RU SURE

1
RU SURE? CHI Independent Study 2007 Center for
Communication and Health Issues and Center of
Alcohol Studies, Rutgers University
INTRODUCTION Last semester the Advanced Health
Communication class (192474) implemented the RU
SURE? Campaign in first year residence halls on
the College Avenue Campus. The main purpose of
the Campaign is to inform college students about
the realities and potential consequences of
dangerous drinking. The campaign theory is rooted
in two concepts, social norms theory and students
misperceptions. Campaign research in alcohol
studies among college students has concluded that
two out of three students stop at three or fewer
drinks, and one in five do not drink at all. The
events implemented were designed to engage
first-year students in order to disseminate the
messages of the campaign while rewarding them
with prizes for participation. Four events were
implemented last semester in order to disseminate
the campaign messages. Two of the events, the RU
SURE? Bean Bag Toss and the RU SURE Personal
Response System Game involved highly interactive
components designed to help students retain the
messages. The other two events, RU SURE? Pizza
Party and RU SURE? Pre-Game Party encouraged
students to take precautionary measures prior to
drinking such as, properly hydrating before a
night of partying. Student advocates of the RU
SURE? Campaign develop valuable skills in event
planning, campaign implementation, and research.
Advocates also report lowered levels of drinking
after participating in the campaign. Both the
quantitative and qualitative research that the RU
SURE? Campaign provides helps combat students
misperceptions about college drinking and gives
insight into the mindsets of first-year students
and their drinking behaviors.

• RESULTS
• Alcohol Related Behavior
• Drinking behavior (quantity of drinks past
  month) t1-t2 decreased from a mean of 23.91 to
  17.90 (fig. 1)
• Episodes of dangerous drinking decreased t1-t2
  from a mean of 3.82 to 1.89
• Drinking frequency decreased t1-t2. (e.g., 36.4
  of participants reported drinking lt 1-2/wk at t1
  and by t2, 54.6 of participants reported
  drinking lt 1-2/wk) (fig. 2)
• There was increased use of some of the tactics
  used to decrease/monitor drinking from t1-t2
• Alcohol Related Perceptions and Attitudes
• Self-rated risk (i.e., high, moderate, or low)
  associated with drinking decreased with 54.5
  reporting low risk and 36.4 moderate risk at t1
  to 72.7 reporting low risk and 18.2 moderate
  risk at t2 (fig. 3)
• There was an increase in reported confidence in
  ability to use refusal skills from t1-t2
• There was an increase in individuals from t1-t2
  who reported that they agreed they would call an
  RA if someone passed out in the dorm from
  drinking (from 9.1- 63.7)
• There was an increase in individuals from t1-t2
  who agreed that they would not drink from an
  unknown bucket of punch (from 63.7 to 81.9)
• There was a change in reasons for drinking that
  trended toward more self-motivated (and less
  social pressured) and normative reasons for
  drinking (e.g., because it is pleasant NOT
  because it helps me when I feel depressed or
  nervous)

CHI Independent Study Event _at_ Lollanobooza (5 of
11 pictured)
First-year students _at_ an RU SURE event
FIGURE 1
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 3
METHODS Participants Participants were enrolled
in an advanced health communication seminar for
third and fourth year communication majors. All
students were asked to complete a pre-test (t1)
self report questionnaire about their alcohol
related behaviors on their first day of class. On
the last day of class (90.91) of the same
students (N10) completed the same self report
questionnaire as a posttest (t2). Measures Quant
itative AHC Self Report Inventory A self report
measure that assesses perceptions about self and
peer alcohol related behaviors and attitudes
including motives for alcohol use and alcohol
related risk. Qualitative Debriefing Interviews
Students discussed their experience periodically
during the class and provided narrative reports
of their involvement in campaign activities.
These interviews provide qualitative data
regarding students drinking related attitudes,
perceptions, and behaviors.
DISCUSSION The Advanced Health Communication
(AHC) course has been in place since 1999. Since
that time, pre and post data have been
systematically collected from students
participating in AHC in order to evaluate the
impact and effectiveness of the course on student
perceptions and behaviors related to alcohol use.
Results from AHC Fall 2006 are consistent with
data from previous semesters following the
course, students demonstrate a significant
decrease in alcohol use (quantity of drinks and
drinking frequency decreased) and more accurate
perceptions of alcohol use on the Rutgers
University campus. In addition to quantitative
measures, debriefing interviews with AHC students
also support the usefulness of this class. When
asked to write about how AHC had affected their
own drinking related perceptions and behaviors,
students reflected and an increased sense of
responsibility towards educating and being role
models for first year students and a better
understanding of college drinking, the
socialization process, and their own alcohol
related behaviors. While results from AHC are
promising, the sample size was small (e.g., AHC
Fall 2006, N11) and this curriculum infusion
design should be replicated with a larger sample.
In addition, students have only been tested at
pre and post course, however additional follow up
tests would be useful in evaluating any long term
effects correlated with participation in this
course.
SELECTED REFERENCES Lederman, L. C., Stewart,
L. P., (2005). Changing the culture of college
drinking A socially situated health
communication campaign. Cresskill, NJ Hampton
Press Lederman, L. C., Stewart, L. P., Goodhart,
F. W., Laitman, L. (2003). A case against
binge as the term of choice Convincing
college students to personalize messages about
dangerous drinking. Journal of Health
Communication, 8, 79- 91. Stewart, L. P.,
Lederman, L. C. (2002). Applying communication
theories to prevent dangerous drinking among
college students The RU SURE campaign.
Communication Studies, 53, 381-399. White, H.
R., Labouvie, E. W. (1989). Towards the
assessment of adolescent problem drinking.
Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 50 ,
30-37. Yanovitzky, I., Stewart, L. P.,
Lederman, L. C. (2006). Social distance, perceive
d drinking by peers, and alcohol use by college
students. Health Communication, 19, 1-10.
Josh Gelles, Bethany Little, Mike Andrikanich,
Mike Cleary, Jessica Pansini, Jillian Ottaviani,
Marissa Johnson, Staci Piech, Jennifer Arnau,
Christina Alfano, Paula Heifez.
AHC Class Advisors Dr. Lea Stewart, Dr. Helene
White, Dr. Lisa Laitman, Dr. Robert Pandina,
Cynthia Bates, Jennifer Greenberg
The contents of this presentation were developed
under a grant from the Department of Education.
However, those contents do not necessarily
represent the policy of the Department of
Education, and you should not assume endorsement
by the federal government. (USDE Q184H050084)