Developing a smartphone-based intervention targeting high-risk situations of nicotine vaping among young adults

PROJECT SUMMARY Candidate: My career goal is to become a leading tobacco control investigator combining epidemiological and mobile health (mHealth) approaches to address substance use among diverse populations. The overarching goal of this career development award is to become equipped with mHealth intervention in order to develop a smartphone-based intervention reducing e-cigarette use (nicotine vaping) among young adults (18-25 years old). Career development plan: To achieve my career and research objectives, I require three mentored training goals: (T1) machine learning approaches to mHealth data analysis; (T2) clinical treatment for tobacco cessation, and (T3) mHealth intervention development and implementation. The training and research plan will be guided by my multidisciplinary mentoring team: Dr. Ling (clinical treatment for young adult vaping cessation), Dr. Marcus (mHealth methods), Dr. Capra (machine learning methods), Dr. Rigotti (tobacco cessation intervention), Dr. Thrul (smartphone-based intervention), and Dr. Koester (qualitative methods). Environment: The University of California San Francisco (UCSF) with a distinguished record of research on tobacco control and mHealth provides an intellectually outstanding environment for the proposed training and research. In addition to physical resources, I have access to experts at multiple research centers at UCSF. Research Project: The proposed research has three specific aims: (1) Assess patterns (e.g., vaping frequency and intensity) and real-time predictors of young adult vaping (e.g., craving, stress, location); (2) Develop an intervention prototype that delivers messages tailored to high-risk situations for vaping; and (3) Examine feasibility and acceptability of delivering the intervention in real-time situations. This study will be the first to assess the potential of a smartphone-based intervention delivering just-in-time adaptive supports during risky situations for vaping occurrence. The study is highly significant because: it addresses a major public health concern (i.e., the vaping epidemic) in a priority population for tobacco control (i.e., young adults); and it provides new scientific evidence on innovative intervention strategies to curb the vaping epidemic and related negative health effects among young people. Summary: This proposal uses a rigorous approach combining innovative methods of ecological momentary assessment, machine learning, Just-In-Time Adaptive Intervention, and user-centered design to develop a personalized vaping cessation intervention that adapts the provision of supports to an individual’s changing internal and contextual state. The multidisciplinary mentoring team and the outstanding institutional environment ensure the success of this proposal. This proposal will provide me with critical knowledge and expertise and preliminary data to launch my independent research career in tobacco control and successfully submit an R01 application to examine the efficacy of the established vaping cessation intervention.