Porismita Borah, an assistant professor in the Murrow College, received a pilot grant from the WSU Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Program (ADARP) to develop a mobile intervention designed to understand college students’ alcohol behavior.
Mobile technologies are often being used for health, but little work has looked at how mobile devices can encourage safe drinking. Borah is using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) technology via a mobile application that would allow college students to respond in real-time with alcohol related behavior information. “This can help students by drawing attention to their problem drinking behaviors, and help us understand the factors behind these behaviors,” Borah said.
The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Program has funded a number of projects conducted by health communication faculty in the Murrow College, including projects that assess the impact of alcohol advertising on young adults and youth. For more information on the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Program, visit http://www.public.wsu.edu/~adap/