Mobile Alcohol Use Intervention

NCT07126613 | Completed DMC

• 2 other identifiers: 25-1872K01AA028540
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 40
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study aims to examine the feasibility and acceptability of a mobile health intervention to reduce alcohol use and related consequences among young adults. Participants will be randomly assigned to either receive access to the mobile health intervention or receive only generic study surveys. Participants will receive text message surveys sent to their personal cellphone for 4 weeks per their assigned trial arm. All participants will receive a post-survey 30 days after their final weekly survey text.

Conditions

Alcohol Misuse

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Average Satisfaction with the Intervention

  Measured using the following item, "How satisfied are you with your experience using this intervention?" with a 5-point response scale ranging from Not at All Satisfied (1) to Extremely Satisfied (5). A higher score indicates higher satisfaction with the intervention

  Assessed 30 days after the last 4-week survey text.

• Average Engagement with the Intervention Measured by the DCBI Scale

  Engagement will be assessed via 8 items from the Digital Behavior Change Intervention (DCBI) Scale. The item stem "How strongly did you experience the following?" will be repeated for the following concepts: interest, intrigue, focus, inattention, distraction, enjoyment, annoyance, and pleasure. All items will be scored on a 7 point scale from Not at All (1) to Extremely (7) and an average composite score will be derived for each participant based on responses across the seven items. Scores range from 1-7, where a higher score indicates higher engagement with the intervention.

  Assessed 30 days after the last 4-week survey text.

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Number of Drinks Consumed per Drinking Episode

  Four days per week (Thursday-Sunday) for four consecutive weeks (16 total times).

• Average Drinking Level per Drinking Episode

  Four days per week (Thursday-Sunday) for four consecutive weeks (16 total times).

• Frequency Score of Alcohol-Related Consequences Measured by BYAACQ

  Assessed 30 days after the last 4-week survey text.

Study Arms (2)

Mobile Health Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants will receive access to the mobile health intervention. This includes access to an online dashboard which includes a drink counter, ability to track the number of drinks consumed over the course of the study, ability to set drinking-related goals for oneself, and alcohol-related resources. Participants in the intervention will also receive tailored messages during drinking episodes which target contextual factors to reduce alcohol use.

Behavioral: Mobile Health Intervention to Reduce Alcohol Use Among Young Adults

No-contact control

NO INTERVENTION

Participants will receive only morning surveys and the 30-day post-test survey.

Interventions

Mobile Health Intervention to Reduce Alcohol Use Among Young Adults BEHAVIORAL

The mobile just-in-time adaptive intervention consists of 1) a digital participant dashboard and 2) tailored messages delivered to the participant's cellphone addressing the individual and ecological contexts of alcohol use. The web-based intervention dashboard includes: 1) a drink counter for participants to log the number and type of drinks (e.g., beer, wine, mixed drink) they consume in a drinking occasion; 2) a calendar which summarizes the number of days on which a participant has consumed alcohol and the number of drinks consumed over the study period, broken out by drink type; 3) a log where participants can set drinking-related goals and update their progress on those goals; and 4) national and local substance use resources. Participants will receive messages tailored to their drinking situation and ecological context during high-risk drinking times.

Mobile Health Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 25 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Age 18-25
• Experience at least one high-intensity drinking episode in the past 30 days
• Able to read and write in English
• Consent to receiving text messages to personal cellphone
• No current history of substance use treatment in the past 12 months
• Did not participate in the Aim 2 technical field trial of the intervention

You may not qualify if:

• Under 18 or over 25
• Did not experience at least one high-intensity drinking episode in the past 30 days
• Unable to read and write in English
• Does not consent to receive text messages to personal cellphone
• Current or history of substance use treatment in the past 12 months
• Participated in the Aim 2 technical field trial of the intervention

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill: lead
• National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Rosenau Hall

Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Interventions

Ethanol

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Alcohols; Organic Chemicals

Study Officials

• Melissa J Cox, PhD

  University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 11, 2025
• First Posted: August 17, 2025
• Study Start: September 29, 2025
• Primary Completion: January 6, 2026
• Study Completion: January 6, 2026
• Last Updated: January 21, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-01

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Time Frame: Data will become available 9/1/2027 and be hosted indefinitely on the NDA repository.
• Access Criteria: Individuals who meet the data access eligibility criteria set by the NDA may access the IPD.

Locations

US (1)