Contrasting a Mobile App With a Conversational Chatbot for Reducing Alcohol Consumption: Randomized Controlled Pilot...

Area of Science:

• Behavioral science
• Digital health
• Addiction research

Background:

• Mobile health apps show promise for reducing alcohol consumption but suffer from low utilization.
• Interactive chatbots may offer a more engaging alternative, potentially increasing utilization and effectiveness.
• Research on the effectiveness of chatbots for alcohol intervention is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a chatbot intervention for alcohol reduction based on the "Step Away" app.
• To pilot test the "Step Away" app and a novel chatbot intervention against a waitlist control.
• To assess utilization patterns and alcohol outcomes for both technology-based interventions.

Main Methods:

• Participants with hazardous drinking were recruited via Facebook ads and randomized into three groups: "Step Away" app, "Step Away" chatbot, or waitlist control.
• Web-based assessments included the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, Readiness to Change Questionnaire, Short Inventory of Problems-Revised, and Timeline Followback.
• Data were collected at baseline and 12-week follow-up.

Main Results:

• All 150 participants showed reduced drinking from baseline to follow-up (large effect size).
• No significant differences in alcohol outcomes were observed between the app, chatbot, and control groups.
• The chatbot group showed significantly greater improvement in readiness to change compared to the app group (P=.004).
• App utilization was longer (50.71 days) than chatbot utilization (27.16 days), but intervention use predicted reduced drinking (P=.04).

Conclusions:

• Both the "Step Away" app and chatbot interventions led to significant reductions in alcohol consumption.
• While the app group reported higher utilization, the chatbot group showed greater improvements in readiness to change.
• Future research should address sample size and methodological limitations to further elucidate the comparative effectiveness of these digital interventions.