Alcohol-Impaired DrivingNCT03496129
An Interactive Text-Message Based Brief Intervention to Reduce Substance-Impaired Driving Among College Students
A study testing Personalized feedback, Personalized feedback and text messages and Information Only in people with Alcohol-Impaired Driving, run by Western Kentucky University at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
Substance-Impaired Driving among college students remains a significant public health concern and may be the single riskiest substance-related outcome among young adults. Brief Interventions (BIs) have been shown to reduce alcohol-impaired driving among college students, but are not often implemented - despite their… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Alcohol-Impaired Driving
- What is being tested?
- Personalized feedback, Personalized feedback and text messages and Information Only
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 105 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 22 Sep 2018to 30 Apr 2021
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Yes, posted in the registrySummary in the doctors' view
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 years and older
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Age 18 or older
- Currently enrolled (full or part-time) in college
- Ability to speak, read, and write in English
- Reports driving after drinking two or more drinks prior to driving at least three times in the past three months AND/OR reports driving after using marijuana or any other substance prior to driving at least three times in the past three months
- Reports having access to a motor vehicle, a valid driver's license, and plans to drive a vehicle in the next 3 months
- Reports access to a cell phone and willingness to read intervention material and exchange 3 texts post intervention with the study administrator
- Reports a valid email address
Who cannot join
- Currently in treatment for substance use or abuse
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
About this study
Official title: Evaluation of an Interactive Text-Message Based Brief Intervention to Reduce Substance-Impaired Driving Among College Students
Substance-Impaired Driving among college students remains a significant public health concern and may be the single riskiest substance-related outcome among young adults. Brief Interventions (BIs) have been shown to reduce alcohol-impaired driving among college students, but are not often implemented - despite their demonstrated efficacy - because it is not economically feasible for universities to hire and train staff to deliver in-person BIs to all college substance users. Very few college students seek out substance prevention or treatment services available on campus or in the surrounding community. Innovative ways of delivering BIs to this at-risk population in a manner that is both effective and economically feasible have to be developed. The present study will be the first to examine whether a text-messaging-based substance-impaired driving BI significantly decreases substance-impaired driving among colleges substance users compared to an informational control. Participants will be 150 college students who endorse driving after substance use (alcohol, drugs, and/or combined alcohol/drugs) at least twice in the past 3 months. After completing baseline measures, participants will be randomly assigned to receive either: a) substance use information, b) a substance-impaired driving personalized feedback intervention, or c) a substance-impaired driving personalized feedback intervention plus interactive text messages. Participants will complete outcome measures 3, 6, and 12 months post-intervention. Repeated measures mixed modeling analyses will be used to determine whether the intervention significantly reduces substance-impaired driving over time. The project has two specific aims: 1) to evaluate a text based substance-impaired driving intervention in a randomized clinical trial, and 2) to determine whether the use of interactive text-messages sustains intervention effects over time. This study is innovative because it utilizes cutting-edge technology to deliver the entire intervention, enabling the study to reach a large number of students in a short time period at a low cost. The study is significant because it will contribute substantially to the substance-impaired driving literature by identifying an intervention that can decrease substance-impaired driving among this high-risk population. Additionally, this study will add to the newly emerging technology-based intervention literature.
Read the detailed description
Rates of substance-impaired driving remain especially high among college students, and substance-related traffic accidents remain the leading cause of substance-related death among young adults. Prevention and intervention efforts, such as brief Interventions (BIs) have been shown to decrease substance use and related problems. BIs attempt to identify and correct faulty normative beliefs and highlight consequences of substance use (such as driving after substance use) and BIs typically consist of one or two individual therapeutic meetings delivered in motivational interviewing style and include personalized feedback (based on a series of questionnaires completed by the student prior to their BI session). The reason why BIs have not been deployed - despite their demonstrated efficacy - is that it is not economically feasible for universities to hire and train staff to deliver in-person BIs to all college substance users, and very few college students seek out substance prevention or treatment services available on campus or in the surrounding communities. Innovative ways of delivering BIs to this at-risk population in a manner that is both effective and economically feasible have to be developed. Text messaging represents a particularly advantageous way to provide BIs as they can be highly personalized to the individual, accessed at any time that suits the individual's needs, and allow for engagement and interaction between the interventionist and participant. Given the high prevalence and fatal consequences of substance-impaired driving, intervention approaches with the ability to reach a large number of students at a low cost are imperative for reducing this extremely risky behavior. Personalized feedback delivered without a one-on-one intervention may effectively reduce substance use and problems, despite the fact that web-based and feedback-only interventions consistently demonstrate smaller effect sizes than in-person interventions at long-term follow-ups, with effects often dissipating after the first follow-up.
