mHealth Interventions to Reduce Alcohol Use in Young People: A Systematic Review of the Literature
Open accessAbstract
Harmful use of alcohol has serious effects on public health and is considered a significant risk factor for poor health. mHealth technology promotes health behavior change and enhances health through increased social opportunities for encouragement and support. It remains unknown whether these types of applications directly influence the health status of young people in reducing harmful levels of alcohol consumption. The purpose of this systematic review is to examine current evidence on the effectiveness of mHealth technology use in positively influencing alcohol-related behaviors of young people without known alcohol addiction. Relevant articles published from 2005 to January 2017 were identified through electronic searches of eight databases. Studies with interventions delivered by mHealth (social networking sites, SMS and mobile phone applications) to young people aged 12-26 years were included. Outcome measures were alcohol use, reduction in alcohol consumption or behavior change. Eighteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Interventions varied in design, participant characteristics, settings, length and outcome measures. Ten studies reported some effectiveness related to interventions with nine reporting a reduction in alcohol consumption. Use of mHealth, particularly text messaging (documented as SMS), was found to be an acceptable, affordable and effective way to deliver messages about reducing alcohol consumption to young people. Further research using adequately powered sample sizes in varied settings, with adequate periods of intervention and follow-up, underpinned by theoretical perspectives incorporating behavior change in young people's use of alcohol, is needed.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
A systematic review of the literature provided evidence that the use of mHealth, particularly text messaging, was an acceptable, affordable and effective way to deliver messages about reducing alcohol consumption to the young adult population.
“A systematic review of the literature provided evidence that the use of mHealth, particularly text messaging, was an acceptable, affordable and effective way to deliver messages about reducing alcohol consumption to the young adult population [20].”
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
The theory of planned behavior
Ajzen, I. (1991) · Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes · doi:10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-t · Cited by 90,587 · see citing works
Michie, S., van Stralen, M. M., & West, R. (2011) · Implementation Science · doi:10.1186/1748-5908-6-42 · Cited by 13,697 · see citing works
In search of how people change: Applications to addictive behaviors.
Prochaska, J. O., DiClemente, C. C., & Norcross, J. C. (1992) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.47.9.1102 · Cited by 8,596 · see citing works
The Health Belief Model: a decade later.
Janz, N. K., & Becker, M. H. (1984) · Health Education Quarterly · doi:10.1177/109019818401100101 · Cited by 8,437 · see citing works
The precaution adoption process.
Weinstein, N. D. (1988) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037//0278-6133.7.4.355 · Cited by 1,459 · see citing works
A theory of reasoned action: some applications and implications.
Fishbein, M. (1980) · PubMed · Cited by 1,354 · see citing works
The precaution adoption process.
Weinstein, N. D. (1988) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/0278-6133.7.4.355 · Cited by 1,115 · see citing works
mHealth for mental health: Integrating smartphone technology in behavioral healthcare.
Luxton, D. D., McCann, R. A., Bush, N. E., Mishkind, M. C., & Reger, G. M. (2011) · Professional Psychology: Research and Practice · doi:10.1037/a0024485 · Cited by 809 · cited 2× · see citing works
“…the known benefits of social support in the treatment of alcohol misuse as well as the cost-effectiveness and potential utility of them as tools to reduce problematic drinking (Cohn, Hunter-Reel, Hagman, & Mitchell, 2011; Johnson, Scott-Sheldon, Huedo-Medina, & Carey, 2011; Luxton et al., 2011).”
