Table 3.
Characteristics of screening, experimental, and control interventions, and nature and timing of assessments.
| Study ID | Screening cutoffa | eSBI detailsa | Control group | Dropouts at follow-up, n (%)a |
| Araki et al, 2006 [23] | Abnormal levels of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase | Personalized feedback and advice sent via 2 emails 1 month apart; encouraged to ask questions via email | Assessment only | 2 mo: (1 participant was not included in the analysis but the group that they were randomized to was not reported) |
| Blankers et al, 2011 [24] | AUDIT score ≥8 and reported drinking average 14 standard drinks per week | Access to an online self-help program based on motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioral therapy principles, suggested daily use for 4 weeks | Assessment only | 3 mo: eSBI: 20 (29.4), control: 18 (26.1) |
| Boon et al, 2011 [25] | Exceeding Dutch guideline for low risk drinkers (>20 alcohol units per week or > 5 alcohol units on a single occasion on at least 1 day/week) | Single, 20-min brief personalized feedback session through website with the opportunity to print the feedback | Assessment and educational leaflet, instructed to read the leaflet for 20 min and could print the material | 1 mo: eSBI: 18 (7.8), control: 19 (8.6) 6 mo: eSBI: 22 (9.6), control: 25 (11.4) |
| Butler et al, 2009 [26] | ≥2 binge drinking occasions (≥5 drinks in 1 sitting for men and 4 or more for women) and 2 alcohol-related problems in the past 28 days Standard drink=14 g ethanol | Single, average 11-min session of computer-delivered personalized feedback and a paper copy to take home | Assessment only | 4 w: eSBI: 9 (30.0), control: 4 (15.4) |
| Cunningham et al, 2009 [16] and Cunningham et al, 2010 [17] | Score ≥4 on the AUDIT-C (standard drink=13.6 g ethanol) | Single, 10-min session completing Check Your Drinking online intervention of normative and personalized feedback | Assessment and a list of possible components to include in an intervention | 3 mo: eSBI=7 (7.6), control: 3 (3.2) 6 mo: eSBI: 7 (7.6), control: 8 (8.6) 12 mo: eSBI: 11 (12.0), control: 11 (11.8) |
| Cunningham et al, 2012 [27] | Score ≥4 on the AUDIT-C | Access to the Check Your Drinking University version online intervention of normative and personalized feedback; intervention could be accessed repeatedly | Assessment only | 6 w: eSBI: 59 (28.0), control: 75 (35.0) |
| Ekman et al, 2011 [28] | (1) Weekly alcohol consumption >120 g ethanol (women) or 180 g ethanol (men) in a typical week in the past 3 months and/or (2) engaged with heavy episodic drinking defined as consuming ≥48 g of ethanol (women) or ≥60 g of ethanol (men) on ≥2 occasions in the past month | Single session intervention of personalized normative feedback delivered via email | Assessment and brief feedback consisting of 3 statements | 3 mo: eSBI: 125 (37.9), control: 113 (34.9) 6 mo: eSBI: 78 (24), control: 80 (24) |
| Hansen et al, 2012 [29] | Above recommended max drinking limit set by the Danish National Board of Health of 14 drinks/168 g ethanol for women or 21 drinks/252 g for men (standard drink=12 g ethanol) | PFI: fully automated, Internet-based single session of brief personalized and normative feedback; PBA: fully automated, Internet-based single session of brief personalized feedback and advice | Assessment only | 6 mo: eSBI PFI: 186 (39.0), eSBI PBA: 171 (38.0), control: 150 (33.0) 12 mo: eSBI PFI: 109 (22.9), eSBI PBA: 108 (24.0), control: 95 (20.9) |
| Hester et al, 2012 [30] | Met the National Institute for Alcohol and Alcohol Abuse (2004) criteria for heavy episodic drinking of ≥4 drinks per occasion (women) or ≥5 drinks per occasion (men) at least once in past 2 weeks and an estimated peak blood alcohol concentration of 80 mg% or more (standard drink=14 g ethanol) | Self-guided College Drinkers Check-up, delivered online, single session taking up to 35 min to complete; assessment, normative feedback, and advice | Assessment only | Exp 1 (1 mo): eSBI: 2 (3.1), control: 2.5) Exp 1 (12 mo): eSBI: 6 (9.2), control: 8 (10.1) Exp 2 (1 mo): eSBI: 0 (0.0), control: 1 (2.5) |
| Hester et al, 2005 [31] | Score ≥8 AUDIT (standard drink=14 g ethanol) | Computer-based DCU, assessment, feedback, and decision-making modules; single session can take up to 90 min to complete with the option of printing the feedback | Assessment only | 4 w: not reported |
| Kypri et al, 2009 [32] | Score ≥8 on AUDIT and exceeding the Australian National Health and Medical Research Councils guideline for acute risk (defined as 4 standard drinks for women or 6 for men in a single occasion in the last 4 weeks); standard drink=10 g ethanol | Single online session of personalized feedback | Assessment only | 1 mo: eSBI: 288 (23.0), control: 237 (20.0) 6 mo: eSBI: 442 (35.3), control: 420 (35.5) |
| Kypri et al, 2008 [33] | AUDIT score ≥8; standard drink=10 g ethanol | Single computer-delivered session of personalized and normative feedback taking a median 9.3 min to complete | Assessment and alcohol facts leaflet | 6 mo: eSBI: 22 (15.9), control: 22 (15.1) 12 mo: eSBI: 25 (18.1), control: 20 (13.7) |
