Study Protocol for Establishing Feasibility and Acceptability of a Bluetooth-based Sensor to Detect and Understand Social Influence during Drinking Situations (Preprint)

Abstract

High-risk drinking among young adults frequently occurs in the presence of peers who are also drinking. Fine-grained data analytic approaches such as ecological momentary assessment (EMA) are growing in popularity for studying real-time social influence, but these studies exclusively rely on participant self-report. Passive indicators of peer presence using Bluetooth-based technology to detect real-time interactions have the potential to assist in the development of just-in-time interventions.

This paper describes the protocol for a study that seeks to examine the feasibility and acceptability of using a Bluetooth-based sensor and Smartphone application to measure social contact in real-world drinking situations.

Heavy drinking young adults (n=25) who report social drinking will be recruited to participate in a 3-week EMA study. Using a social network interview, index participants will identify and recruit up to three of their friends to carry a Bluetooth beacon. EMA will measure indices of alcohol use and characteristics of the social environment, including who is nearby and who is drinking. Feedback on the study protocol will be ascertained through weekly contact with both index and peer participants followed by a qualitative interview at study end.

Feasibility will be determined by indices of eligibility, enrollment, and recruitment; acceptability will be determined by participant retention, protocol compliance, and participant-reported measures of acceptability.

The protocol allows us to examine the feasibility and acceptability of a Bluetooth-based sensor for detection of social contact between index participants and their friends, including social interactions during real-world drinking situations. Data from this study will inform just-in-time adaptive interventions seeking to address high-risk drinking.