This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

NIH launches online resource to help reduce college drinking

The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, a part of the NIH, has released a guide and website to help college officials identify and choose the best alcohol interventions to address harmful and underage drinking, according to a press release.

The novel resource, CollegeAIM (Alcohol Intervention Matrix), is a matrix-based tool that compares and rates approximately 60 different alcohol interventions.

“Despite our collective efforts to address it, high-risk drinking remains a significant and persistent problem on U.S. campuses. While college officials have numerous options for alcohol interventions, they are not all equally effective. CollegeAIM can help schools choose wisely among available strategies, boosting their chances for success and helping them improve the health and safety of their students,” George Koob, PhD, director of the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, said in the release. 

The Matrix compares the effectiveness, anticipated costs, barriers to implementation and various other factors among different alcohol interventions. Each intervention is categorized as an environmental-level strategy — strategies that target all of the student population — or as an individual-level strategy, which focuses on students at high-risk for drinking, such as first-year students, athletes and members of Greek organizations. 

Using CollegeAIM, school officials will be able to compare the strategies they are currently using with other evidence-based strategies, as well as identify new programs and determine if a combination of programs will best fit the needs of their student population.

CollegeAIM is now available at: www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov.

“There is a pressing need for a clear, unbiased tool to help colleges make informed decisions. College administrators are in a critical position — to serve as catalysts to influence a school’s social atmosphere and make choices that improve the health and safety of students. And we believe the CollegeAIM guide and website will help,” Jonathan Gibralter, PhD, president of Wells College, Aurora, New York, and chair of the NIAAA College Presidents Working Group to Address Harmful and Underage Drinking, said in the release.