Beyond the Bottle: Evaluating the Effects of Feedback on College Students’ Self-Reports of Alcohol Consumption and Standard Drink Free-Pours
Poster Number
27
Research or Creativity Area
Social Sciences
Abstract
Some researchers suggest that providing college students feedback on their free pours of alcohol improves the accuracy of their self-reported drinking. However, few researchers compare behavioral measures to self-report, so the effects of feedback remain unclear. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of feedback on college students’ self-report of alcohol consumption and their free pours. We replicated a study (White et al., 2005) and extended it by including a second free-pour, after receiving feedback, to observe if the accuracy of the free-pour improved. The participants, 12 college students, completed an alcohol consumption questionnaire, defined the ounces in and provided free-pours of what they believed to be standard servings of various alcoholic beverages. They completed these activities during baseline, after reading informational sheets from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), and then again after receiving feedback on their baseline free-pours. No participants in baseline accurately poured a standard serving of beer and no participants' definition of free pours corresponded to their free pour. After baseline, nine participants were able to accurately pour a standard serving of beer but three participants' definitions did not correspond to their free pour. Results indicate that feedback was effective to improve accuracy of free pours and definitions. However, there were important differences in the stated definitions compared to the free pour. Looking at the individual data points, there is much variability while the aggregated data does not accurately represent the individual participants. These discrepancies have important implications for the reliability and validity of college students’ self-reported alcohol consumption, and thus our understanding of the effects of alcohol consumption.
Location
Don and Karen DeRosa University Center (DUC) Poster Hall
Start Date
27-4-2024 10:30 AM
End Date
27-4-2024 12:30 PM
Beyond the Bottle: Evaluating the Effects of Feedback on College Students’ Self-Reports of Alcohol Consumption and Standard Drink Free-Pours
Don and Karen DeRosa University Center (DUC) Poster Hall
Some researchers suggest that providing college students feedback on their free pours of alcohol improves the accuracy of their self-reported drinking. However, few researchers compare behavioral measures to self-report, so the effects of feedback remain unclear. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of feedback on college students’ self-report of alcohol consumption and their free pours. We replicated a study (White et al., 2005) and extended it by including a second free-pour, after receiving feedback, to observe if the accuracy of the free-pour improved. The participants, 12 college students, completed an alcohol consumption questionnaire, defined the ounces in and provided free-pours of what they believed to be standard servings of various alcoholic beverages. They completed these activities during baseline, after reading informational sheets from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), and then again after receiving feedback on their baseline free-pours. No participants in baseline accurately poured a standard serving of beer and no participants' definition of free pours corresponded to their free pour. After baseline, nine participants were able to accurately pour a standard serving of beer but three participants' definitions did not correspond to their free pour. Results indicate that feedback was effective to improve accuracy of free pours and definitions. However, there were important differences in the stated definitions compared to the free pour. Looking at the individual data points, there is much variability while the aggregated data does not accurately represent the individual participants. These discrepancies have important implications for the reliability and validity of college students’ self-reported alcohol consumption, and thus our understanding of the effects of alcohol consumption.
