Two Free Online Resources for High-Risk Alcohol Use Prevention

The current global pandemic has introduced challenges into nearly all aspects of life. It challenges how we interact with students and each other. Many of our traditional challenges remain the same, or are amplified in this current environment.  This is certainly the case for high-risk substance use prevention. While we are all looking for effective ways to serve students in a virtual format, we are sharing a reminder of the online alcohol prevention program, 360 Proof, provided as a member benefit to the NASPA Small Colleges and Universities Division as well as NCAA Division III schools.

The two free online resources are:

1. Personalized Feedback Index (PFI). While the core of 360 Proof is a series of planning tools and continuing education opportunities, it also includes a turnkey prevention tool, the personalized feedback index (PFI).  The PFI is a confidential online tool for students to answer a series of questions about their alcohol use, receive web-based personalized feedback on the impact of that use, and received personalized normative feedback to allow them to see how their behaviors compare to other students.  The PFI is evidence based¹, and was developed with the intention of being used campus-wide, while including additional feedback and content for students who identify as intercollegiate athletes. It is simple to administer the PFI from a distance and to provide resources students may access virtually.

There are several instances where the 360 Proof PFI could be useful.

• The PFI can be helpful to complete scheduled or required alcohol programming, particularly for intercollegiate athletics.
• The spring historically carries some high-risk events. It is possible these could be occurring virtually, or that students are nevertheless still making attempts to get together in person.  The PFI could have an impact on reducing harm for students as a component of event-specific prevention.  
• If students are feeling isolated while isolating, or are struggling to manage stress, it is possible alcohol use motives (e.g., drinking to cope) are shifting.  Here, too, ways to manage risk becomes important.
• Some student-athletes, especially spring sport athletes and/or seniors, could be literally grieving the loss (or possible loss) of their intercollegiate athletics careers.  This is another area where being sensitive about “drinking to cope” becomes important.

2. 360 Proof brings national experts to the small college community through a regular webinar series. These sessions are recorded and made available as part of our Learning Collaborative.  The following sessions may be helpful for you to review at this time:

• Focusing on Protective Behavioral Strategies and Their Impact on College Student Drinking Behaviors, Dr. Matthew Martens, March 9, 2017 (47:37) Link: https://vimeo.com/207694155
• Spectacular Failures in Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Prevention: Redefining the Meaning of Interventions that Don’t Work, Dr. Dolores Cimini, April 17, 2017 (47:25) Link: https://vimeo.com/21322602
• Nationwide Trends in AOD Use from the Monitoring the Future Study, Dr. John Schulenberg, November 30, 2017 (59:44) Link: https://vimeo.com/245292134
• Why College Students Drink Too Much and Party So Hard, Dr. Thomas Vander Ven, April 11, 2018 (63:00) Link: https://vimeo.com/264346905
• College AIM 2.0: Updates and Implications, Dr. Jessica Cronce, February 7, 2019 (60:28) Link: https://vimeo.com/315877770
• Looking Back and Looking Forward: Lessons Learned for Prevention of (Alcohol) Consequences, Dr. David Anderson, April 10, 2019, (51:41) Link: https://vimeo.com/330012964
• Cannabis/Marijuana and Possible Impacts to Student Athletes (relevant to all students), Dr. Jason Kilmer, September 18, 2019 (58:48) Link: https://vimeo.com/361803450

Please visit 360proof.org to learn more about the program, and reach out to [email protected] if you have any questions about the program or registration.

1: The 360 Proof PFI was developed by a team that utilized the PFI tested in Martens, Kilmer, Beck, & Zamboanga (2010) as the model, and the PFI team included 3 of those 4 authors in the development effort.  In version 2.0 of NIAAA’s College Alcohol Intervention Matrix (CollegeAIM), 8 individually-focused approaches are rated with “higher effectiveness;” one of those 8 approaches, “Personalized Feedback Intervention, Generic/Other,” includes the Martens et al (2010) study as part of its evidence base..