Dataset Information

Development of a Secondary Prevention Smartphone App for Students With Unhealthy Alcohol Use: Results From a Qualitative Assessment.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Despite considerable efforts devoted to the development of prevention interventions aiming at reducing unhealthy alcohol use in tertiary students, their delivery remains often challenging. Interventions including information technology are promising given their potential to reach large parts of the population.

Objective

This study aims to develop a secondary prevention smartphone app with an iterative qualitative design involving the target population.

Methods

The app development process included testing a first prototype and a second prototype, developed based on the results of 2 consecutive qualitative assessments. Participants (aged ≥18 years, screened positive for unhealthy alcohol use) were students from 4 tertiary education institutions in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Participants tested prototype 1 or prototype 2 or both and provided feedback in 1-to-1 semistructured interviews after 2-3 weeks of testing.

Results

The mean age of the participants was 23.3 years. A total of 9 students (4/9 female) tested prototype 1 and participated in qualitative interviews. A total of 11 students (6/11 female) tested prototype 2 (6 who tested prototype 1 and 5 new) and participated in semistructured interviews. Content analysis identified 6 main themes: "General Acceptance of the App," "Importance of the Targeted and Relevant App Content," "Importance of Credibility," "Importance of the App Usability," "Importance of a Simple and Attractive Design," "Importance of Notifications to Ensure App Use over Time." Besides a general acceptance of the app, these themes reflected participants' recommendations toward increased usability; to improve the design; to include useful and rewarding contents; to make the app look serious and credible; and to add notifications to ensure its use over time. A total of 11 students tested prototype 2 (6 who tested prototype 1 and 5 new) and participated in semistructured interviews. The 6 same themes emerged from the analysis. Participants from phase 1 generally found the design and content of the app improved.

Conclusions

Students recommend prevention smartphone apps to be easy to use, useful, rewarding, serious, and credible. These findings may be important to consider when developing prevention smartphone apps to increase the likelihood of app use over time.

Trial registration

ISRCTN registry 10007691; https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN10007691.

International registered report identifier (irrid)

RR2-10.1186/s13063-020-4145-2.

SUBMITTER: Bertholet N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10031438 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Development of a Secondary Prevention Smartphone App for Students With Unhealthy Alcohol Use: Results From a Qualitative Assessment.

Bertholet Nicolas N Schmutz Elodie E Cunningham John A JA McNeely Jennifer J Gmel Gerhard G Daeppen Jean-Bernard JB Grazioli Véronique S VS

JMIR human factors 20230307

<h4>Background</h4>Despite considerable efforts devoted to the development of prevention interventions aiming at reducing unhealthy alcohol use in tertiary students, their delivery remains often challenging. Interventions including information technology are promising given their potential to reach large parts of the population.<h4>Objective</h4>This study aims to develop a secondary prevention smartphone app with an iterative qualitative design involving the target population.<h4>Methods</h4>Th ...[more]

PMID: 36881448

Similar Datasets

Project description:ObjectiveTo estimate the effects of providing access to an alcohol intervention based on a smartphone.DesignRandomised controlled trial..SettingFour higher education institutions in Switzerland.Participants1770 students (≥18 years) who screened positive for unhealthy alcohol use (ie, a score on the alcohol use disorders identification test-consumption (AUDIT-C) of ≥4 for men and ≥3 for women) were randomly assigned by 1:1 allocation ratio in blocks of 10.InterventionProviding access to a brief, smartphone based alcohol intervention.Outcome measuresThe primary outcome studied was number of standard drinks per week at six months and the secondary outcome was number of heavy drinking days (past 30 days). Additional outcomes were maximum number of drinks consumed on one occasion, alcohol related consequences, and academic performance. Follow-up assessments occurred at months three, six, and 12. Data were analysed by intention to treat and by using generalised linear mixed models with random intercepts for the recruitment site and participants nested within the recruitment site, and with intervention (v control), time (three months v six months; 12 months v six months), and baseline outcome values as fixed effects.ResultsBetween 26 April 26 2021 and 30 May 2022, 1770 participants (intervention group (n=884); control group (n=886)) were included. Mean age was 22.4 years (standard deviation 3.07); 958 (54.1%) were women; and 1169 (66.0%) were undergraduate students, 533 (30.1%) were studying for a master's degree, 43 (2.4%) were studying for a doctorate, and 25 (1.4%) were students of other higher education programme. The baseline mean number of standard drinks per week was 8.59 (standard deviation 8.18); the baseline number of heavy drinking days was 3.53 (4.02). Of 1770 participants, follow-up rates were 1706 (96.4%) at three months, 1697 (95.9%) at six months, and 1660 (93.8%) at 12 months. Of 884 students randomly assigned to the intervention group, 738 (83.5%) downloaded the smartphone application. The intervention had a significant overall effect on the number of standard drinks per week (incidence rate ratio 0.90 (95% confidence interval 0.85 to 0.96)), heavy drinking days (0.89 (0.83 to 0.96)), and the maximum number of drinks consumed on one occasion (0.96 (0.93 to 1.00), P=0.029), indicating significantly lower drinking outcomes in the intervention group than in the control group during the follow-up period. The intervention did not affect alcohol related consequences or academic performance.ConclusionsProviding access to the smartphone application throughout the 12 month follow-up was effective at limiting the average drinking volume of university students who had self-reported unhealthy alcohol use at baseline.Trial registrationISRCTN 10007691.

