Teens want cannabis cessation apps with rewards, self-tracking, and privacy | Research

The takeaway

Focus groups with 37 cannabis-using adolescents identified five key elements for an engaging cessation app: rewards for reducing use, self-monitoring of progress, peer social support, strict privacy protections, and customizable notifications.

Digital health developers, adolescent substance use counselors, and researchers designing youth cannabis interventions.

5 key engagement themes

What the researchers found

Five themes emerged from focus groups with 37 cannabis-using teens: (1) rewards mimicking social media engagement plus prosocial activity rewards for progressive use reduction, (2) ability to self-monitor progress, (3) peer social support within the app, (4) privacy through discrete logo/name and usernames, (5) individualized frequency and content of notifications.

Why it matters

Current cannabis use interventions for adolescents have modest effects and high relapse rates. Understanding what teens actually want in a cessation tool could improve engagement and retention, which are the biggest barriers to treatment effectiveness.

The numbers in context

37 participants across 6 focus groups. Age range: 14-17. 5 key themes identified. Participants valued social media-style rewards, progress tracking, peer support, privacy, and customizable reminders.

How the study worked

Qualitative study using six semistructured focus groups with 37 adolescents aged 14-17 who used cannabis, recruited from San Diego County high schools. Iterative coding with structural and pattern coding.

What this study cannot tell us

Small sample from a single geographic area. Focus groups may not capture the views of more isolated or heavily using teens. Preferences expressed in focus groups may not predict actual app engagement. No testing of a prototype.

How to read the evidence

Rated preliminary because this is a qualitative design study, not a test of an actual intervention.

When this study was published

Published in 2019. Mobile health interventions for adolescent substance use have continued to evolve.

The bigger picture

Digital health interventions for substance use are growing, but most are designed by adults for adults. This study takes the unusual step of asking the target population what would actually work for them, potentially improving the notoriously poor engagement rates of digital health tools.

Questions still open

Would an app built on these principles actually reduce cannabis use? How important is peer support versus individual features? Would privacy features make teens more likely to engage or also make parental monitoring harder?

Common questions

What do teens want in a cannabis cessation app?

Rewards for reducing use (similar to social media engagement), ability to track their own progress, peer support, strong privacy protections, and control over notifications.

Why is privacy so important?

Teens specifically requested a discrete app logo and name that would not reveal its purpose, plus usernames instead of real names within the app, reflecting concerns about stigma and parental discovery.

Read the original research

End User-Informed Mobile Health Intervention Development for Adolescent Cannabis Use Disorder: Qualitative Study.

JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 7(10), e13691

View on PubMed ↗Publisher’s paper ↗

Citation

Bagot, Kara; Hodgdon, Elizabeth; Sidhu, Natasha; Patrick, Kevin; Kelly, Mikaela; Lu, Yang; Bath, Eraka. (2019). End User-Informed Mobile Health Intervention Development for Adolescent Cannabis Use Disorder: Qualitative Study.. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 7(10), e13691. https://doi.org/10.2196/13691