Phone-Based Feedback Made College Students Think Driving High Is More Dangerous | Research

The takeaway

In a pilot trial of 77 college cannabis users, those who received personalized feedback plus text messaging perceived driving after cannabis use as significantly more dangerous 3 months later.

College health professionals, traffic safety intervention designers, substance use researchers

Personalized feedback plus text messaging shifted risk perceptions about driving while high

What the researchers found

Compared to an informational control, participants who received personalized feedback plus interactive text messaging (PFT) showed significantly greater increases in perceived dangerousness of driving after cannabis use at 3-month follow-up, though personalized feedback alone (PF) was not significantly different from control.

Why it matters

Driving after cannabis use is one of the riskiest cannabis-related behaviors, and the finding that a brief mobile intervention can shift risk perceptions suggests a scalable approach to reducing impaired driving.

The numbers in context

77 participants; 65.8% women; average age 21.2; 88.3% Caucasian; PFT condition showed significantly greater increases in perceived dangerousness vs control; PF alone not significant; 3-month follow-up.

How the study worked

Proof-of-concept randomized pilot trial of 77 college cannabis users who endorsed driving after cannabis at least 3 times in 3 months, comparing personalized feedback plus text messaging (PFT), personalized feedback only (PF), and informational control (IC) conditions over 3 months.

What this study cannot tell us

Very small sample; proof-of-concept design; predominantly White college sample; 3-month follow-up may not capture sustained behavior change; perception change does not necessarily translate to behavior change.

How to read the evidence

Small proof-of-concept pilot providing preliminary evidence requiring larger replication studies.

When this study was published

Published in 2021.

The bigger picture

The additional benefit of interactive text messaging over feedback alone suggests that sustained engagement, not just one-time information delivery, is needed to change deeply held beliefs about cannabis and driving.

Questions still open

Does increased perceived dangerousness actually reduce driving after cannabis use? Would this intervention work in more diverse populations?

Common questions

Can you change people's minds about driving high?

This pilot study found that a mobile phone intervention combining personalized feedback with text messaging significantly increased how dangerous college students perceived driving after cannabis use to be, compared to information alone.

Did people actually drive high less?

This study measured perceptions, not driving behavior. Whether increased perceived dangerousness translates to reduced driving after cannabis use would need to be tested in a larger trial.

Read the original research

A mobile phone-based brief intervention with personalized feedback and interactive text messaging is associated with changes in driving after cannabis use cognitions in a proof-of-concept pilot trial.

Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology, 29(2), 203-209

View on PubMed ↗Publisher’s paper ↗

Citation

Teeters, Jenni B; King, Shelby A; Hubbard, Sterling M. (2021). A mobile phone-based brief intervention with personalized feedback and interactive text messaging is associated with changes in driving after cannabis use cognitions in a proof-of-concept pilot trial.. Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology, 29(2), 203-209. https://doi.org/10.1037/pha0000442