title: A Systematic Review of the mHealth Interventions to Prevent Alcohol and Substance Abuse.
abstract: Substance abuse in young adults is a public health issue with costs to the individual and society. There is mounting evidence that the increased uses of mHealth approaches have promise as a way to facilitate reductions in substance use. This systematic review evaluated the recent body of research on mHealth-based interventions for substance use, with aims of (a) examining the functionality and effectiveness of these interventions, (b) evaluating the available research on the effectiveness of these interventions for substance use, and (c) evaluating the design, methodology, results, theoretical grounding, limitations, and implications of each study. We identified eligible studies by searching electronic databases using Boolean methods. The reviewed studies (N = 12) indicated that that a wide range of Internet-based, text messaging, and smartphone application interventions have been developed to address substance use. Interventions had an assortment of features; participants in each study highlighted the ease and convenience of the interventions; and the majority of studies provided support for the efficacy of mHealth in reducing substance use. Mobile technology is a promising tool for reducing substance use and warrants further development. Future practice including the use of mHealth interventions can be an integral part of reducing substance use.
authors.affiliation: a School of Nursing , University of North Carolina at Charlotte , Charlotte , North Carolina , USA.
authors.forename: Donna M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Kazemi
authors.affiliation: b Brown School of Public Health , Brown University , Providence , Rhode Island , USA.|c Department of Psychiatry , University of California, San Francisco , San Francisco , California , USA.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Borsari
authors.affiliation: d Psychology Department , Central Michigan University , Mt. Pleasant , Michigan , USA.
authors.forename: Maureen J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Levine
authors.affiliation: e Department of Mathematics and Statistics , University of North Carolina at Charlotte , Charlotte , North Carolina , USA.
authors.forename: Shaoyu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: f Department of Counseling , University of North Carolina at Charlotte , Charlotte , North Carolina , USA.
authors.forename: Katie A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Lamberson
authors.affiliation: a School of Nursing , University of North Carolina at Charlotte , Charlotte , North Carolina , USA.
authors.forename: Laura A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Matta
mesh_terms: D000437:Alcoholism / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D015397:Program Evaluation; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017216:Telemedicine