AUTHOR=Obarska Katarzyna , Binkowska Alicja A. , Marcowski Przemysław , Szymczak Karol , Lewczuk Karol , Sollich Katarzyna , Banaszak Maria , Woronowicz Bohdan , Nowicka Małgorzata , Skorko Maciej , Gola Mateusz 

TITLE=Reducing craving and lapse risk in alcohol and stimulants dependence using mobile app involving ecological momentary assessment and self-guided psychological interventions: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1011585

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1011585

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Background</title><p>The prevalence of alcohol consumption in Poland is estimated to be as high as 80% of the adult population. The use of stimulants is the second most common reason for seeking addiction treatment. However, treatment outcomes remain unsatisfactory, as 40–85% of individuals who complete various treatment programs relapse and fall back into addiction within 2 years following program completion.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>The 13-armed randomized controlled trial aimed to assess the effectiveness of a mobile app-based self-guided psychological intervention delivered <italic>via</italic> a smartphone app (<italic>Nałogometr</italic>) in reducing craving and lapse risk in problematic alcohol or stimulants use. Participant recruitment and data collection will be performed from June 2022 to September 2022. The 4-week mobile intervention program will include short-term and long-term intervention modules based mainly on mindfulness and cognitive-behavioral therapy. Intervention effectiveness assessment will include Ecological Momentary Assessment. That is, we will collect longitudinal data on a set of characteristics of day-to-day functioning. The primary outcomes will include a self-reported number of lapses and addiction craving level. In contrast, the secondary outcomes will be the severity of problematic substance use, anxiety and depression scores, and life satisfaction scores.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>This study will establish how mobile app-based self-guided psychological interventions can help reduce craving and lapse risk in alcohol and stimulant dependence. If successful, this randomized controlled trial (RCT) may provide an innovative, easily available, and cost-effective mHealth approach for craving and lapse risk in substance addictions.</p></sec><sec><title>Clinical trial registration</title><p>[<ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://clinicaltrials.gov/" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">https://clinicaltrials.gov/</ext-link>], identifier [NCT054 34429].</p></sec>