The present study will enhance and extend intervention effects by including MI consistent interactive text messages to provide an interpersonal and interactive element. Research indicates that college students prefer text messages to telephone calls and emails and rate this medium positively. However, few published studies in alcohol literature have implemented text-messaging interventions and no published studies have examined the effects of a text-based substance impaired driving BI among students who report recent substance-impaired driving. A text-based BI focused specifically on decreasing alcohol-impaired driving (AI-driving) among college students has been developed and evaluated in a pilot trial. This study indicated that a brief, text-based AI-driving intervention resulted in significantly greater reductions in AI-driving at the 3-month follow-up, compared to an intervention providing alcohol information alone. This was the first controlled study to demonstrate that a text-based AI-driving intervention could decrease AI-driving outcomes over time. However, it is not clear from this study whether interactive text messages are a crucial part of the intervention because this study did not compare an AI-driving feedback only condition to the AI-driving feedback + interactive texts condition.
The proposed study will extend these promising pilot results by (a) expanding inclusion criteria to include drug-impaired and combination drug and alcohol-impaired drivers, (b) increasing power and generalizability by recruiting 150 college students indicating recent substance-impaired driving, (c) dismantling the pilot trial design by including a personalized feedback only condition, and (d) including a 6-month and 1-year follow-up to determine whether intervention effects persist over time.
The overarching goal is to reduce driving after drinking, drug use, and combined drug/alcohol use among college students.
We will conduct a 3-group trial with 150 college students (project 50% female and 20% minority) recruited from a large public university.
Group 1: substance information only Group 2: substance-impaired driving personalized feedback only Group 3: substance impaired driving personalized feedback and MI interactive text messages
Aim 1: Evaluate a text based substance-impaired driving intervention in a Randomized Clinical Trial.
Hypothesis 1: Groups 2 and 3 will report greater reductions in driving after substance use at 3-month follow-up compared to Group 1.
Aim 2: Determine whether interactive text-messages sustain intervention effects over time.
Hypothesis 2: Group 3 will report greater reductions in driving after substance use at 6-month and 12-month follow-up compared to Group 2.
- Conditions
- Alcohol-Impaired Driving
- Being tested
- Personalized feedback, Personalized feedback and text messages, Information Only
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Personalized feedbackBehavioural
Following the baseline assessment, participants will be sent a link via text message to a secure website containing substance-impaired driving specific personalized feedback. Feedback will include the following elements: a personalized substance use profile and substance-impaired driving profile, information on social norms related to substance use and substance-impaired driving, personalized information on BAC (or level of impairment due to drug use) prior to driving, costs associated with a DUI citation in Kentucky, and information on combined drug and alcohol impaired driving risk (if endorsed).
Personalized feedback and text messagesBehavioural
Experimental: Personalized feedback and text messages
Following the baseline assessment, participants will be sent a link via text message to a secure website containing substance-impaired driving specific personalized feedback (described above). Participants will be asked to send a text message back to the study administrator after viewing the feedback document. After confirming receipt and processing of the document, the study administrator will then send the participant three text messages containing open-ended questions.
