261387 Benefits of screening and brief intervention for college students served by a university counseling center

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Loretta L. Denering, M.S. , Integrated Substance Abuse Programs and School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles and Loma Linda University, Los Angeles, CA
Suzanne Spear, PhD , School of Public Health, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
This poster provides preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of the Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) and ASSIST-linked brief intervention in a mental health clinic with college students. Data are from the UCLA Access to Care project, which enrolled students at a university counseling center in a single group, pre-post evaluation study from 2006 to 2009. Students deemed to be at risk for substance use problems were offered the ASSIST and the ASSIST-linked brief intervention. Staff therapists administered the ASSIST and brief intervention as part of routine care. A total of 453 students between the ages of 18-24 participated in the evaluation and completed baseline and 6-month follow up interviews. Changes in alcohol and marijuana use were examined by McNemar's test of proportions and by paired t-tests for means. Reductions in the rates of binge drinking and marijuana use were found. Reductions in the number of days used in the prior 30 days were also found for binge drinking and marijuana. Screening and brief intervention procedures may be effective in reducing problematic drug and alcohol use among college students in a mental health setting.

Learning Areas:
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Define the components of SBI and identify it as an effective tool in mental health settings.

Keywords: Substance Abuse, Screening

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have nearly 5 years of research experience as a project coordinator and now project director in addiction treatment, specifically in the evaluation of substance use disorder treatment systems and outcomes. I have nine years of research experience in the behavioral sciences. In general, my scientific research interests fall within the arena of evaluation – specifically of program performance within the substance use disorder and mental health treatment systems.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4259.0: SBIRT Across Populations & Settings