Topic: Alcohol/Drugs/Tobacco, Media Literacy
Target Population: Adolescents, Middle Childhood, Young Adults, Parents
Sector: School-Based
This program is for students who are in elementary school through college and their parents.
Alcohol Literacy Challenge™ (ALC), a school-based program, is designed to address and change participants' beliefs about the expected positive and negative effects of alcohol use and, consequently, reduce alcohol consumption.
A randomized trial of the Expectancy Challenge Alcohol Literacy Curriculum (ECALC) was conducted among a group of heavy-drinking male college students. Data were collected 4 weeks after program completion. Results indicated significant decreases in positive expectancies and decreases in mean and peak blood alcohol content, mean number of days drinking per week, mean drinks per sitting, and number of binge-drinking episodes per month among students who received ECALC compared to a control group. A second randomized trial was conducted among a group of mandated college students. Participants were assigned to web-based ECALC or Brief Motivational Intervention (BMI) with personalized normative feedback. Post-intervention results indicated decreases in positive expectancies in the ECALC group compared to those in the BMI group. Additional data collected 4 weeks after program completion indicated reductions in alcohol use and associated harms in both groups, and there were no significant differences between males and females.
This program is delivered as a PowerPoint presentation by teachers or prevention specialists during a regular course, such as health education. Prevention specialists or student peers can teach the program at the college level. Participants are provided with information about the following topics:
Program content intends to introduce new information about the negative effects of alcohol consumption as a way of decreasing the positive reinforcing values of alcohol. Participants view video clips of commercials that advertise alcohol, and they explore and analyze the anticipated positive effects of alcohol use versus the actual effects of alcohol on the body and on one's behavior and actions.
The program is available for youth at different grade levels, including 5th-6th grade, 7th-8th grade, 9th-12th grade, college level, and for parents.
The program was created in 2005 and is being implemented in schools and prevention programs in 20 states.
This program is delivered by classroom teachers to school-age participants or by peers to college participants. A required 6-hour, off-site training costs $6,000. Please use details in the Contact section for more information on training and costs.
Considerations for implementing this program include acquiring administration and teacher buy-in at school-age level and college-level institutions, obtaining participant buy-in, recruiting facilitators (if not teachers) and ensuring facilitators receive training, acquiring necessary equipment to display the PowerPoint slide show, and making time in the school or college curriculum to deliver the program session.
The Clearinghouse can help address these considerations. Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu
If you are interested in implementing ALC, the Clearinghouse is interested in helping you!
Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu
The program lasts 50 to 90 minutes and can be delivered in one or two sessions. The 5th-6th grade and college lessons are 50 minutes each, and the 7th-8th grade and 9th-12th grade lessons are 90 minutes each. The parent lesson lasts 60 minutes.
A license fee for 1 year costs $1.25 per student per year plus $50 for security and handling. The minimum license purchase is $500 (for training up to 450 students, plus the $50 security fee).
To move ALC to the Promising category on the Clearinghouse Continuum of Evidence, at least one evaluation should be performed demonstrating positive effects lasting at least one year from the beginning of the program or at least six months from program completion.
The Clearinghouse can help you develop an evaluation plan to ensure the program components are meeting your goals. Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu
Contact the Clearinghouse with any questions regarding this program.
Phone: 1-877-382-9185 Email: Clearinghouse@psu.edu
You may also contact Alcohol Literacy Challenge by email info@alcoholliteracychallenge.com or visit https://www.alcoholliteracychallenge.com/contact
Dunn, M. E., Fried-Somerstein, A., Flori, J. N., Hall, T. V., & Dvorak, R. D. (2020). Reducing alcohol use in mandated college students: A comparison of a Brief Motivational Intervention (BMI) and the Expectancy Challenge Alcohol Literacy Curriculum (ECALC). Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 28(1), 87-98. https://doi.org/10.1037/pha0000290
Fried, A. B., & Dunn, M. E. (2012). The Expectancy Challenge Alcohol Literacy Curriculum (ECALC): A single session group intervention to reduce alcohol use. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 26(3), 615-620. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027585
Cruz, I. Y., & Dunn, M. E. (2003). Lowering risk for early alcohol use by challenging alcohol expectancies in elementary school children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 71(3), 493-503. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.71.3.493
Sunil, T. S., Xu, X., Mutchler, M., & Casanova, F. (2017). Does the combined intervention program matter for college-attending Hispanic and other minority young adults? Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 28(2), 100-112.
