Borsari, B. E., & Carey, K. B. (2000). Effects of a brief motivational intervention with college student drinkers. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68, 728-733.
This study consists of a randomized controlled trial of a one-session motivational intervention for college student binge drinkers. Sixty students who reported binge drinking two or more times in the past 30 days were randomly assigned to either a no-treatment control or a brief intervention group. The intervention provided students with feedback regarding personal consumption, perceived drinking norms, alcohol-related problems, situations associated with heavy drinking, and alcohol expectancies. At 6-week follow-up, the brief intervention group exhibited significant reductions on number of drinks consumed per week, number of times drinking alcohol in the past month, and frequency of binge drinking in the past month. Estimates of typical student drinking mediated these reductions. This study replicates earlier research on the efficacy of brief interventions with college students, and extends previous work regarding potential mechanisms of change.

Borsari, B., & Carey, K. B. (2001). Peer influences on college drinking: A review of the research. Journal of Substance Abuse, 13, 391-424.
Peer pressure is consistently implicated in the excessive drinking of college students. However, both theory and empirical findings suggest that peer pressure is a combination of three distinct influences: overt offers of alcohol, modeling, and social norms. Overt offers of alcohol can range from polite gestures to intense goading or commands to drink. Modeling occurs when the student's behavior corresponds to another student's concurrent drinking behavior. Perceived social norms can serve to make excessive alcohol use appear common and acceptable to the student. This review critically examines the literature on each form of peer influence and provides suggestions for future research.

Borsari, B. E., Neal, D. J., Collins, S. E., & Carey, K. B. (2001). Differential utility of three indices of risky drinking for predicting alcohol problems in college students. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 15, 321-324.
This study evaluated the relationship between alcohol-related problems and three indices of risky drinking in college student drinkers: number of drinks consumed per week, frequency of binge drinking, and blood alcohol levels (BALs). Use of two independent samples (N1=204; N2=181) allowed a cross-validation of obtained associations. Results indicated that neither binge drinking frequency nor BALs were more highly related to alcohol-related problems than was weekly drinking. Furthermore, BALs did not provide unique explanatory power in accounting for alcohol-related problems; mixed results were obtained regarding the relationship of binge drinking estimates with problems.

Carey, K. B. (2001). Understanding binge drinking: Introduction to the special issue. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 15, 283-286.
Widespread interest in binge drinking, demonstrated by scientists, public policy makers, and educators, served as the impetus for assembling this special issue. The contents represent state-of-the-science conceptualizations and empirical work on the topic of binge drinking. Beginning with two invited essays, the issue contains a selection of empirical articles that reflect experimental and correlational designs, longitudinal studies of the course and correlates of binge drinking, and controlled intervention trials. These articles address the construct validity of binge drinking, as well as its utility as a high-risk marker in both theory-testing and intervention contexts. This introductory essay raises several advantages and disadvantages of continued use of the term binge drinking, and suggests alternatives for use in research and applied contexts.

Collins, S. E., Carey, K. B., & Sliwinski, M. J. (2002). Mailed personalized normative feedback as a brief intervention for at-risk college drinkers. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 63, 559-567.
Objective: The current study examined the efficacy of mailed personalized normative feedback (PNF) as a brief alcohol intervention for at-risk college drinkers and investigated discrepancy as a possible mediator of the intervention effect. Method: Participants consisted of 100 at-risk college drinkers who completed an alcohol-use assessment at baseline, six-week posttest, and six-month follow up. Measures included number of drinks consumed per heaviest drinking week, frequency of heavy-drinking episodes, peak blood alcohol level, and number of alcohol-related problems, all for the last month. Participants were randomly assigned to either a mailed brief intervention (MBI; n = 49) or attention-control (C; n = 51) group. The MBI group received mailed PNF based on baseline responses to the drinking measures, whereas the C group received a psychoeducational brochure about alcohol. Results: Mixed-model, repeated-measures ANOVAs were used to examine the effects of time, group, and gender on discrepancy and the drinking variables. Following the intervention, the MBI group reported significantly higher perceived discrepancy between self and others' drinking than the C group. The MBI group reported consuming significantly fewer drinks per heaviest drinking week and binging less frequently than the C group at the six-week posttest; however, these differences were no longer evident at the six-month follow up. Hierarchical regression analyses did not provide evidence for the hypothesized mediating effect of discrepancy. Conclusions: Mailed PNF may be a cost- and time-efficient means of developing discrepancy and temporarily reducing heavy alcohol consumption among at-risk college drinkers.

