Improving web-based alcohol behavior interventions targeting college students: Assessment of process evaluation

Issues: Program fidelity is a critical component of intervention evaluation. Web-based interventions have become increasingly popular in recent years due to their cost-effectiveness and high reach potential. The purpose of this investigation was to synthesize process evaluation methodology of web-based interventions targeting alcohol behaviors of college students. Description: Data were extracted from studies published in CINAHL, ERIC, MEDLINE, and Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Abstracts were reviewed independently by two investigators applying the following inclusion criteria: (1) web-based, (2) alcohol behavior interventions, (3) of quantitative design that (4) targeted college students, (5) between 2000 and 2012, and (6) incorporated process evaluation. Lessons Learned: Inclusion criteria were met by nine interventions. A large portion of excluded studies were brief interventions devoid of any process evaluation. Of the studies analyzing process evaluation, most were limited to participant satisfaction and perceived usefulness of the intervention. Among studies gauging fidelity, log-in codes, date and duration of activity, portions of web-site visited, forced-response validation, reminder e-mails, and complementary protocol packets were the most frequently utilized modalities. Recommendations: To assess the efficacy of web-based programs researchers must begin building substantive implementation process evaluation into both brief and full interventions. While participant satisfaction is important, the true value of process evaluation lies in the ability to gauge accuracy of program delivery. Among interventions that did evaluate implementation, analysis was primarily limited to data mining. Current process evaluation practices provide minimal ability to gauge fidelity of program delivery. Strategies for including fidelity evaluation into web-based environments are provided.