Joint Effort 2.0: a Mobile Application With University Students

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Cannabis Use; Cannabis Dependence; Cannabis Smoking; Cannabis Use, Unspecified; Cannabis

• Registration Number: NCT05620433
• Lead Sponsor: Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM)

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate quantitatively and qualitatively a mobile application, Joint Effort, targeting safe cannabis use among consumers.

This randomized controlled trial is currently conducted on the Joint Effort mobile application.

Detailed Description

This online randomized controlled trial with parallel groups is conducted in Quebec (Canada). Interested participants are invited to visit the study's website at www.etudejointeeffort.ca

The study's Website contains text explaining the study. After accepting the conditions and consenting, participants will enroll in the study by providing an email address and a pseudonym. Each participant will be validated through an email address check. After their enrolment, participants will receive a hyperlink via email to invite them to complete a baseline questionnaire.

After completing the baseline questionnaire, participants will be randomly assigned by the computer system either to an experimental group (Joint Effort mobile application) or to a control group (brief normative feedback and standard information).

Four weeks and eight weeks after the baseline questionnaire, participants will complete the online questionnaires again.

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2022-11-08
• Study First Submitted QC: 2022-11-16
• Study First Posted: 2022-11-17
• Study Start: 2023-02-08
• Primary Completion: 2024-11-28
• Study Completion: 2024-11-28
• Status Verified: 2025-03
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-03-10
• Last Update Posted: 2025-03-12

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 354

Inclusion Criteria

• Aged between 18-35 years old
• Be a non-medical cannabis user and have used in the last month
• Understand, read and write French
• Own a smartphone (iPhone)

Exclusion Criteria

• None

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in Protective Behavioral Strategies for Marijuana (PBSM-17) used	8 weeks	The French version of the questionnaire translated by Côté et al. (2021) will be used. The 17 items proposed in the scale, each representing a behavioral protection strategy, are measured in terms of frequency of use on a six-point Likert-type scale (never, rarely, occasionally, sometimes, often and always). As indicated by its developers, the total score of the PBSM-17 is obtained by calculating the total score of each item and then converting this raw score into a standardized form (T-score) ranging from 15 to 73.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Severity of Dependence	8 weeks	Measured with the Severity of Dependence Scale (SDS) scale (Martin et al., 2006) which includes five items related to compulsive behaviors, concerns, anxiety, and feelings of loss of control in the context of cannabis use. Four of the items are scored on a Likert-type scale ranging from "never/almost never" (1) to "always" (4) and one item offers a scale ranging from "not difficult" (1) to "impossible" (4). Severity of dependance items scores are tallied for an overall score (range of 5-20).
Subjective engagement with the developed mobile application (acceptability)	4 weeks	Subjective engagement (self-reported) will be measured using the validated French version (Fontaine et al., 2020) of the User Engagement Scale - Short Form (UES-SF) (O'Brien et al., 2018). This 12-item instrument serves to measure four dimensions of engagement: 1) aesthetic appeal; 2) focused attention; 3) perceived usability, and 4) reward factor. Possible answers range from strongly disagree (+1) to strongly agree (+5). The possible total score ranges between 12 and 60. The score for each item will be interpreted and the scores for each dimension will be compared to indicate which are rated more highly than others.
Number of screens viewed in the mobile application	8 weeks	Objective data. This data will be collected automatically when users log into the application.
Cannabis use frequency	8 weeks	The frequency of cannabis use will be assessed using a question previously used in the Quebec (Canada) Survey on Cannabis (2022).
Total time of use of the mobile application	8 weeks	Objective data. This data will be collected automatically when users log into the application.
Number of days the mobile application was used	8 weeks	Objective data. This data will be collected automatically when users log into the application.
Change in intention to take action on cannabis use	8 weeks	Intention is assessed by three items with a 7 points Likert Scale as recommended by Ajzen (2013): 1) "I intend to take action on my cannabis use within the next month" will be rated on a scale from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree; 2) "Over the next month, the chances of me taking action on my cannabis use are ..." will be rated on a scale from 1=very low to 7=very high; 3) "Over the next month, I will be taking action on my cannabis use" will be rated on a scale from 1=very unlikely to 7=very likely. Intention items scores are tallied for an overall score (range of 3-21).

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Université de Montréal; 🇨🇦 Montréal, Quebec, Canada