Normative re-education (e.g., personalized normative feedback (PNF)) is a popular behavior change intervention strategy with non-treatment seeking populations. It is central to most alcohol prevention programs for college students and others. Although PNF has been shown to be efficacious, effect sizes are relatively small and a number of limitations associated with this approach exist: psychological reactance, believability/credibility of the normative statistics source, the undermining influence of alcohol images on social media, and a lack of autonomy in participation. The Heads UP Alcohol Prevention and Intervention Lab at Loyola Marymount University lab initiated a program of research that leverages gamification to address these limitations and improve the effectiveness of normative re-education programs. This talk presents a series of studies that isolated critical components of gamification (i.e., virtual copresence, chance-based uncertainty, and points systems) which increased the effectiveness of PNF interventions. Further, results from two studies testing gamified normative re-education programs with two distinct samples of non-treatment-seeking individuals (college students and lesbian- and bisexual-identified women) will be presented. Gamification is a promising avenue to overcome limitations inherent to PNF and increase the efficacy of normative re-education interventions.

Speakers:

• Dr. Joseph LaBrie, Professor of Psychology and Director of the Heads UP Alcohol Prevention and Intervention Lab at Loyola Marymount University

Upon arrival, please see the receptionist and obtain a parking permit to place on your dashboard. Lunch will be served outside in the courtyard immediately following the talk.

This program is open to all eligible individuals. USC Annenberg operates all of its programs and activities consistent with the University’s Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor.

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