Using Mobile Technology to Influence Alcohol-Impaired Driving Risk Perceptions and Decisions

Objective: Despite significant individual and societal risk, alcohol-impaired driving (AID) remains prevalent in the United States. Our aim was to determine whether breathalyzer-cued warning messages administered via mobile devices in the natural drinking environment could influence real-world AID cognitions and behaviors. Method: One hundred twenty young adults (53% women; mean age = 24.7) completed 6 weeks of ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and provided breathalyzer samples using a BACtrack Mobile Pro linked to their mobile device. On mornings after drinking episodes, participants reported their driving activities from the previous evening (787 episodes). Participants were randomly assigned to receive warning messages if they reached a breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) ≥.05, or no messages. Participants in the warnings condition reported their willingness to drive and perceived danger of driving at EMA prompts (1,541 reports). Results: We observed a significant effect of condition, such that the association between cumulative AID engagement and driving after reaching a BrAC of.05 was dampened among individuals in the warnings condition, compared to those in the no warnings condition. Receiving a warning message was associated with increased momentary perceived danger of driving and decreased willingness to drive. Conclusions: We found that BrAC-cued warning messages reduced the probability of AID and willingness to drive while impaired, and increased the perceived danger of driving after drinking. These results serve as proof-of-concept for the use of mobile technology to deliver an adaptive just-in-time intervention to reduce the probability of AID.