DWI Offenders and Their Families App for Smartphones
Condition: Coping Skills; Family Relations
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The smart phone application (B-SMART) to be developed in this research project for family
      members of DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) offenders and offenders themselves will extend the
      impact of the Ignition Interlock Device (IID) and help DWI offenders and their families avoid
      drunk driving once the IID is removed from their automobiles. As such, the public health
      consequences of DWI, in terms of health, morbidity and mortality, and its economic and
      societal consequences, will be positively influenced by a highly accessible and diffusible
      intervention. The proposed Phase II project will complete the development and programming of
      the B-SMART smartphone web app and test its impact in a randomized efficacy trial with
      first-time DWI offenders and their concerned family members.
    

Detailed description: 
      Driving while intoxicated (DWI) remains a substantial and preventable source of morbidity and
      mortality in the United States. A variety of sanctions and interventions have been attempted
      to reduce DWI in the U.S., including enhanced DWI enforcement efforts, stricter drunk driving
      laws, responsible alcohol beverage service training, and alcohol treatment. The Ignition
      Interlock Device (IID), which requires a driver to blow into a breathalyzer unit installed in
      an automobile to establish sobriety, reduces drunk driving while installed. The use of IIDs
      has become widespread: most states in the U.S. now require convicted drunk drivers to install
      an IID in their cars upon some form of conviction. However, research has conclusively shown
      that once the IIDs are removed from DWI offenders' cars, DWI recidivism levels return to
      those comparable to offenders who did not have an IID. Interventions are needed to increase
      the likelihood that the effectiveness of IIDs persists beyond the installation period. The
      Brief Family-Involved Treatment (B-FIT) is a promising intervention to improve DWI recidivism
      by affecting the social environment of DWI offenders. Proposed here is Phase II research, a
      continuation of the original Phase I project, that will complete the translation of B-FIT
      into the B-SMART mobile web app for smartphones. The content of the intervention will be
      based on empirically-validated couples therapy for those with alcohol use disorders developed
      by Co-Investigator McCrady, translated to a smartphone platform. Phase II of this project
      will involve the systematic completion of B-SMART, employing: 1) an Expert Advisory Board,
      and 2) iterative development, multimedia and usability focus groups, and interviews comprised
      of CFM and DWI offenders. B-SMART will be fully produced for DWI offenders and their
      concerned family members (CFM) and then tested in a randomized controlled efficacy trial with
      first-time DWI offenders (n=150) and their CFMs (n=150) recruited from the Santa Fe County
      DWI Program. Unique to this intervention are the involvement of family members in supporting
      the DWI offender to not drink and drive and the use of smartphone technology to make that
      support immediate, accessible, and diffusible. B-SMART will involve the CFMs by providing
      coping skills, communication skills, and strategies to help avoid DWI. The randomized
      efficacy trial of B-SMART will examine B-SMART's impact on a variety of alcohol-related
      dependent variables, including IID lockout events, alcohol use, and family functioning.
      Should B-SMART be demonstrated to impact DWI offenders and their family members by reducing
      IID Lockout Events (which predict future DWI recidivism) and alcohol use, and improving
      family functioning, DWI offenders, their families, and their communities will have an
      important, effective, accessible tool to further reduce the social, health and economic
      consequences of DWI.
    

Intervention name(s): B-SMART Intervention Group; Usual and Customary Information Group
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): The B-SMART mobile web app will contain four modules: 1) Supporting Abstinence, 2) Shared Positive Activities, 3) Common Challenges for Family Members with IID, and 4) Effective Communication. Within each module there will be a series of learning activities, including presentation text, interactive engagement, and videos. All app content will be available in both English and Spanish, based on user language preference.; Participants randomized to the usual and customary care (UC) group will receive a website with a pamphlet on the IID installed in their vehicle and the manufacturer information provided about the IID in PDF format, in both English and Spanish. This constitutes a UC group, as such pamphlets are widely available to DWI offenders who have IIDs installed in their vehicles. Thus, providing this pamphlet represents a standard information provision for first-time DWI offenders and their CFMs.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: The B-SMART mobile web app will be evaluated in a randomized pretest-posttest controlled design. First-time DWI offenders and their CFMs will be randomized together to the intervention (B-SMART) or a usual and customary (UC) IID information condition comparison group (n=150) following baseline assessment.
Masking: Double (Participant, Care Provider)
Primary purpose: Supportive Care