| Kypri et al, 2013 [34] | Score ≥4 on AUDIT; standard drink=10 g ethanol | Single online session of personalized and normative feedback taking a median 4.3 min to complete | Assessment only | 5 mo: eSBI: 207 (22.0), control: 170 (20.0) |
| Kypri et al, 2004 [35] | Score ≥8 on AUDIT and consuming >4 standard drinks for men or >6 for women on ≥1 occasion in past 4 weeks (standard drink=10 g ethanol) | Computer-delivered single session of personalized feedback | Assessment and alcohol facts leaflet | 6 w: eSBI: 9 (17.6), control: 12 (22.6) 6 mo: eSBI: 4 (7.8), control: 6 (11.3) |
| Lewis et al, 2007 [36] | ≥1 heavy episode (≥4 standard drinks in 1 sitting for women and ≥5 standard drinks in 1 sitting for men) in the previous month; standard drink=14 g ethanol | eSBI specific: gender-specific Web-based personalized normative feedback; eSBI neutral: gender-neutral Web-based personalized normative feedback; feedback was read on screen and participants were given printout to take home | Assessment only | 5 mo: eSBI specific: 11 (14.7), eSBI neutral: 15 (18.3), control: 10 (11.4) |
| Murphy et al, 2010 [37] | ≥2 heavy drinking episodes in the past month (described as ≥4 standard drinks on 1 occasion for women and ≥5 standard drinks for men) or ≥1 heavy drinking episodes for minority students; standard drink=14 g ethanol | Interactive, Web-based intervention, E-CHUG (Electronic Check-up and Go), assessment and personalized feedback in a single session lasting up to 45 min with a brief comprehension test on completion | Assessment only | 1 mo: eSBI: 7 (15.6), control: 3 (7.1) |
| Neighbors et al, 2004 [38] | ≥1 heavy drinking episode in the previous month (defined as 4 standard drinks in 1 sitting for women and 5 standard drinks for men); standard drink=14 g ethanol | Single computer-delivered session of personalized normative feedback presented on screen for 1 min plus a printout | Assessment only | 3 mo: whole sample: 53 (21.0) 6 mo: whole sample: 45 (17.9) |
| Neighbors et al, 2010 [39] | ≥5 drinks for men and ≥4 drinks for women on ≥1 occasions in the past month; standard drink=14 g ethanol | eSBI GSF: single session delivered online giving personalized gender-specific feedback; eSBI GNSF: single session delivered online giving personalized gender-nonspecific feedback | Assessment and an attention test (facts about the university students were presented in the same format as the intervention) | 6 mo: eSBI GSF: 10 (6.1), eSBI GNSF: 16 (9.8), control: 13 (8.0) 24 mo: eSBI GSF: 33 (20.2), eSBI GNSF: 25 (15.2), control: 31 (19.0) |
| Neumann et al, 2006 [40] | AUDIT score ≥5 | Single session of computer-generated feedback and a printout to take home | Assessment only | 6 mo: eSBI:=213 (37.9), control: 207 (36.0) 12 mo: eSBI: 252 (44.9), control: 224 (39.0) |
| Palfai et al, 2011 [41] | Hazardous drinkers who either (1) consumed alcohol in the past month and scored ≥8 on AUDIT or (2) reported ≥2 heavy drinking episodes (defined as ≥5 drinks for men or ≥4 drinks for women in the past month; standard drink=14 g ethanol) | Single computer-delivered session of personalized, normative, and gender-specific feedback | Assessment and health guidelines for sleep and consumption of fruit and vegetables | 1 mo: whole sample: 0 (0.0) |
| Spijkerman et al, 2010 [42] | Age 15-16 y: engage in binge drinking at least once a month; age 17-20 y: engaged in binge drinking ≥1/week; binge drinking defined as drinking ≥4 alcoholic drinks for women or ≥6 for men on 1 occasion; standard drink=10 g ethanol | eSBI NNF: single online session of personalized feedback tailored to age and gender, took ~15 min to complete; eSBI NF: single online session of personalized normative gender- and age-specific feedback, took ~15 min to complete | Assessment only | 1 mo: eSBI NNF: 92 (47.9), eSBI NF: 93 (48.2), control: 68 (35.8)) 3 mo: eSBI NNF: 106 (55.2), eSBI NF: 104 (53.9), control: 87 (45.8) |
| Wagener et al, 2012 [43] | ≥1 heavy drinking session (≥5 drinks on 1 occasion for men or ≥4 for women), drinking ≥20 drinks/month on average and experiencing negative consequences of that use in the last month (standard drink=14 g ethanol) | Single session using of computer-delivered assessment personalized feedback using an interactive program (DRAFT-CS), took ~45 min to complete; participants were given printout of their feedback | Assessment only | 10 w: eSBI: 2 (5.1), control: 3 (8.1) |
| Walters et al, 2009 [44] | Reported ≥1 heavy drinking session in the past 2 weeks defined as ≥5 standard drinks for men and ≥4 standard drinks for women (standard drink=14 g ethanol) | eSBI: single session of personalized feedback delivered through the online Check-Up to Go | Assessment only | 3 mo: eSBI: 9 (13.4), control: 6 (8.7) 6 mo: eSBI: 13 (19.4), control: 8 (11.6) |
a eSBI: electronic screening and brief intervention, AUDIT: Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, PFI: brief personalized feedback intervention, PBA: personalized brief advice intervention, DCU: Drinkers Check Up, GSF: gender-specific, GNSF: gender-nonspecific, NNF: intervention without normative feedback, NF: intervention with normative feedback, FBO: feedback only, DRAFT-CS: Drinking Assessment and Feedback Tool for College Students.