U18 Grantees

• PI -- Susan Bruce, M.Ed.
         sbruce@virginia.edu
         434-924-5276
• Title of Project: Fraternity and Sorority Normative Feedback Interventions
• U01 Researcher Collaborator: Mark Wood, Ph.D.
• NIAAA Scientific Staff Collaborator: Mike Hilton, Ph.D.


• Summary:
  The University of Virginia (U.Va.) is a public institution located in Charlottesville, Virginia. The total student population is approximately 20,000, some 66% of whom are undergraduates. The 3,400 members of U.Va.’s fraternities and sororities, who make up 26% of the entire population, are the target population of this project.
  
  The project’s goal is to reduce the number of alcohol-related negative consequences experienced by U.Va. fraternity and sorority members by correcting misperceptions of drinking behaviors and protective behaviors. The specific intervention strategies are small group presentations on chapter norms delivered by peer facilitators and individualized normative feedback delivered through a web-based interface. The project is designed to assess the comparative effectiveness of small group presentations alone and in combination with individualized normative feedback. The 64 chapters in the U.Va. Greek system will be evenly divided into intervention and control groups. In year one, the intervention groups will participate in a scripted presentation on chapter norms and attitudes as well as perceptions of University-wide norms. The program will be delivered by trained members of each chapter. In year two, the intervention chapters will again participate in the peer-facilitated group program, which will be supplemented by individualized normative feedback delivered through a web-based interface. During the final year of the grant, the control chapters will be given the opportunity to participate in the peer-facilitated intervention.
  
  For more information, contact Susan Bruce, director of the Center for Alcohol and Substance Education (CASE), at 434-924-5276 or sbruce@virginia.edu.

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