JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Technology-assisted intervention and prevention strategies present great opportunities for substance use related research with emerging adults (EAs) and their peers. Crowdsourcing, or gathering feedback from a large group within online communities, offers researchers a unique and cost-effective way to obtain large amounts of information in a short amount of time.

Objective:

This paper presents market feedback obtained via Amazon’s mTurk from emerging adults (N=458) ages 18-29 on the acceptability and utility of brief intervention scripts for a smart phone application currently under development. The mobile application, Harbor, teaches friends of EAs with substance use problems effective and supportive strategies for helping their friend make changes to their substance use.

Methods:

We examined feedback on the intervention scripts’ wording and estimated the market size of EAs who may use this application. Further, we calculated correlations between script ratings and measures of personal risky drinking (i.e. AUDIT) as well as participant’s use of confrontational, enabling, or supportive behaviors with an existing friend.

Results:

Approaching half of our sample (45.4%, n=208) indicated they had a close friend for whom they had concerns about their substance use, suggesting a potentially high demand for an application like Harbor. Initial findings suggest peers who engage in less enabling behaviors with their substance using friends exhibited lower risky drinking behaviors overall. With regards to acceptability, roughly 97% of the sample rated the scripts’ dialogue as either somewhat, moderately, or extremely realistic (M=3.92) on 5-point Likert scale items. Finally, over 90% of respondents indicated the scripts would be at least slightly helpful for training peers to help their friends with substance use issues. Individuals with riskier substance use behaviors rated script dialogue as more accurately depicting real-life interactions between emerging adults, and the scripts themselves as more helpful for training peers to help their friends with potential substance use issues. Finally, individuals who were better able to identify enabling language were less likely to enable their friend’s substance use.

Conclusions:

There exists a demonstrated level of desirability and acceptability amongst emerging adults for a mobile application such as Harbor. Emerging adults not already engaged in supportive behaviors with their substance using friends and/or who are amenable to assisting their friends with sobriety likely would utilize and benefit from this application.