Tailored Text Messages May Help Reduce Risky Alcohol Use

Daily text messages offering encouragement and advice may help some individuals significantly reduce their alcohol consumption, reports astudy published today inAddiction. Compared with individuals who received a text asking about their weekly drinking behaviors, those who received tailored text messages reported significantly fewer drinks and drinking days per week after 6 months.Frederick Muench, Ph.D., of the Partnership to End Addiction in New York and colleagues recruited women who drank at least nine drinks per week and men who drank at least 11 drinks per week and were seeking to lower their alcohol intake. A total of 723 adults (average age of 40) were randomly assigned one of three text groups for 6 months:Drink tracking:Participants received a weekly assessment sent by text that inquired about their drinking over the previous 7 days. They were also asked if they had met their week ’s goal.Tailored static messaging: Participants received weekly assessment texts as well as daily text messages; about half were tailored to the participant (for example, they included the individual ’s name or provided advice geared toward the individual’s ability to resist cravings).Tailored adaptive messaging:Participants received weekly assessment texts as well as daily tailored messages that were adjusted each week depending on the extent to which they achieved their weekly goals. Participants in this group were also provided a list of key words (for example, “heavy” and “...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: addiction alcohol misuse drink tracking heavy drinking tailored messages text messages text support Source Type: research