Brief Motivational Interventions Are Associated with Reductions in Alcohol-Induced Blackouts Among Heavy Drinking College Students

Heavy drinking college students are at high risk for experiencing alcohol-induced blackouts. Because of this, there is a need to determine if motivational interventions can effectively reduce blackouts in this population.

A recent study used data from clinical trials that took place over the course of 10 years and compared the effectiveness of four interventions: Computerized feedback, a single session brief motivational intervention (BMI), a BMI with a behavioral session focused on substance free activities, and BMI plus a relaxation training session. Participants reported whether they had experienced an alcohol induced blackout and drinking behaviors were monitored.

The results of this study indicated that the single session BMI and the computerized feedback were not effective in reducing alcohol-induced blackouts, but that students who received the other interventions including BMI were significantly less likely to experience a blackout in the following six months. This indicates that a single session of BMI alone is not effective in reducing alcohol-induced blackouts, but combining BMI with either relaxation therapy or substance free activities is effective.

Take Away: Brief motivational interventions are effective in reducing alcohol-induced blackouts when combined with a focus session on substance free activities or relaxation therapy. Single sessions of brief motivational interventions and computerized feedback methods are not effective.

Acuff, S.F., Voss, A.T., Dennhardy, A.A., Borsari, B., Martens, M.P. et al. (2019).  Brief Motivational Interventions Are Associated with Reductions in Alcohol-Induced Blackouts Among Heavy Drinking College Students. Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research. https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.14019