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An International Comparison of a Web-Based Personalized Feedback Intervention for Alcohol use During the Transition out of High School in the United States and Sweden

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Abstract

Young adult drinkers engage in a range of drinking patterns from abstaining to heavy drinking in both the United States and Sweden. Heavy drinking during young adulthood in both countries is associated with a variety of negative consequences. Personalized feedback interventions have been identified as effective prevention strategies to prevent or reduce heavy drinking in the United States. This study examined transitions in drinking profiles and compared the efficacy of a personalized feedback intervention for 3965 young adults in the United States (1,735) and Sweden (2230) during their transition out of high school. Using goodness-of-fit criteria, results indicated that three drinking profiles exist among young adults transitioning out of high school: very low drinkers/abstainers, moderate to heavy drinkers, and very heavy drinkers. Latent Markov models revealed a moderating effect of country on personalized feedback intervention such that intervention condition participants in the United States were more likely to belong to the light drinker/abstainer or moderate to heavy profile relative to the very heavy drinking profile at 6-month follow-up. There was no significant effect of personalized feedback intervention in Sweden. Future research could investigate the impact of when personalized feedback interventions are administered and could examine if personalized feedback interventions should be more intentionally culturally adapted in order to be more effective.

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Funding

This research was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) (R01 AA018276-05) awarded to Drs. Larimer and Berglund. Dr. Schwebel was supported by a training grant from NIAAA (T32 AA018108).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, 1100 NE 45th St, Suite 300, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA

    Mary E. Larimer, Christine M. Lee, Jason R. Kilmer, Nicole Fossos-Wong & Timothy Pace

  2. Department of Psychology and Center On Alcohol, Substance Use, And Addictions, University of New Mexico, MSC03 2220 Logan Hall 118, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA

    Katie Witkiewitz & Frank J. Schwebel

  3. Department of Health Behavior and Health Systems, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX, 76107, USA

    Melissa A. Lewis

  4. Department of Criminology, Malmö University, 205 06, Malmö, Sweden

    Claes Andersson & Mats Berglund

  5. Department of Social Work, Malmö University, 205 06, Malmö, Sweden

    Kent Johnsson

  6. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington, Box 359740, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA

    Tiara Dillworth

  7. Department of Community Medicine and Health, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Lausanne University Hospital, Switzerland, University of Washington, 1100 NE 45th St, Suite 300, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA

    Véronique S. Grazioli

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  1. Mary E. Larimer
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  2. Katie Witkiewitz
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Frank J. Schwebel.

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Larimer, M.E., Witkiewitz, K., Schwebel, F.J. et al. An International Comparison of a Web-Based Personalized Feedback Intervention for Alcohol use During the Transition out of High School in the United States and Sweden . Prev Sci 22, 670–682 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-021-01231-w

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