Development of a mobile neuroscience-informed psychoeducation program for resilience and substance use prevention
Background:
Despite revolutionary advances in understanding the neurobiological basis of addiction, these advances have not been translated into prevention and intervention programs for substance use disorders. To address this gap, we recently developed a mobile program that integrates neuroscience-based psychoeducation and game-based cognitive training for enhancing cognitive resilience in adolescents and young adults. The goal of the program is to enhance metacognitive awareness, build cognitive resilience, and promote the use of specific neurocognitive skills to help cope with stress and prevent or reduce substance misuse. The aim of the current study was to examine the feasibility of delivering the program and assess its effects on substance use and other outcomes.
Methods:
Neuroscience-Informed PsychoEducation for Resilience (NIPER) program: NIPER incorporates neurocognitive games, videos, animations, and cartoons, and provides participants an interactive psychoeducation on key neurocognitive functions implicated in addictive disorders. It then instructs them on how they could gain better control of their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors by implementing metacognitive and compensatory strategies, presented within the context of real-life scenarios. The app-based program consists of 4 self-administered 20-30 minutes long sessions, each of which focuses on a specific neurocognitive function implicated in addictive behaviors: (1) Attention, (2) Memory, (3) Cognitive Flexibility/Impulse Control; and (4) Decision-Making/Incentive Salience.
Pilot study with NIPER: We recently completed a pilot study to obtain preliminary data on the feasibility of delivering the program to college students and test its effects. One hundred students were invited to participate. Participation included completing a pre-intervention assessment, 4 intervention sessions, post-intervention assessment, and provide feedback about the intervention.
Results:
Eighty-five students completed the pre-intervention assessment, 72 students completed one session, 71 two sessions, 69 three sessions, and 68 all four sessions and the post-intervention assessment. Preliminary results reveal high acceptance and satisfaction with the program. From the different intervention components, the neurocognitive games were liked the most and the brain training strategies were liked the least. Pre- and post-intervention assessment comparisons revealed reductions in depression, anxiety, intent to get intoxicated within the next 30 days, self-reported executive function deficits, and delay discounting, along with an increase in metacognitive awareness.
Conclusions:
These preliminary results support for the feasibility of the program and its positive effects in college students. Future directions include conducting a randomized clinical trial to study the efficacy of the program on substance use and other outcomes.
