Table 2 Summary of Included Studies
Author | Study Type | Sample Size | Outcome Measures | Intervention Type | Delivery | Population | Critical Appraisal Score | Overall Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lee et al. 2010 [51] | RCT | 341 | Marijuana use and consequences of use. Also evaluated contemplation to change and family history of drug problems as potential mediators of efficacy | Personalised feedback and descriptive norm correction | Online | Students reporting any use of Marijuana in past 3-months | Moderate | No overall effect on use or consequences. Significant reduction in use in students higher in contemplation. |
Elliott & Carey 2012 [50] | CCT | 245 | Descriptive norms, injunctive norms, marijuana use/initiation | “eTOKE” personalised feedback and descriptive norm correction | Online | Students reporting no marijuana use in past 30 days | Weak | No significant effect on marijuana initiation, but less exaggerated norms. |
Elliott et al. 2014 [53] | CCT | 317 | Marijuana use, problems, user disorder symptoms, and descriptive norms | “eTOKE” personalised feedback and descriptive norm correction | Online | Students reporting past-month marijuana use | Weak | Minimal to small effect for user frequency, problems, disorder symptoms and medium changes for all descriptive norms. |
Epton et al. 2014 [54] | RCT | 1445 | Fruit/veg intake, physical activity, alcohol consumption, smoking, health status, recreational drug use, BMI, health service usage, academic performance, social cognitive variables. | “U@Uni” Self-affirmation manipulation, theory based messages, implementation intention tasks | Online | All incoming undergraduate students | Weak | Increase in recreational drug use in intervention arm |
Palfai et al. 2014 [55] | CCT | 123 | Frequency of marijuana use, marijuana related consequences, readiness to change, perceived norms. | “Marijuana eCHECK UP TO GO” personalised feedback and descriptive norm correction | Online in Student Health Service and off-site | Students attending Student Health Service reporting at least monthly Marijuana use | Moderate | No effect on marijuana use. Medium effect on negative consequences. Significantly reduced student estimates of peer marijuana use. |
Cameron et al. 2015 [56] | RCT | 2621 | Fruit/veg intake, physical activity, alcohol consumption, smoking, health status, recreational drug use, BMI, health service usage, social cognitive variables. | “U@Uni:LifeGuide” Self-affirmation manipulation, theory based messages, implementation intention tasks | Online | All incoming undergraduate students | Weak | Non-significant effect on recreational drug use |
Christoff & Boerngen-Lacerda 2015 [57] | CCT | 458 | ASSIST score (alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, cocaine, amphetamine-stimulants, inhalants, sedatives, hallucinogens, opioids) | “ASSIST/MBI” ASSIST screening and Motivational Brief Intervention | Online on-site | Students with moderate/high ASSIST scores | Weak | Small positive effect, reduction in ASSIST score for marijuana. |
Haug et al. 2017 [58] | Pre-Post | 1067 | Perceived stress, self-management and coping behaviours, interpersonal skills, at risk alcohol use, tobacco smoking, and cannabis use. | “Ready4life” – personalised feedback and weekly messages based on social cognitive theory | Online on-site plus off-site text messages | All students with a mobile phone | Weak | No significant pre-post differences in the percentage of persons using cannabis. |