About CollegeAIM
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CollegeAIM is distinctive because of the number and expertise of its contributors and the breadth of research covered by its analysis.
How was CollegeAIM created?
CollegeAIM is the product of a multi-year collaboration among college alcohol intervention researchers, college AOD and student life professionals, and NIAAA staff. Two development teams, each with three researchers, worked with NIAAA to produce the original CollegeAIM and this update. The first phase of the work involved identifying the interventions to be included in CollegeAIM and the factors by which they would be evaluated. The second phase involved analyzing the substantial research literature on college alcohol interventions and rating each of the interventions according to those factors. Ultimately, the development teams examined and rated more than 60 interventions on their relative effectiveness, costs, barriers to implementation, and amount and quality of research, among other variables.
In the subsequent phase, an additional 10 college alcohol researchers reviewed the analysis, applied their knowledge and professional judgment, and provided detailed feedback for refinements. Through multiple rounds of reviews and revisions, this consensus process distilled the results of decades of research and hundreds of studies into a user-friendly decision aid.
For more information on the methodology, see the Frequently Asked Questions.
What it is, what it’s not.
CollegeAIM is grounded in a matrix that evaluates dozens of individual- and environmental-level interventions, allowing you to compare and contrast strategies across a number of criteria. Additional detailed information on each intervention is presented in summary tables, providing in-depth descriptions to help you choose wisely among many available options.
Although CollegeAIM covers an extensive list of strategies, it does not include every possible intervention available to colleges, nor does it outline the combination of strategies appropriate for any given school. With a few exceptions, CollegeAIM focuses on interventions to prevent and reduce underage and excessive alcohol consumption as a way to reduce their harmful consequences, rather than focusing directly on the consequences themselves.
An evolving information base.
As with any effort that relies on current research, CollegeAIM is a work in progress and will evolve as new research findings emerge. NIAAA will continue to conduct updates regularly with input from the research community.
