Party Foul is a brief (24-minute), television-quality entertainment-education video intervention designed to reduce heavy and binge drinking and promote harm-reduction and bystander behaviors among college students. Through realistic social situations and peer interactions, the video increases awareness of alcohol-related risks, encourages safer drinking practices, and normalizes effective bystander intervention.

Key Topics Addressed

• Risks and consequences of heavy and binge drinking (e.g., academic problems, relationship conflicts, mental health impacts, and increased sexual risk)
• Harm-reduction strategies (e.g., limiting or pacing drinks, alternating with non-alcoholic beverages, looking out for friends, seeking professional help)
• Bystander behaviors to prevent alcohol-related harm and sexual risk

Party Foul Video Development

Party Foul was co-created using a highly iterative, human-centered design approach with 23 diverse youth from across the United States. Input was also provided from university health educators, student affairs professionals, Greek life staff, and researchers specializing in substance use prevention. This intensive process ensured the storylines, dialogue, and characters reflect authentic college experiences and resonate with diverse student populations.

Party Foul is grounded in Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), which emphasizes learning through observation, self-efficacy, and outcome expectancies. Consistent with SCT, the video uses an entertainment-education narrative format to model both risky behaviors and corrective actions, enabling viewers to learn from characters’ realistic experiences, consequences, and strategies for safer drinking and effective bystander intervention. This storytelling approach fosters emotional engagement and narrative transportation (i.e., immersion in the dramatic story), encouraging viewers to identify with characters and reducing resistance to health messages.

Implementation and Scalability

Party Foul is designed to be easy to implement with fidelity and minimal staff burden. It can be delivered via an e-learning platform or used in outreach and health education settings with an accompanying discussion guide. The intervention is highly engaging, brief (24 minutes) compared to traditional alcohol prevention programs, and cost-effective for large-scale dissemination.

Implementation Settings

Party Foul is available in English and Spanish and was designed for use in a wide range of settings, including:

• Universities
• Community colleges
• Clinics
• Substance Use Treatment Centers
• Community-based organizations