Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT07126613

Mobile Alcohol Use Intervention

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.

Completed

Looking for future studies?

Notify Me

Key information

Conditions

Alcohol Misuse

Age range

18 year–25 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Rosenau Hall

Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599, United States

About this study

This study aims to determine whether a mobile health intervention to reduce alcohol use and related consequences is acceptable and feasible among young adults who engage in high-intensity drinking (HID; 8+/10+ drinks per drinking occasion for females/males, respectively). The investigators aim to recruit 40 adults between 18-25 years of age who report at least one HID episode in the past 30 days.

After providing informed consent, participants will be randomly assigned to receive the mobile health intervention or control surveys only.

Participants will attend one online study visit to enroll in the study and be assigned to their study arm. All subsequent study activities will be completed asynchronously. Participants will then receive text message prompts and/or surveys to their personal cellphone either Wednesday or Thursday through Sunday for four consecutive weeks. Participants will receive a post-test survey 30 days after their final weekly survey.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

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

Inclusion criteria

  • 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

Exclusion criteria

  • 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

Treatment and study plan

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.

Primary outcomes

  1. Average Satisfaction with the Intervention

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

    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

  2. Average Engagement with the Intervention Measured by the DCBI Scale

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

    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.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Number of Drinks Consumed per Drinking Episode

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

    Total number of drinks consumed per drinking occasion will be assessed using 1 item: "How many standard drinks did you consume yesterday?" Response options will range from less than 1 (0) to 10 or more (10). Respondents who input 10 or more drinks will be prompted to input the total number of drinks they consumed.

  2. Average Drinking Level per Drinking Episode

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

    An ordinal measure of drinking level will be calculated based on the total drinks item ("How many standard drinks did you consume yesterday?"). Moderate drinking will be defined as 0-3 drinks for women or 0-4 drinks for men, standard binge drinking will be defined as 4-7 drinks for women or 5-9 drinks for men, and high-intensity drinking will be defined as 8 or more drinks for women or 10 or more drinks for men.

  3. Frequency Score of Alcohol-Related Consequences Measured by BYAACQ

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

    Alcohol-related consequences will be measured via the 24-item Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire (BYAACQ), which lists a variety of alcohol-related consequences and asks participants to endorse (Yes=1; No=0) if they have experienced a specific consequence in the past month. Scores range from 0-24, where a higher score indicates a higher number of alcohol-related consequences experienced.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Other

Collaborators

  • National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

Registry information

Official study title

Development of a Just-in-Time Adaptive Intervention to Reduce High-Intensity Drinking Among Young Adults

Important dates

Study start
2025
Primary completion
2026
Study completion
2026
First posted
Aug 17, 2025
Registry last updated
Jan 21, 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.