Center of Alcohol Studies Research

Led by Eun-Young Mun, Ph.D., and Helene White, Ph.D., this research project involves integrative data analysis (IDA) of existing data from multiple NIH-funded clinical alcohol intervention trials within the college population, including more than 20,000 participants. The overarching goal is to develop a new body of knowledge with regards to the impact of college alcohol interventions beyond efficacy, including a better understanding of mechanisms of change, moderators of intervention efficacy, as well as efficacy of secondary outcomes (e.g., drug use). The analytic approach includes an analysis of raw data from existing studies drawing on recent advances in psychometrics, longitudinal data analysis, and intervention evaluation methodology. The combined existing data features a large sample from 22 studies of alcohol interventions for college students who were followed-up for a maximum period of 4 years post-intervention. The IDA proposed in this study is intended to emulate a planned, multi-site study from multiple independent studies that are not designed to be part of a planned, multi-site study but share a number of key design features in common with other studies.
Research Aims
1.	To develop a more rigorous set of measures based on data from different studies to ensure that each measure shares a common underlying metric using a modified item response theory (IRT) model.
2.	To evaluate whether and when distinctive transitions in post-intervention trajectories of alcohol and drug use occur over time, and whether individual and situational differences contribute to different trajectories post-intervention.
3.	To test distinctive mechanisms of change (e.g., changes in alcohol expectancies, protective behavioral strategies, readiness to change, peer norms) and to examine whether potential moderators (e.g., family history of alcoholism, gender) either facilitate or hinder post-intervention changes.
4.	To test the efficacy of alcohol interventions for drug use and other secondary outcomes.
Research Team
		Eun-Young Mun, Ph.D., CAS David Atkins, Ph.D., University of Washington Jimmy de la Torre, Ph.D., Rutgers University Lisa Garberson, Ph.D., University of Washington Yan Huo, Ph.D., Rutgers University Yang Jiao, Graduate Student, CAS Mary Larimer, Ph.D., University of Washington Anne Ray, Ph.D., CAS Daniel Rudel, Research Assistant, CAS Helene White, Ph.D., CAS

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	Center of Alcohol Studies 607 Allison Road Piscataway, NJ 08854 Phone: 732-445-2190 FAX: 732-445-3500