Reducing intoxication among university students: A replication of the Safer California Universities Intervention

The Safer California Universities study involves 14 California public universities, using an intervention that comprised roadside DUI checks, underage decoy operations at retail outlets, and designated off-campus “party patrols,” coupled with the use of multiple communication channels to publicize these enforcement activities.  In previous analyses, 7 of the campuses randomly-assigned to the intervention condition were found to have reduced self-reported intoxication at targeted settings.  Here, we examined the effects of these strategies after they were adopted by the former control campuses to see if the original effects would be replicated.

Methods:  Annual survey data were collected each Fall from random samples of undergraduates on the campuses from 2003 through 2011.  The surveys included questions regarding six venues where students drank, and intoxication at each setting during the semester, and whether students drank to intoxication the last time they went to each setting.  The SAS GLIMMIX procedure was used, controlling for student and campus background characteristics.

Results:  Significant intervention effects were found in the expected directions for key outcomes of interest.  These results were consistent with what was found in the original reports of intervention effects in the first cohort, and were also observed in the second cohort in the second intervention phase.

Conclusions:  Environmental strategies of this sort appear to be effective in reducing the incidence and likelihood of intoxication among college students.  The impact appears to be replicated, but some decay in those effects is apparent among the first cohort to implement the intervention.