Intercept surveys were conducted with 149 college students each asked to record their alcohol consumption for the previous 2 weeks using the Timeline Follow-back (TLFB method). Immediately following completion of the pretest TLFB alcohol survey the students were presented with brief educational information defining what constitutes one standard drink. Students then completed a new posttest TLFB survey and re-recorded the number of drinks they had in the previous 2 weeks. Among drinkers the majority, 55 percent, reported an increased number of drinks in response to the standard drink education information they received. Posteducation TLFB survey records were significantly higher than baseline presurvey records conducted within a 5 minute timeframe of one another. Validating the accuracy of baseline self-reported alcohol consumption is important to both prevention and intervention fields potentially enabling practitioners to more accurately: a) assess alcohol education and counseling needs; b) assess baseline alcohol use rates; and c) measure outcomes.
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/dessa_bergen-cico/5/