Assessing Fidelity and Use of Core Implementation Components in the Implementation of a Brief Motivational Intervention to Reduce Binge Drinking Among College Students: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Combating excessive rates of binge drinking and alcohol-related harm among college students continues to pose a challenge for public health practitioners and college administrators. While many interventions to decrease binge drinking have proven effective in research settings, these interventions aren't as effective in non-research settings, such as on college campuses, where rates of binge drinking continue to rise. One such intervention, Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS), has garnered particular attention in both the research realm and among college health promotion professionals. This brief motivational intervention uses a harm reduction approach to decrease binge drinking behaviors and related consequences among college students who drink heavily. Despite extensive research on its efficacy, there have been no published reports documenting the outcome of BASICS when it has been implemented on college campuses. This thesis addressed this gap in the literature by exploring how BASICS has been applied in campus research settings. Specifically, it focuses on the characteristics of the settings and samples, the extent to which the program maintained fidelity to the original evidence-based BASICS program, and the use of seven core implementation components derived from the field of implementation science. These seven components have been identified as crucial processes in the successful uptake of an evidence-based program like BASICS by an organization, such as a university. A systematic review of the literature revealed that higher levels of program fidelity are associated with positive program outcomes. Additionally, the presence of many or all of the seven core implementation components is associated with higher levels of fidelity and statistically and clinically significant decreases in binge drinking and related harms. Finally, this thesis presents suggestions on how BASICS should be implemented in order to effectively reduce alcohol consumption on college campuses