Abstract
Volitional help sheets (VHS) have been shown to be effective in changing health behavior, but not yet alcohol consumption in a general population. The aim of the present research was to test the ability of VHS to reduce alcohol consumption against an active control condition, a “standard” self-generated implementation intention condition, and forming a single implementation intention using the VHS. Sixty-nine participants were randomly allocated to one of four conditions: active control, VHS: single implementation intention, VHS: multiple implementation intentions and self-generated implementation intention. The main outcome measure was alcohol intake, assessed using a version of the timeline follow-back technique. Subsequent alcohol consumption decreased by more than 0.5 standard units (8 grams) per day in each of the experimental conditions (ps < 0.05), but increased marginally (0.05 units/day) in the active control condition. There were no significant differences in cognition or behavior between the three experimental conditions. The findings support the efficacy of a new VHS to reduce alcohol consumption. Further research is needed to identify alternative means by which people may form implementation intentions.
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Notes
Note that the government recommendation is that women should consume no more than 2–3 units of alcohol per day and that men should consume no more than 3–4 units of alcohol per day. However, national figures are reported in terms of exceeding the lower end of the recommendation, which equates to 14 units (women) and 21 units (men) of alcohol in a week. These figures therefore vary from those reported in Table 1 because the present study focused on drinking within government-recommended levels; namely, fewer than 3 units per day for women and fewer than 4 units per day for men.
Note that 35/69 (50.7 %) participants were drinking within government-recommended levels.
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We would like to thank Laura Picton for her help with collecting and entering the data.
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Appendix
Volitional Help Sheet for Moderate Alcohol Consumption
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Armitage, C.J., Arden, M.A. A Volitional Help Sheet to Reduce Alcohol Consumption in the General Population: A Field Experiment. Prev Sci 13, 635–643 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-012-0291-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-012-0291-4