Testing the Feasibility and Acceptability of Social Media and Digital Therapeutics to Decrease Vaping Behaviors

Part of paid clinical trials in St Louis, Missouri.

Sponsor
Washington University School of Medicine
Study ID
NCT05994209
Phase
PHASE1
Status
Recruiting
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Conditions

  • Nicotine Use Disorder
  • Nicotine Vaping

Eligibility Criteria

Sex
ALL
Age
15 Years - 25 Years
Healthy Volunteers
Not accepted

Interventions

  • quitSTART Mobile Application — DEVICE
    Mobile application with educational content, motivational messages, self-monitoring, and tips for managing cravings to support vaping cessation among young adults.
  • Chatbot Feature in quitSTART Mobile Application — BEHAVIORAL
    In-App chatbot feature emedded into quitSTART mobile application to motivate vaping cessation and support app navigation.

Study Details

Use of vaping products (e.g., electronic nicotine delivery systems, e-cigarettes) has been increasing rapidly, particularly among teens and young adults. With limited information on the long-term effects of vaping products, health information about vaping has been somewhat unclear in regards to associated health risks. Teens and young adults may be reluctant to disclose their use of vaping products to parents or health providers and instead turn to social media to share and seek out information regarding vaping risks and cessation supports. Thus, our current proposal outlines the use of social media to identify teens and young adults socially networking about vaping, the use of an online chatbot screen to evaluate individual cessation support needs, and the use of a digital intervention system to support vaping cessation. The mobile intervention used in this study is based on a widely-used evidence-based mobile intervention for combustible smoking (i.e., quitSTART) and has been adapted for vaping and young adults to include an in-app chatbot to guide users to tailored content and to motivate and encourage their cessation efforts. We aim to integrate our social media recruitment and online screening approach to connect individuals with this mobile app intervention, and will conduct a randomized controlled trial to evaluate user engagement with and preliminary efficacy of the digital intervention on reducing vaping behaviors among teens and young adults.

Key Dates

Start date
Jun 4, 2025
Status verified
Apr 2026
Primary completion
Dec 31, 2026
Completion
Mar 31, 2027

Study Design

Enrollment
189 participants (estimated)
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT

Arms

  • No Intervention: Control Group
    Nationwide resource referral and intervention waitlist
  • Experimental: Experimental Group A: Mobile App Intervention
    quitSTART Mobile Application Adapted for Vaping Cessation Among Young Adults
  • Experimental: Experimental Group B: Mobile App Intervention with Embedded Chatbot Feature
    quitSTART Mobile Application Adapted for Vaping Cessation Among Young Adults Including Embedded Chatbot Feature

Primary Outcome Measure

Vaping cessation [ Time Frame: Baseline, 6 weeks, 3 months ]

Central Contacts

Locations (1)

FacilityCityStateZIPSite coordinators
Washington University in St. Louis, School of MedicineSt LouisMissouri63110
Erin Kasson
[email protected]
314-246-9156
Patricia Cavazos-Rehg, PhD (PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR)

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