The long-term objective of the proposed Mentored Research Scientist Development Award is to launch Dr. Jacques-Tiura?s program of research as an independent social health behavioral change researcher focusing on young women?s addictive behaviors. This goal will be achieved through a 5-year parallel training and research plan. