mHealth Delivery of a Motivational Intervention to Address Heavy Drinking Among College Freshmen

University Of North Carolina Charlotte, Charlotte NC

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

? DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This project addresses alcohol misuse, a significant health issue facing college students, their families and their communities. Alarming numbers of underage students drink heavily, often in binges and with negative consequences such as blackout, rape, HIV-related sexual risk-taking, academic failure, suicide and violence. While interventions such as Brief Motivational Intervention (BMI) have been shown to be effective, their widespread implementation has been slow due to feasibility issues (e.g., staff training, ongoing face-to-face service delivery) and the costs of implementing and sustaining such an intervention. New technologies, such as smartphones, are ubiquitous among college students and may offer a more efficient and cost-effective means of healthcare delivery. To date, little research has tested alcohol preventive interventions using mobile technologies and applications (e.g., mHealth). This innovative two-stage project will study the mHealth delivery of an alcohol intervention to college freshmen, adapting a proven intervention for delivery through mobile technology. Specific aims are: 1) To develop a Smartphone (SP) application by adapting a BMI intervention to create the pBMI+SP using mHealth technology, and 2) to test the pBMI+SP feasibility and initial efficacy among heavy drinking college students. We will make refinements based on feedback from the students. We will use data from focus groups we have conducted to develop the pBMI+SP app. We will then examine the feasibility and initial efficacy of the pBMI+SP and refine it based on feedback from participants. These participants will include freshmen (n=170) from UNC Charlotte, ages 18 to 21, who have used alcohol heavily in the previous 30 days. An intervention group will receive the pBMI+SP, and a control group will receive BMI delivered face to face (BMI F2F). Outcome measures will include participants' ratings of the acceptability and likelihood of using the pBMI+SP mobile app in the future and alcohol use and its consequences at follow-up. Because of their comfort with mobile technologies, we expect students receiving the electronic intervention to report high satisfaction with the pBMI+SP mobile app. We also expect to see lower levels of alcohol use and consequences for the pBMI+SP intervention group than for the BMI F2F group. Results will be used to prepare for a Phase II full-scale efficacy trial. This innovative intervention modality represents a shift in the current BMI clinical implementation paradigm toward combining a proven intervention with enhanced mHealth technology for delivery. The Smartphone app also has the potential to be translated to address other important health issues, such as risky sexual behavior, HIV risk reduction, smoking cessation, and obesity. Findings will thus have significant implications for the future adoption, implementation, and sustainability of Health IT interventions on college campuses.