Correia, C. J., Carey, K. B., & Borsari, B. (2002). Measuring substance-free and substance-related reinforcement in the natural environment. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 16, 28-34.
The current study sought to provide further evidence for the validity of a modified version of the Pleasant Events Schedule (PES) designed to measure substance-free and substance-related reinforcement. A sample of 134 young adults completed the modified PES along with measures of substance use and quality of life. The results extend previous research on the modified PES in three ways: (a) Information regarding the relationships between substance-related reinforcement and substance use are expanded to include substance-use frequency, quantity and related negative consequences; (b) Relationships between substance-free reinforcement and non-substance-related variables are established; (c) The distinctiveness of the substance-free and substance-related reinforcement scores is demonstrated. The utility of reinforcement surveys in the study of substance use is discussed, with special emphasis placed on possible treatment implications.

Carey, K. B. & Hustad, J.T.P. (2002). Are retrospectively reconstructed blood alcohol concentrations accurate? Preliminary results from a field study. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 63, 762-766.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between blood alcohol concentration (BAC) derived from an in vivo breath test and retrospective estimates of BAC (eBAC) for the same drinking event. The relationship was expected to be lower at higher levels of BAC, due to inaccuracies in recall of self-report data. Method: The sample consisted of 44 persons (64% male) who were walking away from a bar district adjacent to a university campus. After giving informed consent, participants provided a breath sample and contact information. The next day a research assistant contacted the participants and conducted a brief telephone interview to obtain self-report data necessary to calculate the eBAC for the previous evening, using the equation described by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Results: The actual BACs and eBACs were not significantly different, and they were highly correlated (r [43] = .84). BAC did predict the magnitude of discrepancy between the two, and at BACs over .08, the relationship was nonsignificant. Conclusion: Although self-report data can be used to approximate the BAC obtained during a naturally occurring drinking event, the relationship is moderated by measured level of intoxication. Retrospective calculations are less accurate when estimating higher BACs.

Borsari, B. & Carey, K. B. (2003). Descriptive and injunctive norms in college drinking: A meta- analytic integration. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 64, 331-341.
Objective: Many college students overestimate both the drinking behaviors (descriptive norms) and the approval of drinking (injunctive norms) of their peers. As a result, consistent self-other discrepancies (SODs) have been observed, in which self-perceptions of drinking behaviors and approval of drinking are usually lower than comparable judgments of others. These self-other discrepancies form the foundation of the currently popular "social norms approach" to alcohol abuse prevention, which conveys to students the actual campus norms regarding drinking behaviors and approval of alcohol use. However, little attention has been paid to the factors that can influence the magnitude of self-other discrepancies. Method: This meta-analytic integration of twenty three studies evaluated the influence of five predictors of SODs: norm type (injunctive or descriptive), gender, reference group, question specificity, and campus size. These studies rendered 102 separate tests of self-other differences in descriptive and injunctive forms, representing the responses of 53,825 participants. Results: All five predictors were significantly related to self-other differences in the perception of norms. Greater self-other discrepancies were evident for injunctive norms, estimates by women, distal reference groups, non-specific questions, and on smaller campuses. Conclusions: More systematic attention should be given to how norms are assessed; specifically, SODs can be maximized or minimized depending on the specificity of the behaviors/attitudes evaluated and the reference groups chosen for comparison.

Correia, C. J., Carey, K. B., Simons, J. S. & Borsari, B. E. (2003). Relationships between binge drinking and substance-free reinforcement in a sample of college students: A preliminary investigation. Addictive Behaviors, 28, 361-368.
This paper investigates relationships between substance use and reinforcement derived from specific categories of substance-free activities among a sample of 116 college undergraduates. Data from a standardized behavioral inventory was used to compare the frequency, pleasure, and reinforcement potential of substance-free events and activities experienced by binge drinkers and a control group. Binge drinkers reported significantly lower scores across a variety of substance-free activity categories. These results are consistent with a growing body of evidence linking substance use and deprivation of substance-free reinforcement.

