Ehret & Sherman, 2018: Affirming values and implementing if-then strategies to reduce drinking increased abstinence rates among undergraduates over two weeks
Reference:
Summary:
College student drinkers (average of 11 drinks/week at baseline) (1) reflected on personal values (versus how a value less important to them might be important to someone else), before reading information about the risks of drinking and (2) made a plan about how to implement two strategies to reduce harm using an “If…then…” template (versus described why each strategy would be helpful). Examining the percentage of students who abstained from drinking over the next week, both main effects were significant: 41% of participants who both affirmed and completed an implementation intention abstained, as compared to 31% in the implementation-only condition, 26% in the affirmation-only condition, and 17% in the control condition. In the second week post-intervention only the main effect of affirmation was significant (combined: 35%; implementation-intention only: 23%; affirmation-only: 28%; control: 17%).