Information OnlyBehavioural
Active Comparator: Information Only
Students randomized to the information condition will receive standard information about alcohol and other drugs and substance-impaired driving via a link to a website delivered through text message.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Personalized Feedback | Experimental | Following the baseline assessment, participants will be sent a link via text message to a secure website containing substance-impaired driving specific personalized feedback. Feedback will include the following elements: a personalized substance use profile and substance-impaired driving profile, information on social norms related to substance use and substance-impaired driving, personalized information on BAC (or level of impairment due to drug use) prior to driving, costs associated with a DUI citation in Kentucky, and information on combined drug and alcohol impaired driving risk (if endorsed). Receives: Behavioral: Personalized feedback |
| Personalized feedback and text messages | Experimental | Following the baseline assessment, participants will be sent a link via text message to a secure website containing substance-impaired driving specific personalized feedback (described above). Participants will be asked to send a text message back to the study administrator after viewing the feedback document. After confirming receipt and processing of the document, the study administrator will then send the participant three text messages containing open-ended questions. Receives: Behavioral: Personalized feedback and text messages |
| Information Only | Active comparator | Students randomized to the information condition will receive standard information about alcohol and other drugs and substance-impaired driving via a link to a website delivered through text message. Receives: Behavioral: Information Only |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Change in Number of Times Driving After Using Substances
Participants will be asked to report the number of times they have driven within two hours of drinking alcohol or using other substances.
Measured: 3 months
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted12 Apr 2018
- Study start22 Sep 2018
- Primary completion30 Apr 2021
- Study completion30 Apr 2021
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Posted resultsParticipant flow, outcome measures and adverse events reported by the sponsor.
- Publications (1)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Alcohol-Impaired DrivingStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 105 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Western Kentucky University
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Jenni B Teeters, PhD, Principal investigator, Western Kentucky University
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT03496129
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 18-187
- Status last verified
- Aug 2025
- First submitted
- 3 Apr 2018
- Last updated
- 11 Aug 2025
- Results posted
- Yes, on ClinicalTrials.gov
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
Publications
Teeters JB, King SA, Hubbard SM. A mobile phone-based brief intervention with personalized feedback and interactive text messaging is associated with changes in driving after cannabis use cognitions in a proof-of-concept pilot trial. Exp Clin Psychopharmacol. 2021 Apr;29(2):203-209. doi: 10.1037/pha0000442.
PubMed 34043401
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 11 Aug 2025. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Evaluation of an Interactive Text-Message Based Brief Intervention to Reduce Substance-Impaired Driving Among College Students
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT03496129
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 18-187
- Conditions
- Alcohol-Impaired Driving
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 105 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Western Kentucky UniversityUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 22 Sep 2018 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 30 Apr 2021 (actual)
- Study completion
- 30 Apr 2021 (actual)
- First posted
- 12 Apr 2018 (actual)
- Results
- Posted 11 Aug 2025
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
Substance-Impaired Driving among college students remains a significant public health concern and may be the single riskiest substance-related outcome among young adults. Brief Interventions (BIs) have been shown to reduce alcohol-impaired driving among college students, but are not often implemented - despite their demonstrated efficacy - because it is not economically feasible for universities to hire and train staff to deliver in-person BIs to all college substance users. Very few college students seek out substance prevention or treatment services available on campus or in the surrounding community. Innovative ways of delivering BIs to this at-risk population in a manner that is both effective and economically feasible have to be developed. The present study will be the first to examine whether a text-messaging-based substance-impaired driving BI significantly decreases substance-impaired driving among colleges substance users compared to an informational control. Participants will be 150 college students who endorse driving after substance use (alcohol, drugs, and/or combined alcohol/drugs) at least twice in the past 3 months. After completing baseline measures, participants will be randomly assigned to receive either: a) substance use information, b) a substance-impaired driving personalized feedback intervention, or c) a substance-impaired driving personalized feedback intervention plus interactive text messages. Participants will complete outcome measures 3, 6, and 12 months post-intervention. Repeated measures mixed modeling analyses will be used to determine whether the intervention significantly reduces substance-impaired driving over time. The project has two specific aims: 1) to evaluate a text based substance-impaired driving intervention in a randomized clinical trial, and 2) to determine whether the use of interactive text-messages sustains intervention effects over time. This study is innovative because it utilizes cutting-edge technology to deliver the entire intervention, enabling the study to reach a large number of students in a short time period at a low cost. The study is significant because it will contribute substantially to the substance-impaired driving literature by identifying an intervention that can decrease substance-impaired driving among this high-risk population. Additionally, this study will add to the newly emerging technology-based intervention literature.