Project description:BackgroundMany digital interventions for unhealthy alcohol use are based on personalized normative feedback (PNF) and personalized feedback on risks for health (PFR). The hypothesis is that PNF and PFR affect drinkers' perceptions of drinking norms and risks, resulting in changes in drinking behaviors. This study is a follow-up mediation analysis of the primary and secondary outcomes of a randomized controlled trial testing the effect of a smartphone-based intervention to reduce alcohol use.ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate whether perceptions of drinking norms and risks mediated the effects of a smartphone-based intervention to reduce alcohol use.MethodsA total of 1770 students from 4 higher education institutions in Switzerland (mean age 22.35, SD 3.07 years) who screened positive for unhealthy alcohol use were randomized to receive access to a smartphone app or to the no-intervention control condition. The smartphone app provided PNF and PFR. Outcomes were drinking volume (DV) in standard drinks per week and the number of heavy drinking days (HDDs) assessed at baseline and 6 months. Mediators were perceived drinking norms and perceived risks for health measured at baseline and 3 months. Parallel mediation analyses and moderated mediation analyses were conducted to test whether (1) the intervention effect was indirectly related to lower DV and HDDs at 6 months (adjusting for baseline values) through perceived drinking norms and perceived risks for health at 3 months (adjusting for baseline values) and (2) the indirect effects through perceived drinking norms differed between participants who overestimated or who did not overestimate other people's drinking at baseline.ResultsThe intervention's total effects were significant (DV: b=-0.85, 95% bootstrap CI -1.49 to -0.25; HDD: b=-0.44, 95% bootstrap CI -0.72 to -0.16), indicating less drinking at 6 months in the intervention group than in the control group. The direct effects (ie, controlling for mediators) were significant though smaller (DV: b=-0.73, 95% bootstrap CI -1.33 to -0.16; HDD: b=-0.39, 95% bootstrap CI -0.66 to -0.12). For DV, the indirect effect was significant through perceived drinking norms (b=-0.12, 95% bootstrap CI -0.25 to -0.03). The indirect effects through perceived risk (for DV and HDD) and perceived drinking norms (for HDD) were not significant. Results of moderated mediation analyses showed that the indirect effects through perceived drinking norms were significant among participants overestimating other people's drinking (DV: b=-0.17, 95% bootstrap CI -0.32 to -0.05; HDD: b=-0.08, 95% bootstrap CI -0.15 to -0.01) but not significant among those not overestimating.ConclusionsPerceived drinking norms, but not perceived risks, partially mediated the intervention's effect on alcohol use, confirming one of its hypothesized mechanisms of action. These findings lend support to using normative feedback interventions to discourage unhealthy alcohol use.Trial registrationISRCTN Registry 10007691; https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN10007691.

Project description:BackgroundUnderstanding how users engage with electronic screening and brief intervention (eSBI) is a critical research objective to improve effectiveness of app-based interventions to reduce harmful alcohol consumption. Although quantitative measures of engagement provide a strong indicator of how the user engages with an app at the group level, they do not elucidate finer-grained details of how apps function from an individual, experiential perspective and why, or how, users engage with an intervention in a particular manner.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to (1) understand why and how participants engaged with the BRANCH app, (2) explore facilitators and barriers to engagement with app features, (3) explore how the BRANCH app impacted drinking behavior, (4) use these data to identify typologies of users of the BRANCH app in terms of engagement behaviors, and (5) identify future eSBI app design implications.MethodsIn total, 20 one-to-one semistructured telephone interviews were conducted with participants recruited from a randomized controlled trial, which evaluated the effectiveness of engagement-promoting strategies in the BRANCH app targeting harmful drinking in young adults (aged 18-30 years). The topic guide explored users' current engagement levels with existing health promotion apps, their views toward the effectiveness of such apps, and what they liked and disliked about BRANCH, specifically focusing on how they engaged with the app. Framework analysis was used to develop typologies of user engagement.ResultsThe study identified 3 typologies of engagers. Trackers were defined by their motivations to use health-tracking apps to monitor and understand quantified self-data. They did not have intentions necessarily to cut down and predominantly used only the drinking diary. Cut-downers were motivated to use the app because they wanted to reduce their alcohol consumption Unlike Trackers, they did not use a range of different health apps daily, but saw the BRANCH app as an opportunity to test out a different method of trying to cut down their alcohol use. This typology used more features than Trackers, such as the goal setting function. Noncommitters were characterized as a group of users who were initially enthusiastic about using the app; however, this enthusiasm quickly waned and they gained no benefit from it.ConclusionsThis was the first study to identify typologies of user engagement with eSBI apps. Although in need of replication, it provides a first step in understanding independent categories of eSBI users, who may benefit from apps tailored to a user's typology or motivation. It also provides new evidence to suggest that apps may be used more effectively as a tool to raise awareness of drinking, instead of reducing alcohol use, and be a step in the care pathway, identifying at-risk individuals and signposting them to more intensive treatment.Trial registrationInternational Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number ISRCTN70980706; http://www.isrctn.com /ISRCTN70980706 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/73vfDXYEZ).

