Adaptive Interventions for Prevention/Intervention for Youth Substance Abuse

University of Michigan

Status: Completed

Conditions: Substance Use

Treatments: Behavioral: Push Notifications with Engaging, Non-therapeutic Content; Behavioral: Push Notifications with Tailored Intervention Content; Behavioral: No Push Notifications

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03928756

HUM00148393

Details and patient eligibility

About

The main aim of this formative study is to test and iteratively refine a new mobile phone app, which delivers assessments and tailored intervention content. The study will use social media advertisements to recruit a total of 40 youth between the ages of 16-24 years. Those screening positive for past-month binge drinking or marijuana use will be invited to complete a baseline survey, download and use the app for 30 days, and complete a follow-up survey about the app functionality, design and content, and preliminary outcomes (intentions and importance of reducing use).

Full description

Previously, the study team developed a prototype mobile application which utilized novel engagement strategies to enhance user adherence with daily and weekly survey assessments. The new app developed for this study extends the previous app by featuring the capability to also deliver tailored health intervention. As part of the app, users are prompted to complete brief daily and weekly assessments for 30 days. For each completed assessment, users earn small financial rewards and points to unlock new fish that populate a virtual aquarium in the app. The app also features push notifications with survey reminders and life insights (or graphs plotting data collected over time) to increase user engagement with the app. Additionally, each day, users are randomized to receive intervention content (see the "Interventions" section for more information) tailored on their recent assessment responses. After 30 days of using the app, participants will be asked to complete a follow-up survey; data collected will provide preliminary feedback regarding the feasibility and effectiveness of using the app to deliver substance use intervention content to affected youth.

Enrollment: 39 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 16 to 24 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. Have an iPhone smartphone on which the app can be downloaded
2. Self-reported past-month binge drinking (4/5 or more drinks on one occasion, tailored by sex) OR any past-month marijuana use without a medical marijuana card
3. Meet study verification criteria (i.e., use of CAPTCHA, IP address checks, social media checks).

Exclusion criteria

1. Unable to understand English

Trial design

Primary purpose: Health Services Research

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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39 participants in 1 patient group

Within-participant randomization

Experimental group

Description:

Each day, each available participant will be randomly assigned to receive either: a push notification with tailored intervention content; a push notification with engaging, nontherapeutic content; or no push notification.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Push Notifications with Engaging, Non-therapeutic Content

Behavioral: No Push Notifications

Behavioral: Push Notifications with Tailored Intervention Content