Game-Based Intervention to Reduce Alcohol Use Among Youth

ConditionAlcohol Problem

Trial statusNot yet recruiting

Trial phaseNot applicable

Trial typeInterventional

Biological sexAll

Age14-18

SponsorUniversity of Pittsburgh

About this trial

This is a randomized controlled trial to learn if the Singularities, a game-based intervention, works to reduce alcohol-related harms among youth. It will also learn if Singularities reduces alcohol use behaviors and improves alcohol protective behavioral strategies, adaptive coping skills, and healthy social media use. The main questions it aims to answer are:

* Does Singularities reduce the frequency of experiencing alcohol-related harms and alcohol use behaviors? * Does Singularities improve alcohol protective behavioral strategies, adaptive coping skills, and healthy social media use?

Researchers will compare Singularities to an attention control program, Food4Thought, a game-based intervention about nutrition, physical activity, and teen well-being, to see if Singularities works to reduce alcohol-related harms.

Participants will:

* Partake in either Singularities or Food4Thought, both of which will be completed over the course of one month * Take 4 online surveys over the course of one year * Complete an optional online interview after the surveys

Eligibility criteria

This trial accepts healthy volunteers

Qualifiers

Able to comfortably participate in English

Live in the U.S.

14-18 years old

Have an internet-accessible computer, smart phone, or tablet

Disqualifiers

None

Trial design

Design model

Parallel

Treatments tested in this trial

Food4Thought
Behavioral
Food4Thought is an attention control condition in which participants receive similar amounts of research team contact and program contact as the intervention. Participants will play the game Pick Your Plate! A Global Guide to Nutrition, developed by the Smithsonian Science Education Center. Participants are instructed to build healthy meals using cuisine from around the world while ensuring they stick to a budget and meet all their nutritional needs. Food4Thought will be delivered via Qualtrics.
Singularities
Behavioral
Singularities is a theory-based, community-informed, web-accessible intervention that includes a game, discussion board, and resources that incorporate 3 components for encouraging use of adaptive coping skills, alcohol protective behavioral strategies, and healthy internet and social media use.

Treatment groups

1,992 Participants

are divided into 2 treatment groups

Group A: SingularitiesExperimental treatment 1 intervention

Group B: Food4ThoughtActive comparator 1 intervention

Trial outcomes

Primary outcomes

Alcohol-related harms

Participants report how many times they experienced 19 different alcohol-related harms, based on the measure from the the School Health and Alcohol Harm Reduction Project (SHAHRP). Example harms include hangover after drinking, inability to remember what happened after drinking, having sex that they later regretted, trouble with parent(s) because of drinking, physical fight because they were affected by alcohol, and drove in a vehicle after drinking. Response options for each harm range from "never" (0) to "12 times or more" (12). Scores range from 0 to 228, with higher scores indicating more alcohol-related harms.

Time frame