Boosting mindfulness app engagement with text prompts and a smartphone game
Official title: Translating Behavioral Economics Strategies to Culturally Tailor a Mobile Health Mindfulness Intervention to Reduce Risky Drinking Behaviors in Emerging Adult College Student Students
Run by Florida State University · NCT07170202 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project will test whether text message prompts and a linked smartphone game help US‑born Black male undergraduate students who drink heavily use a mindfulness app more often.
Quick facts
| Study type | Interventional |
|---|---|
| Ages | 18 Years to 29 Years |
| Sex | All |
| Enrollment | 40 (estimated) |
| Sponsor | Florida State University Academic / other |
| Locations | 1 site (Tallahassee, Florida) |
| Status | Recruiting |
| Started | September 30, 2025 |
| Main results expected | July 2, 2027 |
| Study ends | August 6, 2027 |
| Registry record updated | July 13, 2026 |
| Trial ID | NCT07170202 on ClinicalTrials.gov |
Is this trial a fit for you?
✓Likely a good fit
Eligible participants are US‑born Black biological men who are undergraduate students and meet criteria for binge drinking or heavy drinking.
✕Probably not a fit
People who are not US‑born Black male undergraduates or who do not meet the heavy/binge drinking criteria would not be the intended beneficiaries and may not gain from the findings.
A plain-English reading of the study's rules. Only the study team can confirm whether you qualify.
What this trial studies
This pilot micro-randomized trial will enroll eligible participants to use a mindfulness app integrated with a gaming app for 28 days while receiving different morning text-message conditions and evening brief surveys. Each morning participants will be randomly assigned to episodic future thinking prompts, reciprocity prompts, or no prompt, and app usage data (time in app, session counts, video completions) will be paired with ecological momentary assessment responses. The team will compare engagement across conditions and conduct a post-study interview and a 3-month follow-up survey to examine short- and medium-term effects. Primary outcomes focus on app engagement and secondary outcomes include stress and alcohol use measures.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could increase regular use of mindfulness tools among the target students and potentially reduce stress and risky drinking behaviors.
How similar studies have gone: Previous mobile health work using text prompts and gamification has shown mixed but generally promising results for improving app engagement, so this pilot applies those strategies in a specific student population.
Who can join: the full rules
Show full inclusion / exclusion criteria
Inclusion Criteria: 18-29 years old First-generation college student Undergraduate college student Living in the United States Meet criteria for binge drinking (5 drinks in about 2 hours) or heavy drinking (more than 14 drinks per week).
Where it's running
-
Florida State University Center for Translational Behavioral Science
Tallahassee, Florida, United States Recruiting
Study contacts
- Principal investigator: Laura Reid Marks, PhD — Florida State University
- Study coordinator: Laura Reid Marks, PhD
- Email: laura.reidmarks@med.fsu.edu
- Phone: (850)644-2334
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How to take part
- Review the eligibility criteria above with your treating physician.
- Check the official listing on ClinicalTrials.gov for the latest contact details and recruitment status.
- Contact the study coordinator or principal investigator to ask for pre-screening. Pre-screening is free and never obligates you to enroll.