Detailed description
Rates of substance-impaired driving remain especially high among college students, and substance-related traffic accidents remain the leading cause of substance-related death among young adults. Prevention and intervention efforts, such as brief Interventions (BIs) have been shown to decrease substance use and related problems. BIs attempt to identify and correct faulty normative beliefs and highlight consequences of substance use (such as driving after substance use) and BIs typically consist of one or two individual therapeutic meetings delivered in motivational interviewing style and include personalized feedback (based on a series of questionnaires completed by the student prior to their BI session). The reason why BIs have not been deployed - despite their demonstrated efficacy - is that it is not economically feasible for universities to hire and train staff to deliver in-person BIs to all college substance users, and very few college students seek out substance prevention or treatment services available on campus or in the surrounding communities. Innovative ways of delivering BIs to this at-risk population in a manner that is both effective and economically feasible have to be developed. Text messaging represents a particularly advantageous way to provide BIs as they can be highly personalized to the individual, accessed at any time that suits the individual's needs, and allow for engagement and interaction between the interventionist and participant. Given the high prevalence and fatal consequences of substance-impaired driving, intervention approaches with the ability to reach a large number of students at a low cost are imperative for reducing this extremely risky behavior. Personalized feedback delivered without a one-on-one intervention may effectively reduce substance use and problems, despite the fact that web-based and feedback-only interventions consistently demonstrate smaller effect sizes than in-person interventions at long-term follow-ups, with effects often dissipating after the first follow-up.
The present study will enhance and extend intervention effects by including MI consistent interactive text messages to provide an interpersonal and interactive element. Research indicates that college students prefer text messages to telephone calls and emails and rate this medium positively. However, few published studies in alcohol literature have implemented text-messaging interventions and no published studies have examined the effects of a text-based substance impaired driving BI among students who report recent substance-impaired driving. A text-based BI focused specifically on decreasing alcohol-impaired driving (AI-driving) among college students has been developed and evaluated in a pilot trial. This study indicated that a brief, text-based AI-driving intervention resulted in significantly greater reductions in AI-driving at the 3-month follow-up, compared to an intervention providing alcohol information alone. This was the first controlled study to demonstrate that a text-based AI-driving intervention could decrease AI-driving outcomes over time. However, it is not clear from this study whether interactive text messages are a crucial part of the intervention because this study did not compare an AI-driving feedback only condition to the AI-driving feedback + interactive texts condition.
The proposed study will extend these promising pilot results by (a) expanding inclusion criteria to include drug-impaired and combination drug and alcohol-impaired drivers, (b) increasing power and generalizability by recruiting 150 college students indicating recent substance-impaired driving, (c) dismantling the pilot trial design by including a personalized feedback only condition, and (d) including a 6-month and 1-year follow-up to determine whether intervention effects persist over time.
The overarching goal is to reduce driving after drinking, drug use, and combined drug/alcohol use among college students.
We will conduct a 3-group trial with 150 college students (project 50% female and 20% minority) recruited from a large public university.
Group 1: substance information only Group 2: substance-impaired driving personalized feedback only Group 3: substance impaired driving personalized feedback and MI interactive text messages
Aim 1: Evaluate a text based substance-impaired driving intervention in a Randomized Clinical Trial.
Hypothesis 1: Groups 2 and 3 will report greater reductions in driving after substance use at 3-month follow-up compared to Group 1.
Aim 2: Determine whether interactive text-messages sustain intervention effects over time.
