TOPLINE:

A single peer-led Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS) session resulted in a reduction in weekly alcohol consumption by more than three drinks at 12 months among Spanish university students who engaged in at least one episode of heavy drinking in the previous month, along with sustained improvements in binge drinking episodes, alcohol-related consequences, motivation to change alcohol consumption, and self-efficacy.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a parallel two-group randomised controlled trial involving 308 undergraduate students aged 18 years or older at a Spanish university who reported at least one episode of heavy drinking in the previous month.
• Participants were randomly assigned to receive either no intervention (control group; n = 154) or a single 50-minute peer-led BASICS session (n = 154).
• Trained fourth-year nursing students delivered the intervention using motivational interviewing and personalised feedback based on baseline assessments.
• The primary outcome was the number of standard drink units (10 g of pure alcohol) consumed during a typical week at the 12-month follow-up, measured using the Daily Drinking Questionnaire-Revised.
• Secondary outcomes included weekend drinking, the number of binge drinking episodes, drinks on the heaviest episode, alcohol-related consequences, motivation to reduce alcohol consumption, and self-efficacy, all assessed at 12 months.

TAKEAWAY:

• At the 12-month follow-up, the intervention group consumed significantly fewer drinks per week than the control group (mean, 8.93 vs 12.35 drinks; mean difference [MD], 3.42 drinks; P < .001).
• The number of binge drinking episodes at 1 year was significantly lower at a mean of 1.60 for the intervention group vs 2.53 for the control group (MD, 0.93 episodes; P < .001) and so were weekend drinking (MD, 3.08 drinks; P < .001) and drinks on the heaviest occasion (MD, 3.27 drinks; P < .001).
• Alcohol-related consequences were also significantly lower in the intervention group at 12 months (MD, 3.28 points; P < .001).
• The motivation to change alcohol consumption was significantly greater in the intervention group at 12 months (MD, 2.83 points; P < .001), and self-efficacy was also significantly higher in the intervention group at 12 months (MD, 2.24 points; P < .001).

IN PRACTICE:

"This study provides evidence for the long-term effectiveness of a peer-led, face-to-face, one-session BASICS intervention in reducing alcohol use and related harm among university students," the authors wrote.

"These findings highlight the relevance of low-intensity, peer-delivered strategies as a complementary approach to traditional services in higher education settings and suggest that such models may hold potential for broader implementation in university-based alcohol prevention efforts," they added.

SOURCE:

This study was led by María Lavilla-Gracia, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain. It was published online on March 05, 2026, in Addiction.

LIMITATIONS:

This study relied on self-reported measures of alcohol consumption, which may be subject to recall or social desirability bias. The sample was drawn from a single university context, which may have limited the generalisability of the findings. The study had a relatively low participation rate of 13.8%, which may have introduced self-selection bias.

DISCLOSURES:

This study received financial support from the María Egea Chair and the Association of Friends of the University of Navarra. The authors declared having no conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.