An interventional study of BASICS and Online alcohol programming in Alcohol Consumption, sponsored by University of Southern California. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 26 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-06-17.
Sponsored by University of Southern California · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
This research study will test the efficacy of a telehealth version of the Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS), which is the gold standard prevention and intervention approach to target heavy alcohol use on college campuses across the United States.
In this study, the researchers will evaluate the efficacy of a tele-BASICS approach utilizing the ZOOM application compared to in-person BASICS and a lower threshold treatment as usual intervention. Three hundred mandated and 300 volunteer students who report hazardous drinking will be recruited from two large universities and randomly assigned to a condition (in-person BASICS, Tele-BASICS, or treatment as usual). Follow-up assessments will occur 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-months post-baseline. The significance of this research lies in the potential to maximize access to the highest standard of care by establishing support for easier access without sacrificing any central features of the traditional BASICS intervention. In addition, many universities pragmatically adapted existing in-person interventions to remote-telehealth approaches in response to the COVID pandemic but now have no scientific basis for determining whether transitioning back to in-person approaches would be beneficial.
701 studies on the registry are indexed under Alcohol Drinking; 133 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 600 is above the median of 122 across 607 interventional studies indexed under Alcohol Drinking.
Browse Alcohol Drinking studies →University of Southern California is the lead sponsor of 791 studies on the registry; 136 are open to participants now.
Of its 70 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 32 (46%) have results posted.
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Exclusion Criteria:
This intervention conditions consist of a feedback interview with a trained facilitator. The feedback interview is a one-hour intervention based on the information provided during the baseline assessment. The content and process of the interview will be similar to methods developed and tested by Marlatt and colleagues and described in detail in the BASICS manual. Trained facilitators will meet individually with the students in-person and provide concrete personalized feedback regarding the following BASICS content: drinking patterns, drinking norms, risks, beliefs about alcohol and its effects, and protective behavioral strategies
Behavioral: BASICS
This intervention conditions consist of a feedback interview with a trained facilitator just like in the in-person BASICS condition. However, the feedback interview will be conducted over Zoom. Trained facilitators will meet individually with the students using video conferencing software and provide concrete personalized feedback regarding the following BASICS content: drinking patterns, drinking norms, risks, beliefs about alcohol and its effects, and protective behavioral strategies
Behavioral: BASICS
The control group for this study will receive the universities' online program that is typically given to students as a first line sanction. The program is informed by BASICS, but includes no facilitator, either in-person or online. It is primarily text-based with some graphics. It contains alcohol information (physiological reactions at specific blood alcohol levels, safe drinking tips, signs of alcohol poisoning), descriptions of alcohol laws and policies (on campus, minor in possession laws), campus and national resources (e.g., contact information for crisis hotlines and student counseling center), and personalized feedback (e.g., number of calories consumed via alcoholic drinks, money spent on alcohol).
Behavioral: Online alcohol programming
The intervention is the BASICS protocol outlined in the BASICS manual. It includes an online self-administered assessment and then delivery of a feedback session either in-person or over Zoom.
This is a control intervention that is used as the first-line sanction for students at the two universities. It is an online program, informed by BASICS content, but contains no facilitator and is self-directed.
Alcohol use
Quantity and frequency of alcohol use in the past month (i.e., how many days drank and how many drinks per occasion). Assessed at baseline and then 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-months post-baseline.
Time frame: Assessed over the course of 12 months
Alcohol-related consequences
Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire assesses past month consequences from alcohol use. Higher scores indicate more endorsement of the 24 consequences (yes/no) items on the scale. Outcome assessed at baseline and then 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-months post-baseline
Time frame: Assessed over the course of 12 months
Completion rates
We will evaluate completion rates of the each of the three programs tested in this study. This will be indicated by whether participants attended their scheduled BASICS session or fully completed their online treatment as ususal alcohol program
Time frame: One time assessment at end of program, after 1 session is completed 1 to 2 weeks post-baseline
Plan to share: Undecided — Data will be uploaded to the NIAAA Data Archive (NIAAADA) consistent with NIAAA protocols and requirements. Data will be shared to the repository for other researchers to access in non-identifiable form. Participants will be informed that their anonymous data will be uploaded to the NIAAADA.
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