Hypothesis 2: Group 3 will report greater reductions in driving after substance use at 6-month and 12-month follow-up compared to Group 2.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 3
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Personalized Feedback | Experimental | Behavioral: Personalized feedbackFollowing the baseline assessment, participants will be sent a link via text message to a secure website containing substance-impaired driving specific personalized feedback. Feedback will include the following elements: a personalized substance use profile and substance-impaired driving profile, information on social norms related to substance use and substance-impaired driving, personalized information on BAC (or level of impairment due to drug use) prior to driving, costs associated with a DUI citation in Kentucky, and information on combined drug and alcohol impaired driving risk (if endorsed). |
| Personalized feedback and text messages | Experimental | Behavioral: Personalized feedback and text messagesFollowing the baseline assessment, participants will be sent a link via text message to a secure website containing substance-impaired driving specific personalized feedback (described above). Participants will be asked to send a text message back to the study administrator after viewing the feedback document. After confirming receipt and processing of the document, the study administrator will then send the participant three text messages containing open-ended questions. |
| Information Only | Active comparator | Behavioral: Information OnlyStudents randomized to the information condition will receive standard information about alcohol and other drugs and substance-impaired driving via a link to a website delivered through text message. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (7 listed)
- Age 18 or older
- Currently enrolled (full or part-time) in college
- Ability to speak, read, and write in English
- Reports driving after drinking two or more drinks prior to driving at least three times in the past three months AND/OR reports driving after using marijuana or any other substance prior to driving at least three times in the past three months
- Reports having access to a motor vehicle, a valid driver's license, and plans to drive a vehicle in the next 3 months
Key exclusion criteria (1 listed)
- Currently in treatment for substance use or abuse
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Personalized feedbackFollowing the baseline assessment, participants will be sent a link via text message to a secure website containing substance-impaired driving specific personalized feedback. Feedback will include the following elements: a personalized substance use profile and substance-impaired driving profile, information on social norms related to substance use and substance-impaired driving, personalized information on BAC (or level of impairment due to drug use) prior to driving, costs associated with a DUI citation in Kentucky, and information on combined drug and alcohol impaired driving risk (if endorsed). | Behavioural | Personalized Feedback |
| Personalized feedback and text messagesExperimental: Personalized feedback and text messages Following the baseline assessment, participants will be sent a link via text message to a secure website containing substance-impaired driving specific personalized feedback (described above). Participants will be asked to send a text message back to the study administrator after viewing the feedback document. After confirming receipt and processing of the document, the study administrator will then send the participant three text messages containing open-ended questions. | Behavioural | Personalized feedback and text messages |
| Information OnlyActive Comparator: Information Only Students randomized to the information condition will receive standard information about alcohol and other drugs and substance-impaired driving via a link to a website delivered through text message. | Behavioural | Information Only |
Primary outcome
Change in Number of Times Driving After Using Substances
Time frame: 3 months
Participants will be asked to report the number of times they have driven within two hours of drinking alcohol or using other substances.
Results and safety
Loading the posted results from ClinicalTrials.gov…
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 11 Aug 2025.
- Posted resultsParticipant flow, baseline, all outcome measures and adverse events.
- Derived from this study: PubMed 34043401Teeters JB, King SA, Hubbard SM. A mobile phone-based brief intervention with personalized feedback and interactive text messaging is associated with changes in driving after cannabis use cognitions in a proof-of-concept pilot trial. Exp Clin Psychopharmacol. 2021 Apr;29(2):203-209. doi: 10.1037/pha0000442.
Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Jenni B Teeters, PhD principal investigator
Western Kentucky University
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Personalized feedback, Personalized feedback and text messages and Information Only in people with Alcohol-Impaired Driving, run by Western Kentucky University at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 7 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 11 Aug 2025. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
Yes. Results are posted in the registry (first posted 11 Aug 2025). A summary is in the For doctors view, and the full results are on ClinicalTrials.gov.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Change in Number of Times Driving After Using Substances (time frame: 3 months). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT03496129, which also lists 1 linked publication.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 11 Aug 2025; AzTrials last refreshed its copy on 27 Oct 2026.