Vaping Prevention and Vaping in Youth (Vapechat)
- Conditions
- VapingSmoking Cessation
- Interventions
- Behavioral: Virtual Reality ProgramBehavioral: VR Program
- Registration Number
- NCT06003439
- Lead Sponsor
- Boston University
- Brief Summary
Many youth are addicted to nicotine due to increased nicotine vaping (e.g., e-cigarettes). Unfortunately, there are no effective interventions to help teens quit vaping. In addition, existing vaping prevention programs have limited effectiveness because teens have reported that existing available interventions are out of touch with teen's culture and are not appealing to the intended audience. Therefore, to be effective, a vaping intervention must be acceptable, appealing, and engaging to teens, and most importantly, it should be designed to be channeled into an existing infrastructure such as the school setting.
The investigators' research group has designed a vaping prevention and cessation intervention that is implemented as a VR game for high school teens. The overall objective of this research is to assess the acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy of the VR experience among high school students in two high schools in Boston.
- Detailed Description
The investigators will conduct a randomized trial of high school students (freshman to seniors) in the Boston area to determine feasibility, satisfaction, and preliminary efficacy of the VR-based vaping cessation and prevention game. Students will be randomized by class to either receive the Virtual Reality (VR) program (experimental condition) or control condition (questionnaire assessment only). There will be three VR sessions played at school during a health class. Participants in the VR condition will also engage in a gamified home-based component on their smartphone, in order to reinforce skills learned in the school-based VR experience.
Seven high school classes across two high schools will be randomized to VR intervention or assessment only. Health classes in each high school will be randomly assigned using a 1:3 threshold probability using a random digit generator. Participants will be enrolled in the study for approximately 6 weeks. In the first 3 weeks, participants will engage in the VR game experience once per week during their classes. In the fourth and fifth week, participants may make up any VR game session that they missed because of absence (e.g., illness). At week 6, participants will complete the follow-up questionnaire assessments.
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- COMPLETED
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 119
- Students enrolled at Everett and Quincy High Schools (freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors).
- Students in Health class
- Child assents
- Teacher indicates that participation is not appropriate for the student (e.g., severe mental illness; visual or auditory disability; medical issue)
- Parent(s)/guardian(s) opt student out of the study.
- Prone to motion sickness or seizures.
- Visual impairments that would preclude playing VR or otherwise unable to use VR device.
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- PARALLEL
- Arm && Interventions
Group Intervention Description Virtual Reality Program VR Program Students in classrooms randomized to this group will receive the Virtual Reality vaping cessation and prevention program. Virtual Reality Program Virtual Reality Program Students in classrooms randomized to this group will receive the Virtual Reality vaping cessation and prevention program.
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Engagement with the VR program 5 weeks Experimental condition arm. Playing time in minutes objectively measured by the program software; higher values mean a better outcome
Awareness of vaping 5 weeks Experimental condition arm. Self-report awareness adapted from the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS). Score range 1 - 5; higher values mean a better outcome
Gameplay experience and satisfaction 5 weeks Experimental condition arm. Scores on a scale assessing the gameplay experience. Score range 1 - 4; higher values mean a better outcome
Satisfaction with the VR game 5 weeks Experimental condition arm. Self-report star rating of the VR game (1 to 5 stars); higher values mean a better outcome
Knowledge of vaping 5 weeks Experimental condition arm Self-report knowledge adapted from the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS). Score range 1 - 5; higher values mean a better outcome
Attitudes towards vaping 5 weeks Experimental condition arm. Self-report attitudes towards vaping adapted from the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS). Score range 1 - 5; higher values mean a better outcome
Help seeking 5 weeks Experimental condition arm. Self-report help seeking for vaping behaviors adapted from the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS). Score range 1 - 5; higher values mean a better outcome
Intention to change 5 weeks Experimental condition arm. Self-report intention to change vaping behaviors adapted from the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS). Score range 1 - 5; higher values mean a better outcome
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Confidence in avoiding vaping 5 weeks Scores on a single item assessing confidence in avoiding vaping within 30-days. Scores range 1-10, higher values mean a better outcome
Motivation to quit (or avoid) vaping within the next 30-days 5 weeks Proportion of participants who are seriously thinking about quitting (or avoid) vaping within the next 30-days
Past 7-days vaping frequency 5 weeks Proportion of participants who have vaped '0', or '1-2', or '3-4', or '5-6', or '7' days in the past 7-days
Positive affect 5 weeks Scores on the Pediatric Positive Affect (PROMIS) scale. Scores range 8-40, higher values mean a better outcome
Intention to connect with vaping cessation resources 5 weeks Scores on a single item assessing intentions to connect with vaping cessation resources. Scores range 1-10, higher values mean a better outcome
Frequency of current vaping 5 weeks Proportion of participants who currently vape 'not at all', or 'some days', or 'most days', or 'every day'
Motivation to quit (or avoid) vaping 5 weeks Scores on a scale assessing motivation to quit (or avoid) vaping. Score range 1 - 10; higher values mean a better outcome
Intention to try vaping (or quit vaping) 5 weeks Proportion of participants who are 'probably not' or 'definitely not' thinking of vaping in the next 30- days
Negative affect 5 weeks Scores on the Negative Affect for Children scale Scores range 10-50, higher values mean a worse outcome
Quit vaping attempts 5 weeks Proportion of participants who have made one or more attempts to quit vaping for at least 24 hours
Past 30-days vaping frequency 5 weeks Proportion of participants who have vaped '0', or '1-2', or '3-5', or '6-9', or '10-19', or '20-30' days in the past 30-days
Self-efficacy to resist vaping 5 weeks Scores on the adapted smoking abstinence self-efficacy questionnaire for adolescents. Scores range 0-24 , higher values mean a better outcome
Resilience 5 weeks Scores on a brief resilience scale. Scores range 0-3 , higher values mean a worse outcome
Tolerability of the VR game 5 weeks Experimental condition arm Scores on the VR sickness questionnaire. Scores range 1-4, higher values mean a worse outcome
Emotion Regulation and Coping 5 weeks Scores on the Adolescent-Coping Orientation for Problem Experience (A-COPE). Scores range 6-30, higher values mean a better outcome
Connection with vaping cessation resources 5 weeks Proportion of participants who have made contact with any vaping cessation resources during the study
Trial Locations
- Locations (1)
Boston University, Goldman School of Dental Medicine
🇺🇸Boston, Massachusetts, United States