A feasibility trial to examine the social norms approach for the prevention and reduction of licit and illicit drug use in European University and college students.

BACKGROUND: Incorrect perceptions of high rates of peer alcohol and tobacco use are predictive of increased personal use in student populations. Correcting misperceptions by providing feedback has been shown to be an effective intervention for reducing licit drug use. It is currently unknown if social norms interventions are effective in preventing and reducing illicit drug use in European students. The purpose of this paper is to describe the design of a multi-site cluster controlled trial of a web-based social norms intervention aimed at reducing licit and preventing illicit drug use in European university students. METHODS/DESIGN: An online questionnaire to assess rates of drug use will be developed and translated based on existing social norms surveys. Students from sixteen universities in seven participating European countries will be invited to complete the questionnaire. Both intervention and control sites will be chosen by convenience. In each country, the intervention site will be the university that the local principal investigator is affiliated with. We aim to recruit 1000 students per site (baseline assessment). All participants will complete the online questionnaire at baseline. Baseline data will be used to develop social norms messages that will be included in a web-based intervention. The intervention group will receive individualized social norms feedback. The website will remain online during the following 5 months. After five months, a second survey will be conducted and effects of the intervention on social norms and drug use will be measured in comparison to the control site. DISCUSSION: This project is the first cross-national European collaboration to investigate the feasibility of a social norms intervention to reduce licit and prevent illicit drug use among European university students. FINAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: DRKS00004375 on the ‘German Clinical Trials Register’

Impact of Activity Tracker Usage in Combination with a Physical Activity Intervention on Physical and Cognitive Parameters in Healthy Adults Aged 60+: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Regular physical activity (PA) is of central importance for healthy aging and has a well-known impact on helping older adults maintain their cognitive and physical health. Thus, we aimed to compare the effectiveness of two physical activity interventions primarily conducted at home (print-based or web-based vs. web-based plus the use of an activity tracker) on cognitive and physical health parameters in older adults. Data of participants (n = 551, 60–80 years) were analyzed after being randomly allocated to a waitlist control group (CG), a web-based or print-based intervention group (IG) or a web-based intervention group that also included the use of an activity tracker (AG). Measured parameters were grip strength, endurance (two-minute step test), gait speed (four-meter walk test), cognition (Simon task; balanced integration score (BIS), reaction time and accuracy) and physical self-concept (Physical Self-Description Questionnaire (PSDQ)). We found the highest effect sizes in all measured dimensions for AG (grip strength, endurance, gait speed, reaction time, physical self-concept), followed by IG (endurance, gait speed, reaction time, physical self-concept) and CG (endurance, gait speed, BIS). Findings suggest that a combined web-based and activity tracker intervention may improve physical functions, physical self-concept, and cognition in community-dwelling older adults