Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT06861660

Digitally Prompted Parenting: A Text Message Parent-Based Alcohol Intervention for Incoming College Students

This pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) will evaluate both the feasibility and efficacy of Digitally Prompted Parenting (DPP), a text-message based parent intervention (tm-PBI) designed to prevent and reduce alcohol use among first-year college students. In this study, parents of incoming first-year students will receive risk-reducing text messages during the first 10 weeks of the Fall semester, which they can forward to their students. The trial uses a longitudinal design to compare drinking outcomes between students whose parents receive the DPP messages and those whose parents receive an established alcohol PBI (the active control condition). The investigators hypothesize that students in the DPP group will report lower levels of alcohol use and fewer alcohol-related consequences after the intervention compared to those in the active control group.

Completed

Looking for future studies?

Notify Me

Key information

Conditions

Underage Drinking Adolescent Behavior Alcohol Drinking Behavior Drinking Behavior

Age range

17 year–20 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Loyola Marymount

Los Angeles, California, 90045, United States

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Student is 17-20 years of age
  • Student is an LMU incoming first-year college student
  • Student has access to a cellular device capable of receiving text messages
  • Student's parent or legal guardian has an email address on file at LMU
  • Student's parent or legal guardian has a cellular device capable of receiving text messages
  • Student's parent or legal guardian received an invitation from the research team to participate
  • Student's parent or legal guardian signed up to access the assigned intervention
  • Student's parent or legal guardian is a resident of the United States
  • Informed consent (or assent, as applicable) is provided

Exclusion criteria

  • Student is not 17-20 years of age
  • Student is not an LMU incoming first-year college student
  • Student does not have access to a cellular device capable of receiving text messages
  • Student's parent or legal guardian does not have an email address on file at LMU
  • Student's parent or legal guardian does not have a cellular device capable of receiving text messages
  • Student's parent or legal guardian did not receive an invitation from the research team to participate
  • Student's parent or legal guardian did not sign up to access the assigned intervention
  • Student's parent or legal guardian is not a resident of the United States
  • Informed consent (or assent, as applicable) is not provided

Treatment and study plan

Digitally Prompted Parenting

Behavioral

Parents will receive an email invitation to sign up for Digitally Prompted Parenting, a text message-delivered PBI. Parents set up an account and input information about themselves and their student, which will customize the text messages they receive. Parents will receive at least two text prompts per week for the first 10 weeks of their student's first semester in college. These texts will (1) prompt parents to call their student to discuss the past week and week ahead, and (2) prompt parents to send an alcohol-specific risk reducing text to their student.

Active Control

Behavioral

Parents will receive an email that explains the Parent Handbook intervention and includes a link to a website where the Handbook is embedded. They will also receive three booster emails summarizing the key points of the intervention. Parents can review both the Parent Handbook and the booster emails at their own pace.

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in Daily Drinking between Baseline and 3 Months

    Time frame: baseline, 3 months

    Self-reported number of drinks consumed during an average week in the past 30 days.

  2. Change in Daily Drinking between Baseline and 6 Months

    Time frame: baseline, 6 months

    Self-reported number of drinks consumed during an average week in the past 30 days.

  3. Change in Peak Drinking Occasion between Baseline and 3 Months

    Time frame: baseline, 3 months

    Self-reported max number of drinks consumed on a single occasion in the past 30 days.

  4. Change in Peak Drinking Occasion between Baseline and 6 Months

    Time frame: baseline, 6 months

    Self-reported max number of drinks consumed on a single occasion in the past 30 days.

  5. Change in Heavy Episodic Drinking Occasion between Baseline and 3 Months

    Time frame: baseline, 3 months

    Self-reported number of times 4/5 drinks (female/male) were consumed in a 2-hour period in the past 30 days.

  6. Change in Heavy Episodic Drinking Occasion between Baseline and 6 Months

    Time frame: baseline, 6 months

    Self-reported number of times 4/5 drinks (female/male) were consumed in a 2-hour period in the past 30 days.

  7. Change in Frequency of Intoxication Events between Baseline and 3 Months

    Time frame: baseline, 3 months

    Self-reported number of times individuals reported drinking to intoxication in the past 30 days.

  8. Change in Frequency of Intoxication Events between Baseline and 6 Months

    Time frame: baseline, 6 months

    Self-reported number of times individuals reported drinking to intoxication in the past 30 days.

  9. Change in Number of Alcohol-Related Consequences between Baseline and 3 Month

    Time frame: baseline, 3 months

    Self-reported number of alcohol-related consequences in the past 30 days.

  10. Change in Number of Alcohol-Related Consequences between Baseline and 6 Month

    Time frame: baseline, 6 months

    Self-reported number of alcohol-related consequences in the past 30 days.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Loyola Marymount University

Other

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
2025
Primary completion
2026
Study completion
2026
First posted
Mar 6, 2025
Registry last updated
Apr 16, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Related clinical trials

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.