College students’ alcohol use, especially binge drinking, continues to be an acute problem for institutions of higher education. Colleges and universities not only face the challenges of developing promising prevention programs on college campuses, but also the enormous challenges of recruiting and retaining subjects to participate. This study examined recruitment and retention within a two-year, longitudinal program to prevent binge drinking among residential college students. In the fall semester of 1998, eighty-eight percent (88%) of freshmen residential students attending a medium-sized public university in the south were recruited to participate in a binge drinking prevention program (n=634). The majority of students were female (64%), white (83%), and had used alcohol in the past 30 days (64%). At the end of the 1999 spring semester, eighty percent (80%) of the original cohort (n=522) was retained within the study. At two-year follow-up, eighty-two (82%) of students were retained in the study (n=527). The results of recruitment and retention efforts are very promising, indicating that aggressive recruitment and follow-up techniques were successful in minimizing subject attrition. Strategies utilized for recruitment and retention will be discussed in detail.
Learning Objectives: 1)Desribe recruitment and retention strategies for a longitudinal binge drinking program. 2) Articulate the methods utilized for successful recruitment and retention. 3) Summarize the main findings and conclusions of the study. 4) Assess the implications of the findings for future research and practice.
Keywords: College Students, Binge Drinking
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.