Messaging Interventions to Reduce Alcohol Problems Project

Summary

The study is designed to develop and test a tailored adaptive text messaging/short message service (SMS) intervention for individuals interested in reducing their alcohol consumption.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, problem or risky drinking is defined as greater than 7 standard drinks per week for women and 14 standard drinks per week for men. Other groups have other criteria (e.g., 10 drinks for women and 14 for men per week). The Institute of Medicine reports that problem drinkers are those with mild-to-moderate problem severity who do not have physical dependence.

Heavy drinking individuals with non-abstinence goals rarely seek treatment for excessive alcohol use, and newer methods such as internet screening and mobile apps provide opportunities to engage and treat this difficult to reach population. There are now 96 mobile phone contracts for every 100 people on earth, making mobile interventions a highly viable method for extending care beyond traditional methods. Text messaging or short message service (SMS) is the most widely available mode of mobile communication and despite its simplicity, has been proven to be a reliable and effective method to induce behavior change across behavioral health targets, including problem drinking. However, large scale randomized controlled trials are needed to provide the necessary empirical evidence to validate SMS interventions and understand the mediators and moderators of outcome for help seeking heavy drinkers who are using or unable to attend in-person care.

Conditions

• Alcohol-Related Disorders
• Alcohol Use Disorders
• Alcohol Drinking
• Alcoholism
• Alcohol Abuse

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Drink Tracking (MA)

Weekly drink tracking for self-monitoring and assessment

BEHAVIORAL

Adaptive Tailored (TA)

Messages are sent more frequently and tailored to some baseline characteristics and adapt to progress

BEHAVIORAL

Tailored (TO)

Messages are sent more frequently and tailored to some baseline characteristics

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Feinstein Institute for Medical Research

  collaborator OTHER

• Partnership to End Addiction

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

21 Years

Max Age

75 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2019-05-24

Primary Completion

2021-02-18

Completion

2023-11-01

Countries

• United States

Study Locations