strategies

Individual-level strategies aim to produce changes in attitudes or behaviors related to alcohol use rather than the environments in which alcohol use occurs. Expected outcomes, in general, are that a strategy may decrease an individual’s alcohol use (e.g., frequency, quantity, or blood alcohol concentration) and/or alcohol-related risk-taking behaviors, thereby reducing harmful consequences. All studies used college students as the research population.

^a = New intervention (2019)
^b = Intervention changed position in the matrix (2019)

All individual-level strategies rated by CollegeAIM

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Lower costs $	Mid-range costs $$	Higher costs $$$
Higher effectiveness
Normative re-education: Electronic/mailed personalized normative feedback (PNF)—Generic/other View Details Skills training, alcohol focus: Self-monitoring/self-assessment alone View Details Personalized feedback intervention (PFI): eCHECKUP TO GO (formerly, e-CHUG) View Details	Skills training, alcohol focus: Goal/intention-setting alone View Details Skills training, alcohol plus general life skills: Alcohol Skills Training Program (ASTP) View Details Brief motivational intervention (BMI): In-person—Individual (e.g., BASICS) View Details Personalized feedback intervention (PFI): Generic/other View Details	Multi-component education-focused program (MCEFP): AlcoholEdu^® for College View Details
Moderate effectiveness
Skills training, alcohol focus: Decisional balance exercise alone^a View Details Skills training, alcohol focus: Protective behavioral strategies alone^a View Details	Normative re-education: In-person norms clarification alone^b View Details Skills training, alcohol focus: Expectancy challenge interventions (ECI)—Experiential View Details Skills training, alcohol plus general life skills: Parent-based alcohol communication training View Details Skills training, alcohol plus general life skills or general life skills only: Generic/other View Details Brief motivational intervention (BMI): In-person—Group View Details Multi-component education-focused programs (MCEFP): Alcohol-Wise^™ (contains eCHECKUP TO GO)^a View Details	None
Lower effectiveness
Normative re-education: Electronic/mailed personalized normative feedback (PNF)—Event-specific prevention (21^st birthday cards) View Details Skills training, alcohol plus general life skills: Alcohol 101 Plus^{™ b} View Details	None	None
Not effective
Skills training, alcohol focus: Expectancy challenge intervention (ECI)—By proxy/didactic/discussion alone View Details	Information/knowledge/education alone View Details Values clarification alone View Details Skills training, alcohol focus: Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) feedback alone^b View Details	None
Too few studies to rate effectiveness
Personalized feedback intervention (PFI): CheckYourDrinking (beta 1.0 version) View Details Personalized feedback intervention (PFI): College Drinker’s Check-up (CDCU) View Details Electronic/mailed Personalized Feedback Intervention (PFI): Drinking Assessment and Feedback Tool for College Students (DrAFT-CS)^a View Details	Multi-component education-focused programs (MCEFP): Miscellaneous View Details	None

Individual-level interventions delivered by health professionals

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Interventions delivered by health care professionals
Strategies in which health care professionals identify and help students whose drinking patterns put them at risk for harm, or who are already experiencing alcohol-related problems: Screening and behavioral treatments View Details Medications for alcohol use disorder View Details These approaches can reduce harmful drinking, according to studies conducted mainly in general adult populations (ages 18-65). The differences in research populations, along with wide variations in costs and barriers across campuses, precluded ratings relative to other strategies.

Interventions delivered by health care professionals

Strategies in which health care professionals identify and help students whose drinking patterns put them at risk for harm, or who are already experiencing alcohol-related problems:

Screening and behavioral treatments

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Medications for alcohol use disorder

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These approaches can reduce harmful drinking, according to studies conducted mainly in general adult populations (ages 18-65).

The differences in research populations, along with wide variations in costs and barriers across campuses, precluded ratings relative to other strategies.

NOTE: Cost ratings are based on the relative program and staff costs for adoption, implementation, and maintenance of a strategy. Actual costs will vary by institution, depending on size, existing programs, and other campus and community factors.

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