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The effect of an interactive mobile phone-based brief intervention on driving under the influence of cannabis among
Jenni B Teeters1, Katie R Moskal1, Sidney M Traxler1
1Psychological Sciences Department, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY, USA.
Aims:
To examine the efficacy of a mobile phone-based brief intervention aimed at reducing driving under the influence of cannabis among emerging adult cannabis users in the context of a randomized 3-group randomized clinical trial (RCT).
Design:
Phase II, 3-arm RCT conducted from October 2022 to September 2025, with participants randomized to one of three conditions.
Setting:
Participants were recruited from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, KY, and the surrounding community within a 60-mile radius. All interventions were delivered remotely via mobile phone.
Participants:
149 emerging adults who reported driving under the influence of cannabis at least three times in the past 3 months were enrolled in the RCT.
Intervention And Comparator:
Participants in the personalized feedback and motivational interviewing text messaging group (PF + MIT; n = 45) received personalized feedback on substance-impaired driving plus a series of interactive, motivational interviewing-style text messages delivered by a trained graduate student over a single session. Participants in the personalized feedback group (PF; n = 50) received personalized feedback only. The information control group (IC; n = 54) received standard, non-personalized substance use information.
Measurements:
The primary outcome was the number of times driving under the influence of cannabis in the past 3 months, which was self-reported via mobile web survey during follow-up assessments at 3 and 6 months post-intervention. The secondary outcome was the number of times driving after simultaneous alcohol and cannabis use in the past 3 months.
Findings:
Negative binomial mixed models analyses indicated that participants in the PF + MIT group showed statistically significantly greater reductions in driving under the influence of cannabis at 3 months compared with the IC group [incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 0.34, 66% reduction; P < 0.001] and maintained reductions at 6 months (IRR = 0.40, 60% reduction; P < 0.001). Participants in the PF group demonstrated statistically significant reductions in driving under the influence of cannabis at 6 months relative to the IC group (IRR = 0.25, 75% reduction; P < 0.001). No statistically significant differences over time between groups were found for the number of times driving after simultaneous use of alcohol and cannabis.
Conclusions:
A randomized clinical trial found that personalized feedback and motivational interviewing text messaging accelerated reductions in driving under the influence of cannabis at 3-month follow-up compared with controls, and personalized feedback alone showed delayed reductions in driving under the influence of cannabis at 6-month follow-up compared with controls.
