Developing a Brief Online Intervention Addressing Young Adult Romantic Relationship Functioning and Alcohol Use

Americans’ risk of alcohol misuse is highest in young adulthood (here, ages 18-30 years). Spouses and other romantic partners are a major source of social support for many young adults (YA), and YA in more satisfying romantic relationships use less alcohol and experience fewer alcohol-related problems. Moreover, existing online relationship education interventions have been linked to lower alcohol misuse. However, these interventions were not designed for YA and may not be appropriate for this age group. Accordingly, this project uses co-design to develop a brief online intervention addressing YAs’ romantic relationships and alcohol use. In Aim 1, I will partner with eight YA and four expert stakeholders to develop a 45-minute web app intervention addressing alcohol use and romantic relationships. The intervention will employ technology-adapted motivational interviewing with digital personalized feedback, used successfully in prior YA alcohol interventions. The intervention will be developed and refined over four co-design workshops. In Aim 2, an intervention prototype will be refined based on user testing interviews with eight YA, employing a think-aloud protocol in which participants are observed using the prototype and verbalize their thoughts in real time. In Aim 3, I will assess usability, acceptability, engagement, and potential mechanisms for the intervention through a single-arm feasibility study with 107 romantically partnered YA. Participants will complete the intervention remotely and provide feedback on usability and acceptability, while engagement will be assessed via web analytics. Alcohol outcomes and hypothesized mediators (e.g., relationship satisfaction) will be assessed through surveys at baseline, 30 days, and 90 days for preliminary tests of intervention mechanisms. These results, along with study metrics (e.g., accrual rate), will serve as preliminary data for an anticipated efficacy trial. This project is expected to result in a scalable, developmentally tailored, and engaging intervention for YA alcohol misuse that will also have benefits for current and future relationship functioning and stability.