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Can a web-based intervention moderate alcohol use? Investigating the alcohol related behaviour of sixth form students

First published: 10 May 2019 | Last updated: 20 May 2019

Aims: To investigate the level of alcohol consumption, related behaviour and perceived peer norms in Leeds Sixth Form students and the feasibility/effectiveness of a web-based intervention.

Participants: 870 Sixth Form students from 20 schools/colleges in Leeds completed a baseline survey investigating alcohol consumption, consequences and perceived peer norms.  Thirteen schools (n=810) participated in the evaluation of Unitcheck and were randomly allocated to either the control (control n=403) or intervention n=407 condition.

Intervention: Unitcheck is a web-based personalised feedback and social norms intervention providing information on alcohol consumption and social norms (i.e. the percentage of peer drinking less alcohol).  The site also provides generic information (e.g. advice on calculating units, current government guidelines).

Measures: Students reported their frequency of alcohol consumption, the number of drinks consumed in the last week (using a retrospective diary) their perception of social norms and on the consequences of their alcohol consumption.

Findings:  Approximately 40% of those surveyed reported drinking once a week or more.  Twelve percent reported never drinking alcohol.  One in 4 young people who had consumed alcohol reported feeling drunk at least once a week during the last year.

Students tended to overestimate how many other students were drinking alcohol.  Their perceptions of their peers’ experience of negative consequences were more accurate than their estimation of the level of drinking.

Despite a high attrition rate (n=143 students completed the post-intervention survey), there was a significant reduction in units within the intervention condition but no significant change within the controls.  A reduction in units per occasion was also observed but without a significant effect of condition.

Conclusion: Students’ overestimation of their peer’s level of drinking offers one avenue to modify consumption of alcohol.  The results suggest that web-based interventions may be effective in addressing these misperceptions and have the potential to modify behaviour.  Further attention is required to increase intervention engagement and counter the high attrition rate observed.

Funding was provided by NHS Leeds.

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Report Author

Dr Bridgette Bewick

Associate Professor, University of Leeds


Dr Bridgette Bewick, Associate Professor at University of Leeds, has a track record of high quality publications that have aided our understanding of the drinking behaviour of young people and of web-based interventions. She seeks to understand how personalised feedback interventions can help intervene early with individuals who are drinking problematically. Bridgette’s work has increased our understanding of drinking behaviour and she has led the development of an effective behaviour change electronic screening and brief intervention tool (www.unitcheck.co.uk). The development and evaluation of Unitcheck means universities now have a resource that enables their students to receive feedback that is associated with reductions in alcohol use. More recently Bridgette has used her expertise in generating effective personalised feedback, in collaboration with the Leeds Addiction Unit, to develop an online intervention for client-centred screening and self-referral by problem drinkers recently admitted to hospital (www. ChangeDrinking.com); the website structure and content are modelled on motivational dialogue. Bridgette’s substantial contribution to research and practice in the addictions field was recognised in 2012 by her being awarded the ‘SSA Fred Yates Prize Researcher of the Year’. Bridgette is a world expert on the use of the Social Norms Approach and has a particular interest in the ability for engagement with personalised feedback to be encouraged by embedding the social norms approach in prevention and early intervention message development and implementation strategy. Bridgette continues to develop ways for e-health solutions to support dissemination of tools that enable individuals to consider their own drinking behaviour and think through their potential to change.

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