Text-message support for parents to reduce risky drinking by incoming college students
Official title: Digitally Prompted Parenting: A Text Message Parent-Based Alcohol Intervention for Incoming College Students
Funded at Loyola Marymount University · NIH-11146654 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Short, timed text messages help parents talk with their incoming college students to lower risky drinking during the first year.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Loyola Marymount University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Los Angeles, United States) |
| Project start | August 1, 2024 |
| Project end | July 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $242,831 |
| NIH project number | 5R34AA031358-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11146654 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are parents or guardians of underage students who will be entering college in the coming semester and who can receive text messages.
✕Less likely to help
This intervention may not help students who are already over 21, are not in contact with their parents, or whose parents do not use text messaging.
What this research studies
This project sends short, easy-to-use text messages to parents of incoming college students to prompt brief, risk-reducing conversations and less permissive attitudes about alcohol. Messages start before college and continue through the first semester to reduce the time and effort parents need to participate. The team builds on pilot work showing that maintaining parent-student communication by text can help prevent increases in student drinking and alcohol-related problems. The program is designed to be low-burden and scalable without relying on large financial incentives.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If effective, this approach could reduce heavy drinking and alcohol-related harms among first-year college students by keeping parents engaged with low effort.
How similar studies have gone: Previous parent-based programs showed modest effects without incentives, and early pilot data suggest text-message prompts may prevent increases in student drinking though larger trials are still needed.
Where this research is happening
-
Loyola Marymount University
Los Angeles, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Labrie, Joseph W. — Loyola Marymount University
- Study coordinator: Labrie, Joseph W.
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.