IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0329383.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Using intervention mapping to evaluate ‘High-Alert,’ a brief smartphone intervention to reduce youth cannabis-impaired driving

Author

Listed:
  • Robert Colonna
  • Patricia Tucker
  • Angela Mandich
  • Liliana Alvarez

Abstract

Youth driving under the influence of cannabis (DUIC) is a growing public health concern. While brief smartphone interventions have shown promise in reducing substance use and alcohol-impaired driving among youth, their efficacy for DUIC remains limited. Using the six-step Intervention Mapping framework, we developed and tested High Alert, a digital smartphone intervention designed to reduce DUIC among high-risk Canadian youth. The intervention was previously tested in a pilot randomized controlled trial comparing High Alert to an active control (exposure to six DUIC infographics) and a passive control (no contact). This study presents a comprehensive evaluation of High Alert using Step 6 of the Intervention Mapping framework. Reporting on this evaluation serves as a practical guide for researchers utilizing Intervention Mapping, offering valuable insights into High Alert’s formative, process, outcome, and acceptability evaluations to enhance DUIC prevention efforts. Formative and acceptability evaluations revealed High Alert’s positive reception among youth, with most participants willing to engage with it and recommend it to their peers. The program received high ratings for content and delivery, surpassing the static infographics used in the active control. Outcome evaluations demonstrated preliminary efficacy in reducing DUIC behaviour, particularly driving after cannabis co-use, compared to the no-contact group. Process evaluations highlighted implementation challenges, including online study bot activity, recruitment barriers (e.g., participant skepticism, limited ad targeting options), high attrition rates, and low adherence. Findings highlight the importance of Step 6 in Intervention Mapping, emphasizing the need for transparent and rigorous evaluation to inform future interventions. Addressing recruitment and implementation challenges is essential for improving the scalability and effectiveness of interventions targeting high-risk behaviours such as DUIC and will inform High Alert’s future testing.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Colonna & Patricia Tucker & Angela Mandich & Liliana Alvarez, 2025. "Using intervention mapping to evaluate ‘High-Alert,’ a brief smartphone intervention to reduce youth cannabis-impaired driving," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 20(8), pages 1-18, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0329383
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0329383
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0329383
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0329383&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0329383?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. WorldFish, 2019. "Annual Report 2018," Monographs, The WorldFish Center, number 40826, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dalala, Zakariya & Al-Omari, Murad & Al-Addous, Mohammad & Bdour, Mathhar & Al-Khasawneh, Yaqoub & Alkasrawi, Malek, 2022. "Increased renewable energy penetration in national electrical grids constraints and solutions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    2. Giulietti, Monica & Le Coq, Chloé & Willems, Bert & Anaya, Karim, 2019. "Smart Consumers in the Internet of Energy : Flexibility Markets & Services from Distributed Energy Resources," Other publications TiSEM 2edb43b5-bbd6-487d-abdf-7, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    3. Gunton, Cameron & Werker, Eric & Moore, Mark A. & Markey, Sean, 2025. "How costly is a community benefit agreement for a private project developer?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    4. Kralj, Boris & O'Toole, Danielle & Vanstone, Meredith & Sweetman, Arthur, 2022. "The gender earnings gap in medicine: Evidence from Canada," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(10), pages 1002-1009.
    5. Yan, Ran & Wang, Shuaian & Fagerholt, Kjetil, 2020. "A semi-“smart predict then optimize” (semi-SPO) method for efficient ship inspection," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 100-125.
    6. Ko, Yu-Chia & Zigan, Krystin & Liu, Yu-Lun, 2021. "Carbon capture and storage in South Africa: A technological innovation system with a political economy focus," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    7. Khanna, Tarun M., 2022. "Using agricultural demand for reducing costs of renewable energy integration in India," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PC).
    8. Doraval Govender & Krisandren Pillay, 2022. "Policing in South Africa: A Critical Evaluation," Insight on Africa, , vol. 14(1), pages 40-56, January.
    9. Ghosh, Santosh & Yadav, Vinod Kumar & Mukherjee, Vivekananda & Gupta, Shubham, 2021. "Three decades of Indian power-sector reform:A critical assessment," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    10. Herz, Benedikt & Mejer, Malwina, 2021. "The effect of design protection on price and price dispersion: Evidence from automotive spare parts," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    11. Fong, Joelle H., 2020. "Taking control: Active investment choice in Singapore’s national defined contribution scheme," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 17(C).
    12. Cameron Perks & Gavin Mudd, 2021. "A detailed assessment of global Zr and Ti production," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 34(3), pages 345-370, October.
    13. Hunter, Benjamin M. & Murray, Susan F. & Marathe, Shweta & Chakravarthi, Indira, 2022. "Decentred regulation: The case of private healthcare in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    14. Jurjonas, Matthew & Merino Pérez, Leticia & Robson, James & Tadeo Noble, Alfredo Esteban, 2023. "Intergenerational perceptions of the collective action challenges facing Mexican community forests," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    15. Koveshnikov, Alexei & Lehtonen, Miikka J. & Wechtler, Heidi, 2022. "Expatriates on the run: The psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on expatriates’ host country withdrawal intentions," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(6).
    16. Muyang Chen, 2021. "China–Japan development finance competition and the revival of mercantilism," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 39(5), pages 811-828, September.
    17. Luo, Bin & Huang, Guohe & Chen, Jiapei & Zhang, Xiaoyue & Zhao, Kai, 2021. "A chance-constrained small modular reactor siting model -- a case study for the Province of Saskatchewan, Canada," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    18. Alvi, Muzna & Barooah, Prapti & Gupta, Shweta & Saini, Smriti, 2021. "Women's access to agriculture extension amidst COVID-19: Insights from Gujarat, India and Dang, Nepal," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0329383. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.