What Do College Student Drinkers Want to Know? Student Perceptions of Alcohol-related Feedback

Abstract

Currently, there is little information available guiding which components to include in personalized feedback interventions. The present research examined the way in which students respond to the different feedback components presented in such interventions. Undergraduate student drinkers (N = 397, 41% male) rated their affinity for and skepticism of 14 feedback components and identified the three types of information that they preferred above all others. The majority of students preferred information regarding descriptive normative comparisons and the practical costs of drinking, while few reported a desire to learn behavioral strategies to limit risk or didactic information. High-risk drinkers (n = 228) reported lower ratings for all feedback components than did low-risk drinkers, and men provided significantly lower ratings for all feedback components than did women. This is the first study to document student preferences for the different feedback components commonly included in personalized feedback interventions. The current study generates hypotheses regarding methods and components that may increase the efficacy of current feedback interventions for high-risk drinking.