Effects of a Mobile Application "Teenagers Don't Drink" on Preventing Alcohol Consumption among Thai Adolescents: A...

Adolescence drinking behavior is steadily increasing while the mean age of first- time drinkers has decreased. The aims of this study were to examine the potential effect of the "Teenagers Don't Drink" application on preventing alcohol use among Thai adolescents.

This quasi-experimental design with cluster-level allocation was conducted among adolescents aged 10-14 years in Chiang Mai, Thailand, between March and May 2022. A total of 50 adolescents were recruited based on the calculated sample size; 25 participants who met the inclusion criteria were selected by simple random sampling for each group. The intervention group received the mobile application "Teenagers don't drink". The control group received an adolescence drinking prevention manual. The data was gathered using Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), Alcohol Knowledge, Attitude towards Drinking, Drinking Refusal Self-efficacy, Parental control and support regarding alcohol consumption, and Intention to not Drink Alcohol Questionnaires before and one month after the intervention. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Wilcoxon Matched Signed Rank Test, Paired T-test, Mann-Whitney U Test, and Independent t-test with STATA version 15. A significance level of less than 0.05 was considered.

Between groups score comparisons showed a statistically significant differences in terms of knowledge about alcoholic beverages (P=0.003), attitude towards drinking (P<0.001), drinking refusal self-efficacy (P=0.003), parental control and support regarding alcohol consumption (P=0.003), and intention to not drink alcohol (P<0.001) after the intervention.

The "Teenagers Don't Drink" application may improve adolescents' comprehension of alcoholic beverages, pertinent laws and regulations, and life skills associated with alcohol use prevention. The program seems capable of aiding initiatives to avoid or diminish alcohol intake among adolescents in communal environments.