Mobile Health Technology Using a Wearable Sensorband for Female College Students With Problem Drinking: An Acceptability and Feasibility Study

Abstract

BackgroundAn increasing number of mobile app interventions have been developed for problem drinking among college students; however, few studies have examined the integration of a mobile app with continuous physiological monitoring and alerting of affective states related to drinking behaviors.ObjectiveThe aim of this paper was to evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of Mind the Moment (MtM), a theoretically based intervention for female college students with problem drinking that combines brief, in-person counseling with ecological momentary intervention (EMI) on a mobile app integrated with a wearable sensorband.MethodsWe recruited 10 non-treatment seeking, female undergraduates from a university health clinic who scored a 3 or higher on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test–Consumption (AUDIT-C) to participate in this pilot study. Study activities involved an in-person baseline intake and 1 follow-up assessment, 2 in-person alcohol brief intervention counseling sessions, and use of MtM technology components (sensorband and EMI on a mobile app) for approximately 3-4 weeks. The intervention used motivational interviewing (MI) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) strategies for reducing risks associated with drinking. We used both qualitative and quantitative assessments to measure acceptability of the intervention and feasibility of delivery. Use patterns of the sensorband and mobile app were also collected.ResultsQuantitative and qualitative data indicated high levels of acceptability for the MtM intervention. Altogether, participants made reports on the app on 26.7% (78/292) the days the technology was available to them and completed a total of 325 reports with wide variation between participants. Qualitative findings indicated that sensorband-elicited alerts promoted an increase in awareness of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors related to current environmental stressors and drinking behaviors in theoretically meaningful ways. Specific challenges related to functionality and form of the sensorband were identified.ConclusionsDelivering intervention material “just-in-time,” at the moment participants need to use behavioral strategies has great potential to individualize behavioral interventions for reducing problem drinking and other health behaviors. These findings provide initial evidence for the promise of wearable sensors for increasing potency of theoretically grounded mobile health interventions and point to directions for future research and uptake of these technologies.

Technology-Based Substance Use Interventions: Opportunities for Gender-Transformative Health Promotion

“…Mobile health apps were more commonly described in the literature as traditional 'mHealth' approaches, where an application on a smartphone monitors certain activity and provides alerts based on behaviours. Much like step trackers or heart rate monitoring apps, the mobile apps focused on substance use behaviours, such as alcohol frequency or drinks consumed [49]. MHealth apps provide some of the leading examples of technological innovation, including in their ability to engage individuals in substance use prevention and health promotion [49].…”

“…Much like step trackers or heart rate monitoring apps, the mobile apps focused on substance use behaviours, such as alcohol frequency or drinks consumed [49]. MHealth apps provide some of the leading examples of technological innovation, including in their ability to engage individuals in substance use prevention and health promotion [49]. However, the literature has described the functionality, technical issues, and security and privacy of the apps as key barriers and concerns to programmatic success [49,50].…”

Theoretically-Based Emotion Regulation Strategies Using a Mobile App and Wearable Sensor Among Homeless Adolescent Mothers: Acceptability and Feasibility Study (Preprint)

“…In our developmental work of the Calm Mom technology [49] and as cited by other reports [57,58], we became keenly aware of the demands mobile health technology can place on participants and the ways in which it can be experienced as irritating or annoying at times. Moreover, we did not want the demands of the Calm Mom technology to distract AMs from their children or tax the cognitive and emotional capacity of these highly overburdened young mothers.…”

“…While previous research of wearable sensors for the measurement of EDA have been limited to small, proof-of-concept studies [28,29,58], the current study is one of the very few pragmatic, real-world studies that included a wearable, wireless sensor measuring and alerting participants of escalating EDA for enhancing an in-person parenting intervention. In future research we will address technological challenges including issues related to the Bluetooth connection between the sensorband and the smartphone as well as problems related to the on/off indicators of the sensorband.…”

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“…In recent years, there has been a growing concern about mental health issues on college campuses [43]. There have been a number of studies on mental health issues among college students using wearable sensor, mobile phone and survey approaches [43][44][45][46]. In [45], researchers have developed a machine learning algorithm to distinguish between happy and unhappy college students.…”