BackgroundA Social Media–Based Physical Activity Intervention
Cavallo, D. N., Tate, D. F., Ries, A. V., Brown, J. D., DeVellis, R. F., & Ammerman, A. S. (2012) · American Journal of Preventive Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2012.07.019 · Cited by 411 · see citing works
The European Smoking prevention Framework Approach (EFSA): an example of integral prevention
de Vries, H. (2003) · Health Education Research · doi:10.1093/her/cyg031 · Cited by 403 · see citing works
Online Alcohol Interventions: A Systematic Review
White, A., Kavanagh, D., Stallman, H., Klein, B., Kay-Lambkin, F., Proudfoot, J., Drennan, J., Connor, J., Baker, A., Hines, E., et al. (2010) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/jmir.1479 · Cited by 305 · see citing works
A Systematic Review of the mHealth Interventions to Prevent Alcohol and Substance Abuse
Kazemi, D. M., Borsari, B., Levine, M. J., Li, S., Lamberson, K. A., & Matta, L. A. (2017) · Journal of Health Communication · doi:10.1080/10810730.2017.1303556 · Cited by 255 · see citing works
Kashdan, T. B., Ferssizidis, P., Collins, R. L., & Muraven, M. (2010) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797610379863 · Cited by 199 · see citing works
Cohn, A. M., Hunter‐Reel, D., Hagman, B. T., & Mitchell, J. N. (2011) · Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research · doi:10.1111/j.1530-0277.2011.01571.x · Cited by 194 · see citing works
Suffoletto, B. P., Callaway, C. W., Kristan, J., Kraemer, K. L., & Clark, D. B. (2011) · Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research · doi:10.1111/j.1530-0277.2011.01646.x · Cited by 190 · see citing works
Gajecki, M., Berman, A. H., Sinadinovic, K., Rosendahl, I., & Andersson, C. (2014) · Addiction Science & Clinical Practice · doi:10.1186/1940-0640-9-11 · Cited by 179 · see citing works
Johnson, B. T., Scott‐Sheldon, L. A. J., Huedo-Medina, T. B., & Carey, M. P. (2011) · PubMed · doi:10.1001/archpediatrics.2010.251 · Cited by 176 · see citing works
Donoghue, K., Patton, R., Phillips, T., Deluca, P., & Drummond, C. (2014) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/jmir.3193 · Cited by 162 · see citing works
Weitzel, J. A., Bernhardt, J. M., Usdan, S., Mays, D., & Glanz, K. (2007) · Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs · doi:10.15288/jsad.2007.68.534 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
Determining the Impact of Text Messaging for Sexual Health Promotion to Young People
Gold, J., Lim, M. S. C., Hocking, J. S., Keogh, L. A., Spelman, T. D., & Hellard, M. E. (2010) · Sexually Transmitted Diseases · doi:10.1097/olq.0b013e3181f68d7b · Cited by 131 · see citing works
Fowler, L. A., Holt, S. L., & Joshi, D. (2016) · Addictive Behaviors · doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2016.06.008 · Cited by 123 · see citing works
Reid, S. C., Kauer, S. D., Dudgeon, P., Sanci, L. A., Shrier, L. A., & Patton, G. C. (2009) · Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology · doi:10.1007/s00127-008-0455-5 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Internet-based interventions for young people with problematic substance use: a systematic review
Tait, R. J., & Christensen, H. (2010) · Medical Journal of Australia · doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2010.tb03687.x · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Vogl, L., Teesson, M., Andrews, G., Bird, K. D., Steadman, B., & Dillon, P. (2009) · Addiction · doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2009.02510.x · Cited by 110 · see citing works
Weaver, E. R., Horyniak, D., Jenkinson, R., Dietze, P., & Lim, M. S. C. (2013) · JMIR mhealth and uhealth · doi:10.2196/mhealth.2709 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Healthy Apps: Mobile Devices for Continuous Monitoring and Intervention
Spring, B. J., Gotsis, M., Paiva, A., & Spruijt‐Metz, D. (2013) · IEEE Pulse · doi:10.1109/mpul.2013.2279620 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
Bannink, R., Broeren, S., Zwanenburg, E. J.-V., van As, E., van de Looij-Jansen, P., & Raat, H. (2014) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/jmir.3163 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Text Messaging to Increase Readiness to Change Alcohol Use in College Students
Mason, M. J., Benotsch, E. G., Way, T., Kim, H., & Snipes, D. J. (2013) · The Journal of Primary Prevention · doi:10.1007/s10935-013-0329-9 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
Jander, A., Crutzen, R., Mercken, L. A. G., Candel, M. J. J. M., & de Vries, H. (2016) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/jmir.4708 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Riordan, B. C., Conner, T. S., Flett, J. A. M., & Scarf, D. (2015) · Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs · doi:10.15288/jsad.2015.76.525 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Social media and applications to health behavior
Maher, C. A., Ryan, J. C., Kernot, J., Podsiadly, J., & Keenihan, S. H. (2015) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.10.021 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Mobile Delivery of Treatment for Alcohol Use Disorders: A Review of the Literature
Quanbeck, A. (2014) · Alcohol research · doi:10.35946/arcr.v36.1.11 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
