Facilitating a national policy trial: social norms and alcohol misuse in Welsh universities
Simon Murphy (DECIPHer)
13.30, Wednesday 10 July. Millennium Lounge, level 5
The need for intervention to reduce excessive alcohol consumption amongst UK university students has received increasing attention in recent years. The social norms approach, which has met with some success in the USA, is based on the assumption that student's perceptions of peer group norms influence behaviour, but that perceptions of social norms are often incorrect, with students typically overestimating normative alcohol consumption levels among their peers. Social norms interventions aim to correct these inaccurate perceptions, and in turn, to change behaviours.
However, UK intervention studies are scarce and in 2010 a Welsh Government/Drinkaware social norms pilot to address alcohol misuse in Welsh Universities was announced by the Cabinet Office Behavioural Insights Team. In 2011, an exploratory trial, funded by Alcohol Research UK, examined intervention acceptability, hypothesised processes of change and implementation, as well as the feasibility of a potential large scale effectiveness trial within student halls of residence in 4 universities.
This presentation will reflect on challenges in facilitating a national policy trial with policy and practice stakeholders. This includes the development of an appropriate social norms interventions within a complex university setting, negotiating a rigorous pragmatic research design, challenges in measuring student alcohol consumption, establishing actual and perceived norms, achieving sufficient response rates to evaluate intervention effects and influencing future policy and practice.
However, UK intervention studies are scarce and in 2010 a Welsh Government/Drinkaware social norms pilot to address alcohol misuse in Welsh Universities was announced by the Cabinet Office Behavioural Insights Team. In 2011, an exploratory trial, funded by Alcohol Research UK, examined intervention acceptability, hypothesised processes of change and implementation, as well as the feasibility of a potential large scale effectiveness trial within student halls of residence in 4 universities.
This presentation will reflect on challenges in facilitating a national policy trial with policy and practice stakeholders. This includes the development of an appropriate social norms interventions within a complex university setting, negotiating a rigorous pragmatic research design, challenges in measuring student alcohol consumption, establishing actual and perceived norms, achieving sufficient response rates to evaluate intervention effects and influencing future policy and practice.