Digitally Prompted Parenting: A Text Message Parent-Based Alcohol Intervention for Incoming College Students

Project Summary Drinking remains a significant public health concern on college campuses with the transition into and first months of college identified by NIAAA as a critical high-risk period. Contrary to popular belief, parents can play a significant role in mitigating alcohol-related risk during this period by maintaining communication with

their underage emerging adult children and expressing less permissive attitudes toward alcohol use. Trials of existing Parent-Based Interventions (PBIs) which target parents’ communication and attitudes toward underage drinking delivered during the summer months prior to entering college have found modest effects on

student drinking outcomes; however, these interventions are less effective when financial incentives are not provided to parents for participation. One explanation for this is that time and effort required to complete these programs pre-matriculation may be too demanding. A solution to this problem is to reduce the amount of

effort required from parents’ pre-matriculation and provide them with simpler tasks that could be completed throughout the first semester, such as sending their student risk-reducing text messages. Findings from our lab indicate that maintaining communication during the first few weeks of college via text message can help to

prevent increases in alcohol use and consequences throughout the first year of college. Our preliminary pilot work also suggests that there could be benefits to delivering text messages from parents to students stressing less permissive attitudes toward drinking on the nights when students are going out, and having parents ask

students to check-in at the end of the night might reduce drinking even more. Given these findings, this proposal addresses limitations with existing PBIs by developing the first text message PBI (tm-PBI) that will deliver carefully timed, brief, tailored text messages to parents prompting them to send risk-reducing text

messages to their child that are informed by theory, literature, and parent feedback. In Phase 1, we will design, develop, and optimize the tm-PBI, Digitally Prompted Parenting (DPP) (AIM 1). DPP includes a web platform that includes features such as embedded videos and surveys, profile management, and an interactive calendar

module. More important, the platform permits the research team to edit, automate and track the delivery of tailored text prompts based on information provided by parents on the platform (student sex, parent sex, race/ethnicity, and parent attitudes toward drinking). Phase 1 will also include focus groups with parents of

first-year students aimed at identifying ways to tailor text message content (N=80). We will the functionality of the fully operable DPP with a subset of this sample (N=16) to identify and resolve any bugs affecting program performance. In Phase 2, we will conduct a pilot RCT with 300 parent-student dyads to evaluate shorter- and

longer-term effects of DPP on first-year drinking relative to an active control condition (AIM 2). Finally, we will assess the acceptability/feasibility of the DPP program (AIM 3) via engagement data within the web platform and by surveying parents from the DPP condition (N=150), informing further iterations of the DPP program.