Employment and living arrangement moderate the efectiveness of BI among university students

Abstract

Background: Although BI has shown to be efective among university students in high income countries, little research has been donein Latin-America. Furthermore, evidence examining moderators ofintervention efcacy is scarce. Certain characteristics that make alcohol more easily available to students, such as living outside of parentalcontrol or having economic autonomy to spend money on alcohol,could moderate BI efectiveness. The objective of this study is to evaluate the moderator role of the living arrangements and the employment situation on BI efectiveness.Materials and methods: Participants were 473 students from Mardel Plata National University (60% women, 40% men; between 17and 46 years old (M=20.34, SD=3.9)). Prospective participants werescreened and those with high-risk alcohol consumption in the last12 months were randomly assigned to a control group or BI. After3 months, they were re-assessed. The measures were: efectiveness (i.e.decrease in AUDIT scores (yes/no)), employment situation (work: yes/no) and living arrangements (living with family: yes/no). Fisher´s exacttest was used to analyze the moderator efects of living arrangementsand employment situation on efectiveness. Logistic regression analyses were performed in order to control the possible efect of age.Results: 76% of students lived with their families, while 24% livedalone or with friends; 42% of the students were employed. Livingwith family moderated (increased) BI efectiveness (9,310, p=0.01).Similarly, not having employment (i.e. being supported by family) alsomoderated (increased) BI efectiveness (7,611, p=0.02). These moderator efects were not accounted for by age.Conclusions: Living arrangement and employment moderatedefectiveness of BI, suggesting that restricted access to alcohol mayimprove the efectiveness of interventions among university students.