2 College Truths and 1 Lie

Summary

This pilot randomized control trial (RCT) aims to assess the feasibility and efficacy of 2 College Truths \& 1 Lie (2T1L), a gamified social norms marketing campaign (SNMC) aimed at preventing and reducing first-year college student drinking. This program is designed to correct overestimations of peers' alcohol use behaviors, which, as shown in previous research, influence one's own future drinking behaviors. To examine the efficacy of 2T1L, this pilot trial will use a longitudinal design to determine whether playing 2T1L during the first few weeks of college will prevent increases in drinking or reduce subsequent alcohol use among first-year students during the same year, relative to exposure to a static social media-delivered SNMC or an assessment-only control condition. The investigators hypothesize that students randomized to receive the interactive 2T1L SNMC game will report less state psychological reactance in response to normative campus drinking statistics than students randomized to the non-gamified SNMC condition. Further, students in the 2T1L game condition will report greater accuracy in their perceptions of campus drinking norms and consume less alcohol following the six-week SNMC (short-term follow-up) and toward the end of the first year (long-term follow-up) compared to those randomized to both the active non-gamified SNMC and assessment-only control conditions.

Conditions

• Underage Drinking

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Gamified Social Norms Marketing Campaign

This intervention is a gamified social norms marketing campaign (SNMC) primarily disseminated via advertisements on Instagram. These advertisements will invite students to participate in a game about student life at their university, during which misperceived alcohol norms will be corrected. The gamified SNMC spans the first full six weeks of students' first fall semester in college and includes three rounds of play. Round one occurs during the first two weeks, round two during the third and fourth weeks, and round three during the fifth and sixth weeks. In the game, participants are asked to identify whether normative facts related to a variety of topics are true or false. Correct feedback is then provided, intended to reinforce accurate norms related to alcohol use, which are embedded alongside other facts about college life.

BEHAVIORAL

Social Norms Marketing Campaign

This intervention is a social norms marketing campaign that is primarily delivered via advertisements on Instagram. These advertisements will contain normative facts related to student life at their university, during which misperceived alcohol norms will be corrected.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Loyola Marymount University

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

20 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-08-05

Primary Completion

2025-05-15

Completion

2025-05-15

Countries

• United States

Study Locations