An Interactive Text-Message Based Brief Intervention to Reduce Substance-Impaired Driving Among College Students

Summary

Substance-Impaired Driving among college students remains a significant public health concern and may be the single riskiest substance-related outcome among young adults. Brief Interventions (BIs) have been shown to reduce alcohol-impaired driving among college students, but are not often implemented - despite their demonstrated efficacy - because it is not economically feasible for universities to hire and train staff to deliver in-person BIs to all college substance users. Very few college students seek out substance prevention or treatment services available on campus or in the surrounding community. Innovative ways of delivering BIs to this at-risk population in a manner that is both effective and economically feasible have to be developed. The present study will be the first to examine whether a text-messaging-based substance-impaired driving BI significantly decreases substance-impaired driving among colleges substance users compared to an informational control. Participants will be 150 college students who endorse driving after substance use (alcohol, drugs, and/or combined alcohol/drugs) at least twice in the past 3 months. After completing baseline measures, participants will be randomly assigned to receive either: a) substance use information, b) a substance-impaired driving personalized feedback intervention, or c) a substance-impaired driving personalized feedback intervention plus interactive text messages. Participants will complete outcome measures 3, 6, and 12 months post-intervention. Repeated measures mixed modeling analyses will be used to determine whether the intervention significantly reduces substance-impaired driving over time. The project has two specific aims: 1) to evaluate a text based substance-impaired driving intervention in a randomized clinical trial, and 2) to determine whether the use of interactive text-messages sustains intervention effects over time. This study is innovative because it utilizes cutting-edge technology to deliver the entire intervention, enabling the study to reach a large number of students in a short time period at a low cost. The study is significant because it will contribute substantially to the substance-impaired driving literature by identifying an intervention that can decrease substance-impaired driving among this high-risk population. Additionally, this study will add to the newly emerging technology-based intervention literature.

Conditions

• Alcohol-Impaired Driving

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Personalized feedback

Following the baseline assessment, participants will be sent a link via text message to a secure website containing substance-impaired driving specific personalized feedback. Feedback will include the following elements: a personalized substance use profile and substance-impaired driving profile, information on social norms related to substance use and substance-impaired driving, personalized information on BAC (or level of impairment due to drug use) prior to driving, costs associated with a DUI citation in Kentucky, and information on combined drug and alcohol impaired driving risk (if endorsed).

BEHAVIORAL

Personalized feedback and text messages

Experimental: Personalized feedback and text messages Following the baseline assessment, participants will be sent a link via text message to a secure website containing substance-impaired driving specific personalized feedback (described above). Participants will be asked to send a text message back to the study administrator after viewing the feedback document. After confirming receipt and processing of the document, the study administrator will then send the participant three text messages containing open-ended questions.

BEHAVIORAL

Information Only

Active Comparator: Information Only Students randomized to the information condition will receive standard information about alcohol and other drugs and substance-impaired driving via a link to a website delivered through text message.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Western Kentucky University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Jenni B Teeters, PhD · Western Kentucky University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2018-09-22

Primary Completion

2021-04-30

Completion

2021-04-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations