The more the merrier: a meta-analysis of efficacy of multi-behavior interventions to reduce substance use

Dai, Wenhao

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/101721 Copy

Description

Title

The more the merrier: a meta-analysis of efficacy of multi-behavior interventions to reduce substance use

Author(s)

Dai, Wenhao

Issue Date

2018-07-18

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Albarracín, Dolores

Department of Study

Psychology

Discipline

Psychology

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.S.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• Meta-analysis
• substance use
• alcohol
• integrated interventions

Abstract

Objective: Death and morbidity associated with substance use have risen continuously over last few decades, increasing the need for rigorous examination of promising programs. Interventions attempting to change multiple behaviors are a new approach designed to address interconnected problems such as the misuse of both alcohol and drugs. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to examine the efficacy of multi-behavior interventions in the substance use domain. Moreover, our synthesis estimated the optimal number of recommendations for intervention efficacy and explored the influence of factors associated with the types of samples or methods used in the synthesized studies. Methods: A research synthesis of multi-target interventions addressing substance-use was conducted to measure change in both behavioral and clinical outcomes between the pretest and follow-up. Results: Fifty-two reports (k = 110, n = 19,991) were included in our analysis. Change across all groups was d = 0.30 (CI = [0.23, 0.30]) for overall outcomes, d = 0.31 (CI = [0.24, 0.38]) for behavioral outcomes, and d = 0.22 (CI = [0.09, 0.35]) for clinical outcomes. Multi-behavior interventions were especially efficacious when targeting at-risk samples, targeting ethnic minority groups, and were culturally appropriate. Furthermore, findings indicated that the number of targeted behaviors was linearly related to intervention efficacy, with interventions that recommended four or more behaviors being the most efficacious. Conclusions: In the midst of the current substance use epidemic, innovative multi-behavior programs appear to hold promise and should be implemented more widely to establish effectiveness in other settings.

Graduation Semester

2018-08

Type of Resource

text

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/101721

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2018 Wenhao Dai

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