Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States.
Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States.
JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2019 Oct 4;7(10):e13691. doi: 10.2196/13691.
The rates of cannabis use continue to increase among adolescents and the current interventions have modest effects and high rates of relapse following treatment. There is increasing evidence for the efficacy of mobile technology-based interventions for adults with substance use disorders, but there is limited study of this technology in adolescents who use cannabis.
The goal of our study was to elucidate elements of an app-based adjunctive intervention for cannabis cessation that resonate with adolescents who use cannabis.
Adolescents, aged between 14 and 17 years, who used cannabis were recruited from San Diego County high schools. Semistructured focus groups (6 total; N=37) were conducted to examine the ways in which participants used smartphones, including the use of any health behavior change apps, as well as to elicit opinions about elements that would promote engagement with an app-based intervention for adolescent cannabis cessation. An iterative coding structure was used with first cycle structural coding, followed by pattern coding.
Themes that emerged from the analysis included (1) youth valued rewards to incentivize the progressive reduction of cannabis use, which included both nontangible rewards that mimic those obtained on social media platforms and prosocial activity-related rewards, (2) having the ability to self-monitor progression, (3) peer social support, (4) privacy and confidentiality discrete logo and name and usernames within the app, and (5) individualizing frequency and content of notifications and reminders.
Integrating content, language, interfaces, delivery systems, and rewards with which adolescents who use cannabis are familiar, engage with on a day-to-day basis, and identify as relevant, may increase treatment engagement and retention for adolescents in substance use treatment. We may increase treatment effectiveness by adapting and individualizing current evidence-based interventions, so that they target the needs of adolescents and are more easily incorporated into their everyday routines.
青少年使用大麻的比例持续上升，目前的干预措施效果有限，且治疗后复发率较高。基于移动技术的干预措施在治疗成年人物质使用障碍方面已被证实具有一定的效果，但在使用大麻的青少年中，对该技术的研究有限。
我们的研究旨在阐明一种基于应用程序的辅助干预措施的元素，该措施适用于青少年，以帮助他们戒除大麻。
从圣地亚哥县的高中招募年龄在 14 至 17 岁之间、使用过大麻的青少年。进行了 6 次半结构焦点小组（共 37 人），以研究参与者使用智能手机的方式，包括使用任何健康行为改变应用程序，以及引出关于促进基于应用程序的青少年大麻戒除干预措施参与的元素的意见。使用迭代编码结构进行第一周期结构编码，然后进行模式编码。
从分析中出现的主题包括：（1）年轻人重视奖励，以激励大麻使用的逐步减少，包括模仿社交媒体平台上获得的非物质奖励和与亲社会活动相关的奖励；（2）能够自我监测进展；（3）同伴社会支持；（4）隐私和保密性——应用程序内使用离散的徽标和名称以及用户名；（5）个性化通知和提醒的频率和内容。
将青少年使用大麻所熟悉、日常使用并认为相关的内容、语言、界面、传递系统和奖励融入其中，可能会增加青少年在物质使用治疗中的治疗参与度和保留率。通过调整和个性化现有的基于证据的干预措施，使其针对青少年的需求，并更易于融入他们的日常生活，我们可能会提高治疗效果。
