Research project DR/100 (Research action DR)
The VICTOR project capitalizes on an international and complementary consortium of renowned experts in the alcohol research field (medicine, psychology, public health, prevention) to follow a threefold objective: (1) assessing the Tournée Minérale (TM) campaign, (2) measuring the influence of social norms related to alcohol and (3) evaluating the role played by non-alcoholic drinks in abstinence. This approach, generating a comprehensive and practical model of the variables predicting alcohol consumption, will offer directly implementable messages/tools to boost the efficacy of future prevention campaigns.
First, we will offer an experimentally grounded evaluation of the TM, determining its impact in terms of awareness, participation and alcohol consumption modification. This will be conducted through the combination of (1) classical epidemiological surveys in the general population and specific at-risk groups, evaluating the demographics of participants, the impact of the campaign on alcohol consumption at short but also long term (at 6-12 months post-campaign, such effects remaining totally unexplored), the strengths/weaknesses of the campaign, as well as the reasons why non-participants do not adhere to the TM; (2) innovative qualitative (i.e., focus groups and in-depth individual interviews to offer a comprehensive understanding of the factors favoring/hampering the involvement in the TM) and quantitative assessments (i.e., ecological momentary assessment through smartphone in a representative and non-self-selected subgroup of participants). Such approach will precisely characterize the key psychological processes involved in the adherence to the campaign, including mood/emotions, motivations, attitudes, social norms and perceived control over alcohol consumption. This mixed-methods perspective will end up in an integrative model of the factors predicting the involvement in and adherence to the TM.
Second, we will explore the impact of alcohol-related social norms on alcohol consumption by elucidating the socio-psychological mechanisms driving the interpersonal representations on alcohol consumption in Belgium, and the influence of the TM on these social norms. We will then develop prevention programs and messages able to modify these social norms and reduce alcohol consumption, by promoting positive representations and attitudes towards people able to self-regulate their consumption or to abstain consuming alcohol during the TM.
Third, we will determine the impact played by no/low-alcoholic drinks in the modification of alcohol consumption among non-clinical (i.e., social/heavy drinkers) and clinical (i.e., recently detoxified patients with severe alcohol use disorder) populations. We will first evaluate, through questionnaires, the frequency/intensity of use of such surrogate drinks in these populations (i.e., drinks containing 0.5% of ethanol or less), and then test the influence of promoting non-alcoholic/non-branded drinks (e.g., mate, bissap, iced teas, infusions) on abstinence maintenance.
By integrating these three objectives, we will provide guidance and recommendations to improve the impact and efficacy of the TM campaign, by (1) optimizing the messages and tools dedicated to each category of participants through targeted prevention approach; (2) developing direct interventions that will improve the participation rate and adherence in the whole population and in at-risk groups (e.g., heavy drinkers, elderly people, women) and (3) testing the efficiency of new tools completing the current campaign (particularly through a communication oriented towards norm-modification and non-alcoholic drinks promotion).
Importantly, this project will propose an integration between the topics targeted by the BELSPO call (for which the BELSPO funding will be used) and the related research projects currently performed by the partners of the VICTOR consortium (funded by other grants), hence extending the ambition of the project to both evaluate but also improve, through interventional studies, the efficacy of the TM. These objectives will be achieved by a consortium of researchers and health workers ensuring a multi-disciplinary approach, but also in direct collaboration with (1) the associations responsible for the implementation of the TM campaign (i.e., the VAD and Univers Santé), ensuring both a full access to the data and a swift implementation of the proposed improvements; (2) clinicians and researchers involved in similar campaigns abroad (France, The Netherlands), leading to the creation of an international network evaluating the TM and related prevention campaigns, and (3) national prevention/health actors working with the populations targeted by such campaigns.
