Parent and Teen Feedback on a Prototype of a Novel Parent-Based Intervention for Adolescent Alcohol Use and Social Networking Site Use

Purpose: Social networking site (SNS) use has been associated with increased alcohol use and risky health behaviors in adolescents. Previous research has demonstrated the role of parents in mitigating the adverse effects of SNS on alcohol use. As an emerging area of research, digital parent-based interventions (PBIs) may be used to prevent adolescent risk behaviors related to alcohol and SNS. To ensure the efficacy of these interventions, parent and adolescent feedback is essential to optimize user engagement and acceptability. The current investigation aimed to gather parent and teen perspectives on usability and acceptability of a prototype digital PBI, developed in part based on previous focus group findings, for adolescent alcohol use and SNS use. Methods: A total of 29 parents (female = 86.2%, avg. age = 44) and 27 teens (female = 55.6%, avg. age = 16) dyads were recruited from across Texas. Parents and teens attended groups separately and were presented with prototype intervention content, including website modules and video content. Groups were asked to discuss initial reactions to and thoughts about usability (i.e., ease of navigation, layout and design, etc.) and acceptability (i.e., favorability of overall PBI, likelihood of using different features, etc.). Transcripts were reviewed to generate themes and trends in participant feedback across groups. Conclusions and Implications: Both parents and teens reported that dynamic module navigation features, which allow for tailoring of educational content to user interests, appeared highly usable. Participants generally agreed that a feature allowing parents to send video content directly to their teens from the PBI was an important aspect of the program, as it would provide an opportunity for both parents and teens to independently prepare for joint conversations and learning. Both parents and teens emphasized the importance of video narrator relatability including delivery tone, age, gender, and diversity. Participants expressed desire for visually stimulating content based on user learning styles. Lastly, parents reported preferences toward fact-based and research-oriented content, whereas teens preferred intervention content with humor or shock value. Overall, feedback yielded important guidance for optimizing features to improve engagement and user learning. Findings are currently being integrated into the final digital PBI to be tested in an upcoming pilot study.