Young people may seem like they’re attached to their phones—and that whatever’s on their screens is more important than what’s actually happening right in front of them. Now scientists may have found a way to make a positive out of that screen addiction, by using it to cut down on alcohol abuse. They report their findings in the journal PLoS ONE. [Brian Suffoletto et al, An Interactive Text Message Intervention to Reduce Binge Drinking in Young Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial with 9-Month Outcomes]

The researchers examined medical records and identified some 800 18- to 25-year-olds who had all self-identified in surveys as binge drinkers or heavy drinkers. They had all also been admitted to emergency rooms with, for the most part, non-alcohol related injuries.

The investigators divided the subjects into three groups. For twelve weeks, one group got messages on Sunday asking how much they drank, and received no additional feedback. A second group did not get any texts. But a third group received texts every Thursday asking about their weekend drinking plans. That group then got feedback designed to help them limit their drinking. On Sundays they received a follow-up check-in text and more tailored feedback.

Lead researcher Brian Suffoletto of the University of Pittsburgh says they used texts rather than phone calls or emails because of its immediacy, and because “it really allows us to communicate behind the veil of some anonymity. So when you’re face to face with an individual it’s been shown that people are less likely to tell you bad things about themselves because they feel nervous that you would judge them.”

And the results seem to have vindicated that strategy. Six months after the study, members of the little or no interaction groups said they had not reduced their drinking at all. But those who had had gotten all the texts and feedback reported an average of one less binge drinking day per month. They appear to at least partially have gotten the message.

—Erika Beras

[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]