(PS1-15) Discovering What Young Adults Want in Electronic Interventions Aimed at Reducing Alcohol-related Consequences

Background: Despite intervention efforts, negative alcohol-related consequences continue to impact young adults. Most alcohol interventions focus on reducing alcohol consumption; however, previous research indicates that focusing solely on alcohol use may not decrease consequences associated with use. Additionally, many alcohol interventions have diminishing engagement, and few are designed with young adults involved in the development process. Drawing on user-centered design, this study sought to understand young adult perceptions, preferences, and needs for electronic interventions aimed at specifically reducing alcohol consequences. 

Methods: Using qualitative interviews, 21 young adult drinkers (ages 18-24; 57.1% female) shared their opinions regarding the need for electronic interventions (i.e., mobile or web-delivered) to reduce negative alcohol-related consequences as well as their preferences for content, features, and ways to increase engagement with interventions.  

Results: As part of our discovery phase of intervention development, content coding revealed four main themes. Participants perceived several benefits of interventions focused on alcohol consequences, such as promoting mindful alcohol use and reducing negative consequences from drinking. At the same time, participants also discussed perceived limitations of such programs, including believing consequences from drinking are unavoidable and necessary for learning and negative influences of peer pressure. Participants also discussed preferences for features they would want in an electronic intervention, such as real-time tracking, personalized feedback, and education; and preferences for structure and design, such as being interactive, personalized, non-judgmental, and user-friendly.

Conclusions: Engaging end users in the development of an electronic intervention is a valuable approach to improve relevancy, acceptability, and engagement for young adult drinkers, even at the discovery phase (i.e., determining preferences and needs). Using this information can inform intervention content and design to maximize intervention engagement and satisfaction while also reducing barriers identified early on (e.g., addressing peer pressure and ambivalence towards consequences). Findings demonstrated a nonjudgmental tone and a simple, intuitive design that could be personalized to fit young adults’ needs are important features of an electronic intervention to support reducing alcohol-related consequences.