Drinking and Driving
Conditions
Keywords
alcohol impaired driving, decision making, drunk driving, ambulatory assessment
Brief summary
This project combined laboratory and ambulatory assessment (AA) methods to test decision making associated with alcohol impaired driving (AID). Participants will complete a laboratory alcohol administration session followed by 6 weeks of mobile assessment. Data from drinking events will be examined to test how individuals make choices about driving or not after consuming alcohol.
Detailed description
Building on laboratory findings from the the PI's (McCarthy) previous work, this project is designed to test AID decision making in both the lab and the natural drinking environment in which AID decisions are made. Participants complete a laboratory alcohol administration session followed by six weeks of multi-method ambulatory assessment. The ambulatory assessment component will include participant report via smartphone, portable breathalizer (BACtrack), and location and movement data passively collected by the smartphone GPS/accelerometer. The combination of these methods will allow for the integration of subjective (e.g., perceived intoxication) and objective (e.g., BrAC, calculated drinking location) data for each drinking episode. Aim 1 of the project is to test laboratory measures as prospective predictors of AID and examine the role of event-level influences on specific AID decisions. Aim 2 of the proposed project is to test the potential for a novel intervention to reduce AID using mobile technology. Participants will be randomly assigned to either a full ambulatory assessment or a minimal assessment control condition. The timing of the introduction of AA will also be manipulated within the full ambulatory assessment condition. This design will allow us to test whether the introduction of ambulatory assessment produces changes in AID behavior, as well as whether such changes persist once ambulatory assessment is discontinued. Changes made to the revised application are aimed at ensuring the achievement of both study aims. If Aim 2 is achieved and ambulatory assessment alters AID behavior, the combination of the minimal assessment control condition and the full assessment condition prior to the introduction of ambulatory assessment has sufficient sample size and power to test Aim 1 hypotheses.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALBAC feedback/warning
Participants will receive a warning when their BAC reaches a set limit. The cutpoint for this warning is not disclosed but is well below the legal limit for driving. Warning will notify them that their results indicate it is not safe for them to drive.
BEHAVIORALNo BAC feedback/warning
Participants will receive no information on their current intoxication and will be asked to report less information on their driving decisions.
Sponsors
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
University of Missouri-Columbia
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Investigator)
Intervention model description
Participants are randomly assigned to 3 conditions, 2 active and one control condition. In the active conditions, participants will receive warning messages when their BAC reaches a set threshold that it is not safe for them to drive. The two Active conditions differ in the timing of their onset of the intervention. The control condition will not receive warning and will not report on their driving decision in the moment.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
21 Years to 35 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* moderate to heavy drinkers must drive regularly report recent binge drinking fluent in english
Exclusion criteria
* not in treatment for substance use disorder or other psychiatric disorders BMI under 30 no medical conditions contraindicating alcohol consumption
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Alcohol impaired driving behavior | 12 weeks | Participants will provide self-reported driving behavior (yes/no driven a vehicle) after drinking alcohol during the AA portion. This assessment will be taken from their daily smartphone responses. |
| Alcohol impaired driving behavior (retrospective) | 12 weeks | Participants will provide self-reported driving behavior (yes/no driven a vehicle) after drinking alcohol retrospectively during interview sessions. Participants will complete regular phone interview where their daily driving and drinking behavior will be assessed. The outcome measure of interest will be days when participants report driving (yes/no) after consuming alcohol. |
| Alcohol impaired driving intentions | 6 weeks | Participants will provide self-reported intentions to drive after drinking alcohol (Would you drive now? Yes/no) from daily assessments during the AA portion of the project. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Perceived risk of driving | 6 weeks | Participants will report their perceived risk of driving (1 to 4 scale, Not Dangerous to Very Dangerous) given their current level of impairment during AA portion of project. |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed