NCT07193030

Peer-Led Intervention To Reduce Alcohol Binge Drinking Among University Students In Romania

Peer-Led Intervention To Reduce Alcohol Binge Drinking Among University Students In Romania- A Pilot Study Of The Implementation Processes

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 120 (estimated)
• Sponsor: International Agency for Research on Cancer · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a behavioural intervention to change binge drinking habits in university students in Romania is feasible. The main research question is: Is a peer-led Alcohol Brief Intervention feasible to be implemented in a Romanian University to reduce binge drinking among students? Researchers will compare brief intervention (counselling) to no intervention. Student participants will: 1. Receive brief counselling for 15-20 minutes by their peers who were trained. 2. Report their alcohol consumption levels in three surveys conducted over three months.

Detailed description

Pre-intervention focus group discussions: Students will be involved in group discussions, up to 90 minutes, to share their perspective on binge drinking. Pre-intervention co-design workshop: Students will be involved in a 3-hour workshop to co-design messages to be used during the brief advice intervention. University staff will be invited to participate in in-depth interviews lasting up to 60 minutes. Intervention: Student participants- They will be administered a pre-intervention survey lasting approximately 60-minutes by research assistants, a 15-20 minutes brief advice/counselling session by their peers, a midline survey of 5 minutes, and an endline survey of approximately 60 minutes administered by research assistants. these students will be invited to take part in a focus group at the end of the intervention lasting 90 minutes. Peers- Peers are students who volunteered to deliver the brief counselling to other students. They will first undergo training by motivational interviewing experts for approximately 6-8 hours spread across 2 days. We intend to recruit 4 peers and each one will deliver the brief advice to 15 students, each session lasting 15-20 minutes. The peers will then be invited to participate in a focus group discussion lasting up to 90 minutes at the end of the intervention.

Conditions

• Binge Alcohol Consumption
• Binge Drinking

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Peer-led Alcohol Brief Intervention (identification + advice)	The intervention consists of a peer-led ABI for university students. This intervention aligns with the ABI approach recommended by the WHO as a cost-effective strategy to reduce harmful alcohol use, particularly in primary care and community settings. The brief advice component of the intervention will incorporate Motivational Interviewing (MI) techniques, a client-centred, evidence-based counselling style intervention effective for reducing risky drinking behaviours. The brief advice will be tailored based on behavioural insights identified through formative research, such as individual perceived facilitators and barriers. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test- Consumption (AUDIT-C) will be used as the screening tool for identification. A one-on-one Brief Advice sessions of 15-20 minutes will be delivered by trained peer educators, i.e., university students who are not healthcare professionals but have been specifically trained in delivering brief advice.

Timeline

• Start date: 2026-03-01
• Primary completion: 2026-07-30
• Completion: 2026-10-30
• First posted: 2025-09-25
• Last updated: 2025-10-01