Carey, K. B, Neal, D. J., & Collins, S. E. (2004). A psychometric analysis of the Self-Regulation Questionnaire. Addictive Behaviors, 29, 253-260.
The self-regulation questionnaire (SRQ) is a 63-item instrument designed to measure the generalized ability to regulate behavior so as to achieve desired future outcomes. This study extended previous psychometric evaluations of the SRQ by determining the factor structure and internal consistency of the SRQ and providing convergent and discriminant evidence for its validity. Participants were undergraduates (N = 391; 55% women) from two consecutive semesters (n1 = 208; n2 = 183). A single-factor solution emerged (31 items), invariant across gender and semester. These items were combined to create a short version of the SRQ (SSRQ; alpha = .92), which was highly correlated with the original SRQ (r = .96). Unrelated to demographic variables and alcohol use, the SSRQ correlated significantly with alcohol-related problems. The association between the SSRQ and problems remained even after controlling for social desirability and alcohol consumption. These results support the use of the SSRQ in young adult samples. Further psychometric evaluation of the SSRQ is necessary, however, to further establish its validity and utility as a measure of generalized self-regulation capacity.

Neal, D. J., & Carey K. B. (2004). Developing discrepancy within self-regulation theory: Use of personalized normative feedback and personal strivings. Addictive Behaviors, 29, 281-297.
Efforts to reduce the frequency of high-risk drinking have included the use of motivational interventions. Both the technique used in motivational interventions and an underlying theory of behavior change (i.e., Self-Regulation Theory) invoke the construct of discrepancy development. This study was designed to determine whether techniques purported to develop discrepancy actually do so and to compare methods of developing discrepancy on indices of intention to reduce alcohol use. Male and female college drinkers (N=92) were selected if they reported 2 or more binge episodes in the last month, or scored 4 or higher on the Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index. Participants were randomly assigned by gender to three conditions all conducted in a small group format: attention-control, personalized normative feedback (PNF), and personal strivings assessment (PSA). Personalized normative feedback was designed to develop discrepancy based on behavioral comparisons of self and others. Personal strivings assessment was designed to develop discrepancy between current and ideal self. It was hypothesized that participants who engage in discrepancy building activities would experience discrepancy specific to the activity in which they engaged, and that all participants who developed discrepancy would show higher levels of intention to reduce alcohol use. Results indicated that only the personalized normative feedback increased discrepancy and intention to reduce alcohol use.

Borsari, B. & Carey, K. B. (2005). Two brief alcohol interventions for referred students. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 19, 296-302.
Encouraging but limited research indicates that brief motivational interventions may be an effective way to reduce heavy episodic drinking in college students. At two campuses, students (83% male) mandated to a substance use prevention program were randomly assigned to one of two individually administered conditions: a brief motivational interview (BMI; n = 34) or an alcohol education session (AE; n = 30). BMI students reported fewer alcohol-related problems than the AE students at 3- and 6-month assessments. Trends towards reductions in number of binge drinking episodes and typical blood alcohol levels were seen in both groups. Process measures confirmed the integrity of both interventions. Findings demonstrate that mandated BMIs can reduce alcohol problems in students referred for alcohol violations.

Neal, D. J., Sugarman, D. E., Hustad, J. T. P., Caska, C., & Carey, K. B. (2005). It's all fun and games... Or is it? Collegiate sporting events and celebratory drinking. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 66, 291-294.
Objective: Heavy drinking is prevalent on college campuses, and collegiate sporting events may precipitate heavy drinking. Despite this, relatively few studies have examined student drinking on the days of sporting events. In 2003, Syracuse University won the NCAA college basketball national championship; ongoing data collection allowed an investigation of alcohol consumption at Syracuse University during the two Final Four game days. The goals of the study were to examine the level of alcohol use on theses days and examine factors related to game-day consumption. Method: As a part of an ongoing study, 206 undergraduate students completed several questionnaires, then returned weekly daily drinking diaries for four consecutive weeks. Results: Alcohol consumption levels on the two game days exceeded what is typical on campus. Further analyses conducted using zero-inflated negative binomial regression modeling demonstrated that heavier drinkers were more likely to drink alcohol, and drink alcohol heavily, on both game days. Furthermore, lack of impulse control was independently associated with an increased likelihood of drinking on both days. Discussion: Although results from this study should be considered preliminary, these data document heavier drinking associated with high profile athletic events. Sporting events may be a particularly opportune time and venue for collegiate risk reduction programs.