IMPACTS

IMPACTS¹ is a major, longitudinal study of alcohol use and other health-related behavior during the college years being conducted on individuals who were first-time freshmen at the University of Missouri-Columbia (MU) during the summer/fall of 2002. The study has been funded by a research grant from the National Institutes on Health. The original goals of IMPACTS were to understand the nature and contexts of drinking and other substance use during the college years and the varied effects of substance involvement on psychological, social, and academic adjustment. With continued funding from NIH for an additional survey, we have expanded these goals to understand health behaviors and adjustment in young adulthood.

The Young Adult Survey

The Young Adult Survey is planned for the Winter of 2009 and consists of a subset of items used in prior IMPACTS surveys. Because it is critical that we have a high response rate, we have eliminated most of those items that participants found tedious (e.g., time utilization with lengthy pull down response options) or that we felt were less central to this stage of life while adding a few items that are important in understanding our participants' current life circumstances (e.g., relationships, family formation, vocational setting). Based on piloting (i.e., beta testing), we anticipate that the survey will take approximately 30-40 minutes (depending upon one's natural pace and the download speed of his/her computer). The funding for this next survey is limited and comes from NIH granting us a "no cost extension" that allows us to use some carry-over funds to support this next data collection. We have undertaken a variety of cost-cutting measures to allow us to provide compensation to participants in the form of $25 gift certificates at amazon.com^tm. We chose this form of compensation because it can be provided immediately to participants and because we felt that this vendor offers such a wide range of products that all of our participants would be able to find something they could use.

Prior Surveys

1) The Baseline Survey
A paper and pencil questionnaire survey administered to first time freshmen at the University of Missouri-Columbia during the Summer of 2002.  More than 3800 people participated in this phase of the survey which started on June 10th and ran through August 28.  Survey packets were distributed to students who attended Summer Welcome.  For those who did not attend Summer Welcome, packets were mailed to their homes.

2) The Semi-annual Surveys
Semi-annual surveys were conducted on the web at time points towards the end of the Fall and Spring of the following academic years (2002-2003, 2003-2004, 2004-2005, 2005-2006). Specifically:

• Wave 1 began November 11th and ended December 20th, 2002.  More than 2500 people participated in the Fall 2002 assessment.  For completing the survey, participants were compensated with a $10 check and entered into a drawing to be one of the forty people who received a $50 check.
• Wave 2 started April 7th and ended May 10th, 2003.  Over 2400 people participated in the Winter 2003 assessment.  For completing the survey, participants were compensated with a $15 check and entered into a drawing to win either $250, $500 or $1000.
• Wave 3 started November 1st and ended December 18th, 2003. More than 2200 people participated in the Fall 2003 survey. For completing the survey, participants were compensated with a $15 check and entered into a drawing to win either $250, $500 or $1000
• Wave 4 started April 6 and ended May 13, 2004.  More than 2400 people participated in the Winter 2004 survey.  For completing the survey, participants were compensated with a $25 check and entered into a drawing to win one of 10 prizes of $100.
• Wave 5 started November 8 and ended December 16, 2004.  Over 2200 people participated in the Fall 2004 survey.  For completing the survey, participants were compensated with a $25 check and entered into a drawing to win one of 10 prizes of $100.
• Wave 6 started April 4 and ended May 12, 2005.  More than 2300 people participated in the Winter 2005 survey.  For completing the survey, participants were compensated with a $25 check and entered into a drawing to win one of 10 prizes of $100.  
• Wave 7 started November 7 and ended December 16, 2005.  Over 2300 people participated in the Fall 2005 survey.  For completing the survey, participants were compensated with a $25 check and entered into a drawing to win one of 10 prizes of $100.
• Wave 8 started April 7 and ended May 17, 2006.  More than 2200 people participated in the Winter 2006 survey.  For completing the survey, participants were compensated with a $25 check and entered into a drawing to win one of 10 prizes of $100.  This was the final online IMPACTS survey as a young adult, and we sincerely thank you for your participation over the last four years!
• Wave 9 was conducted on a subset of participants toward the end of the Fall semester of 2005. Only students who were enrolled at MU during this 5th year were invited to participate and approximately 1000 students elected to participate.

  ¹IMPACTS stands for the Intensive, Multivariate, Prospective Alcohol College-Transition Study. It has funded by that National Institutes on Health (NIH) under research grant 4R37 AA07321.

Contact Information

Telephone

573-882-1681

FAX

573-884-5588

Postal address

200 South Seventh Street
Psychology Building
University of Missouri
Columbia, MO 65211

Electronic mail

If you have any questions about the IMPACT Study, please send an e-mail message to umcpsychimpacts@missouri.edu or you can call (573) 882-1681 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

 

Webmaster: rifei@missouri.edu

Send mail to rifei@missouri.edu with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: 11/13/08