# Development of an interactive, web-based drinking to cope intervention and tools to assess coping skill utilization

> **NIH NIH R34** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2020 · $191,383

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
 Consistent with self-medication theory, young adults who endorse using alcohol to cope with stressful
events via negative reinforcement (i.e., to provide relief or reduction of stress or depressed mood) experience
continued heavy drinking and are particularly at-risk for negative outcomes including greater alcohol-related
consequences and depressive symptoms. Young adults who drink to cope may lack more adaptive means of
managing distress or have a lack of alternative, adaptive coping mechanisms. Although some interventions
have been developed to address alcohol use and drinking to cope, many show minimal, if any, main effects. To
date, the majority of these interventions provide a general list of coping skills and do not further assess if
individuals have learned and utilized the skills. Other brief web-based intervention approaches that provide
more thorough information and content on coping strategies and emotion regulation skills either do not
specifically target individuals who drink to cope or do not assess coping skill knowledge and utilization directly.
A more comprehensive, interactive approach to learning coping skills may be needed by teaching concrete
skills, showing video demonstration of the concepts, and then assessing coping skill utilization. This R34
application seeks to address previous limitations and enhance the efficacy of web-based interventions by
developing measurement tools to assess weekly coping skill acquisition, knowledge, use, and barriers to use,
and incorporating these tools in the development of an interactive web-based intervention with text-message
reminders for young adults who drink to cope. Phase 1 includes formative research on the development of an
interactive web-based intervention with text-message reminders for young adults with alcohol-related
consequences who report drinking to cope with stressful events and developing tools to assess acquisition,
knowledge, and utilization of web-based coping skills. We will conduct a series of focus groups, discussion with
experts, rapid prototyping sessions, and a usability study with interviews to further refine the intervention and
obtain user feedback (Aims 1 and 2). The intervention will be developed by including interactive modules on
coping skills, assignments to practice the skills, text-message reminders, and weekly assessments on coping
skill knowledge, acquisition, skill utilization, and barriers to use. Phase 2 will be a pilot study with weekly
assessments to determine feasibility, acceptability, utilization of coping skills, and preliminary alcohol outcomes
(Aim 3). A total of 120 young adults will be randomized to the 4-week, web-based drinking to cope intervention
(n=60) or an assessment only control (n=60) where they will complete 4 weekly assessments on knowledge,
acquisition, and use of coping skills and a 1- and 3-month follow-up. Findings have important public health
implications as we will develop and refine interventio...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9872564
- **Project number:** 1R34AA028074-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Jennifer M Cadigan
- **Activity code:** R34 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $191,383
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-01-10 → 2022-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9872564

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9872564, Development of an interactive, web-based drinking to cope intervention and tools to assess coping skill utilization (1R34AA028074-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9872564. Licensed CC0.

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