Project description:BackgroundLoneliness is a widespread and significant problem on college campuses. Prolonged loneliness in young adulthood is a risk factor for concurrent and future mental health problems and attrition, making college a critical time for support. Cognitive and behavioral interventions show promise for decreasing loneliness and can be widely disseminated through technology.ObjectiveThis pilot randomized controlled trial was conducted to examine the initial efficacy, feasibility, and desirability of a smartphone app, Nod, designed to deliver cognitive and behavioral skill-building exercises to reduce loneliness during the transition to college.MethodsFirst-year college students (N=221, mean age 18.7 years, 59% female) were recruited online during incoming student orientation, and randomized to either receive immediate access to Nod (experimental group, n=100) or access after 4 weeks (control group, n=121). The app delivered skills via fully automated (1) "social challenges," suggested activities designed to build social connections; (2) reflections, brief cognitive reframing exercises; and (3) student testimonials that encouraged a growth mindset toward social connection building. Main intention-to-treat analyses were used to compare the conditions on self-assessed loneliness, depressive symptoms, and other mental health and college adjustment outcomes at week 4, controlling for baseline values on those variables. Analyses were also performed to test the hypothesis that the treatment benefits would be particularly pronounced for participants with heightened psychological vulnerability at baseline (ie, higher baseline depressive symptoms and loneliness).ResultsRetention was 97% at week 4, and participants viewed an average 36.7 pages of app content. There were no significant condition differences in loneliness at week 4 (F1, 211=0.05, P=.82; ηp2 <.001). However, there was a significant condition-by-baseline depression interaction to predict week-4 loneliness (F1,209=9.65, P=.002; ηp2 =.04). Simple slope analyses indicated that baseline depression positively predicted week-4 loneliness among control participants (r=0.30, t209=3.81, P<.001), but not among experimental participants (r=-0.09, t209=-0.84, P=.40), suggesting that Nod buffered participants with high baseline depression scores from experiencing heightened midquarter loneliness. Similarly, there were no significant condition differences in other week-4 outcomes. However, moderation by baseline vulnerability was found for week-4 depressive symptoms, sleep quality, and indices of college adjustment (eg, perceived social support and campus belonging).ConclusionsAlthough Nod exposure did not impact outcomes for the full sample, these results provide initial evidence of its benefit for vulnerable students. The results of this trial suggest that cognitive and behavioral skills delivered via a mobile app can buffer psychologically vulnerable college students against heightened loneliness and depressive symptoms, as well as other negative college adjustment outcomes. Future work will aim to improve upon app engagement, and to address loneliness among other key populations.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT04164654; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04164654.

Project description:BackgroundPrevious studies have suggested that resident physicians are the most meaningful teachers during the clinical clerkships of third-year medical students (MS3s). Unfortunately, residents often feel unprepared for this crucial role. The pediatrics clerkship at our institution identified a paucity in the frequency of resident-led teaching with MS3s. Lack of confidence, suboptimal teaching space, and insufficient time were cited as the most significant barriers. To enhance resident-led teaching of MS3s, we created teaching scripts of general pediatrics topics accessible via a smartphone application (app).MethodsPrior to the implementation of the app, MS3s and pediatric residents were surveyed on clerkship teaching practices. From May 2017 through July 2018, pediatric residents working with MS3s were introduced to the app, with both groups queried on resident teaching habits afterward. We compared pre-intervention and post-intervention data of time spent teaching, teaching frequency, and a ranking of pediatric resident teaching performance compared to residents of other MS3 core clerkships.Results44 out of 90 residents (49%) responded to a pre-intervention survey on baseline teaching habits. 49 out of 61 residents (80%) completed our post-intervention survey. Pre-intervention, 75% (33/44) of residents reported spending less than 5 min per teaching session on average. Post-intervention, 67% (33/49) reported spending more than 5 min (p < 0.01). 25% (11/44) of residents reported teaching at least once per day pre-intervention, versus 55% (27/49, p = 0.12) post-intervention. Post-intervention data demonstrated a statistically significant correlation between app use and increased frequency of teaching (p < 0.01). The MS3 average ranking of pediatric resident teaching increased from 2.4 to 3.4 out of 6 (p < 0.05) after this intervention.ConclusionsResidency programs looking to reform resident-led teaching, particularly of residents early in their training, should consider our novel approach. In addition to addressing barriers to teaching and creating a platform for near-peer teaching, it is adaptable to any specialty or learner level. Future direction includes developing objective measures for teaching performance and content proficiency to better assess our intervention as an educational curriculum, as well as further investigation of the intervention as a controlled trial.

Dataset Information

Development of a Secondary Prevention Smartphone App for Students With Unhealthy Alcohol Use: Results From a Qualitative Assessment.

Background

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Trial registration

International registered report identifier (irrid)

Publications

Development of a Secondary Prevention Smartphone App for Students With Unhealthy Alcohol Use: Results From a Qualitative Assessment.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets