Social Network Moderators of Brief Alcohol Intervention Impact

Objective: This investigation examined the impact of social networks on drinking reduction efforts following a brief alcohol intervention. In a reanalysis of data from an earlier randomized controlled trial with nonstudent emerging adult drinkers (Lau-Barraco et al., 2018), we aimed to test three domains of preintervention social network features as potential factors influencing intervention response: (a) general network characteristics (i.e., network size, network stability), (b) general network alcohol use (i.e., network alcohol abstainers, network heavy/problem drinkers), and (c) risky peers in network (i.e., proportion of drinking buddies, presence of drinking buddies identified as heavy/problem drinker). Method: Participants were 164 emerging adult heavy drinkers recruited from the community (65.9% men; mean age = 21.98 years; 56.2% ethnic minority). Participants were randomly assigned to either a brief personalized feedback intervention (PFI) or assessment-only control and provided data at 1-month and 3-month follow-ups. Results: Greater network stability and greater representation of alcohol abstainers in one's social network were associated with improved initial postintervention response. Heavy/problem drinkers in the network did not moderate initial postintervention effects on drinking outcomes, but there was potentially a stronger intervention effect on risk reduction for those with higher proportions of drinking buddies in their network. Conclusions: Study findings provided evidence that a PFI was efficacious in mitigating some risky social network influence. However, findings did not support a consistent impact across all the network variables examined. Future research is needed to further clarify social network influences and how they may be targeted to enhance intervention efficacy. Public Health Significance Statement Our findings suggest that a brief alcohol intervention diminished some influence from risky social networks on alcohol consumption among emerging adult heavy drinkers from the community. This study contributed new knowledge regarding the impact of social network ties on behavior change in a vulnerable and understudied group of drinkers that will help guide the development of future interventions.

Automated summary

This study explored the impact of social networks on alcohol intervention, finding that network stability and presence of alcohol abstainers were associated with better intervention response. However, heavy/problem drinkers did not moderate intervention effects, and individuals with higher proportions of drinking buddies in their network potentially experienced stronger risk reduction effects.