Computer-based interventions for college drinking: A qualitative review

E-interventions, or electronically based interventions, have become increasingly popular in recent years. College alcohol use has been one area in which such interventions have been implemented and evaluated. The purpose of this paper is to review the seventeen randomized controlled trials that have been published as of August 2007. These studies compared the effectiveness of e-interventions with other commonly used techniques, reading materials, and assessment-only control conditions. Overall, findings provide some support for such programs, especially in comparison with assessment-only control conditions. In addition, possible moderators (e.g. baseline drinking patterns) and mediators (e.g. corrected drinking norms) have emerged. Limitations and areas for future research are discussed.