Effectiveness of a brief intervention using mental simulations in reducing alcohol consumption in corporate employees Martin S. Hagger a *, Adam Lonsdale b and Nikos L.D. Chatzisarantis c a School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Perth, Australia; b School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK; c National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technical University, Singapore (Received 9 August 2010; final version received 26 December 2010) A theory-based intervention aimed at reducing corporate employees’ alcohol consumption in excess of guideline limits is presented. The intervention adopted an outcome mental simulation technique and was administered to a sample of corporate employees from three companies. A single-arm randomized-controlled design was adopted. All participants completed baseline psychological measures and self-reported number of alcohol units consumed and binge-drinking occasions. Participants allocated to the intervention condition were presented with a mental simulation exercise. One month later, participants completed follow-up measures of the psychological variables and alcohol consumption. Results revealed a significant effect of the mental simulation intervention on number of units of alcohol consumed at follow-up. There was no effect of the intervention on frequency of binge-drinking occasions. There was no evidence for the mediation of the effect of mental simulations on alcohol consumption by the perceived behavioural control and motivation variables. Results support the efficacy of the mental simulation intervention in reducing alcohol consumption but not in reducing binge drinking or alcohol consumption in excess of guideline limits, among corporate employees. Results are discussed with respect to the importance of the mental simulation intervention to inform practice and the proposed processes by which mental simulations affect alcohol consumption. Keywords: binge drinking; mental simulations; planned behaviour; workplace Introduction Research has consistently linked excessive alcohol consumption with numerous health risks, including cirrhosis of the liver, cardiovascular disease and numerous forms of cancer (Corrao, Bagnardi, Zambon, & Arico, 1999). There is also evidence that moderate alcohol consumption below guideline limits presents health risks such as increased risk of cancer (Mukamal & Rimm, 2008). Excessive alcohol use is also associated with unintentional injury, indirect harm to others and social disorder (Gmel & Rehm, 2003; Roos, Lahelma, & Rahkonen, 2006). In addition, consuming alcohol in excess is also associated with lower occupational productivity (Blum, Roman, & Martin, 1993) and absenteeism (Norstrom & Moan, 2009; Vahtera, Poikolainen, Kivima¨ ki, Ala-Mursula, & Pentti, 2002). There is also research that *Corresponding author. Email: martin.hagger@curtin.edu.au Psychology, Health & Medicine Vol. 16, No. 4, August 2011, 375–392 ISSN 1354-8506 print/ISSN 1465-3966 online Ó 2011 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/13548506.2011.554568 http://www.informaworld.com Downloaded by [Curtin University of Technology] at 00:59 10 August 2011