Milward, J., Khadjesari, Z., Fincham-Campbell, S., Deluca, P., Watson, R., & Drummond, C. K. (2016) · JMIR mhealth and uhealth · doi:10.2196/mhealth.5242 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Haug, S., Schaub, M. P., Venzin, V., Meyer, C., John, U., & Gmel, G. E. (2013) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/jmir.2755 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Irvine, L. A., Falconer, D. W., Jones, C., Ricketts, I. W., Williams, B., & Crombie, I. K. (2012) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0052621 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Moore, S., Crompton, K., van Goozen, S. H. M., van den Bree, M. B. M., Bunney, J., & Lydall, E. S. (2013) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/1471-2458-13-1011 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Suffoletto, B. P., Merrill, J. E., Chung, T. A., Kristan, J., Vanek, M. S., & Clark, D. B. (2016) · Journal of American College Health · doi:10.1080/07448481.2016.1185107 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Participatory development of MIDY (Mobile Intervention for Drinking in Young people)
Wright, C. C. J., Dietze, P., Crockett, B., & Lim, M. S. C. (2016) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-016-2876-5 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Suffoletto, B. P., Callaway, C. W., Kristan, J., Monti, P. M., & Clark, D. B. (2013) · Trials · doi:10.1186/1745-6215-14-93 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Should I eXtract Every Six dental trial (SIXES): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
Innes, N., Borrie, F., Bearn, D., Evans, D., Rauchhaus, P., McSwiggan, S., Page, L. A. F., & Hogarth, F. (2013) · Trials · doi:10.1186/1745-6215-14-59 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Integrating mHealth mobile applications to reduce high risk drinking among underage students
Kazemi, D. M., Cochran, A. R., Kelly, J. F., Cornelius, J. B., & Belk, C. (2013) · Health Education Journal · doi:10.1177/0017896912471044 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Kool, B., Smith, E., Raerino, K., & Ameratunga, S. (2014) · BMC Research Notes · doi:10.1186/1756-0500-7-4 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Shrier, L. A., Rhoads, A. M., Fredette, M. E., & Burke, P. J. (2013) · Substance Use & Misuse · doi:10.3109/10826084.2013.824470 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Flaudias, V., de Chazeron, I., Zerhouni, O., Boudesseul, J., Bègue, L., Bouthier, R., Lévrier, C., Llorca, P., & Brousse, G. (2015) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/jmir.4233 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Fraeyman, J., Royen, P. V., Vriesacker, B., Mey, L. D., & Hal, G. F. V. (2012) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/jmir.1869 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Lessons from participation in a web-based substance use preventive program in Uruguay
Balsa, A. I., Gandelman, N., & Lamé, D. (2014) · Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse · doi:10.1080/1067828x.2012.748600 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Carrà, G., Crocamo, C., Schivalocchi, A., Bartoli, F., Carretta, D., Brambilla, G., & Clerici, M. (2014) · Substance Abuse · doi:10.1080/08897077.2014.959152 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Strohman, A. S., Braje, S. E., Alhassoon, O. M., Shuttleworth, S. P., Slyke, J. K. V., & Gandy, S. (2015) · The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse · doi:10.3109/00952990.2015.1105241 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Developing an SMS Intervention for the Prevention of Underage Drinking: Results From Focus Groups
Hospital, M. M., Wagner, E. F., Morris, S. L., Sawant, M., Siqueira, L. M., & Soumah, M. (2016) · Substance Use & Misuse · doi:10.3109/10826084.2015.1073325 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Harm Reduction Text Messages Delivered During Alcohol Drinking: Feasibility Study Protocol
Renner, K. A., Walker, N., Parag, V., & McCormick, R. (2012) · JMIR Research Protocols · doi:10.2196/resprot.1970 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Crockett, B., Keleher, H., Rudd, A., Klein, R. A., Locke, B., & Roussy, V. (2013) · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Philippe, T. J., Sikder, N., Jackson, A., Koblanski, M. E., Liow, E., Pilarinos, A., & Vasarhelyi, K. (2022) · JMIR Mental Health · doi:10.2196/35159 · Cited by 436 · see citing works
Musyoka, C. M., Mbwayo, A., Donovan, D. M., & Mathai, M. (2023) · PLOS Digital Health · doi:10.1371/journal.pdig.0000177 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
- Authors
- Hutton, A., Prichard, I., Whitehead, D., Thomas, S., Rubin, M., Sloand, E., Powell, T. W., Frisch, K., Newman, P., & Goodwin Veenema, T.
- Affiliations
- University of Newcastle Australia (AU)
- Flinders University (AU)
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- School of Nursing, Center for Humanitarian Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Corresponding author
- Hutton, Alison
- ORCID
- Venue
- Comprehensive Child and Adolescent Nursing
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2019-06-13
- Volume
- 43
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 171-202
- ISSN
- 2469-4193 (ISSN-L)
- 2469-4207
- PMC
- PMC7244006
- OpenAlex
- W2951062071
- Cited by
- 64
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 2
- FWCI
- 1.06
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Comprehensive Child and Adolescent Nursing (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- UTAS Research Repository (submittedVersion)
- FedUni ResearchOnline (Federation University Australia) (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Figshare (submittedVersion)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- NOVA (University of Newcastle Australia) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (K01DA042134)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Keywords
- mobile health intervention, alcohol consumption, youth, adolescents, text messaging, mobile application, social networking sites, harm reduction, behavior change, alcohol consumption reduction, health promotion
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Alcohol Drinking, Alcoholism, Child, Female, Humans, Male, Telemedicine, Young Adult
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
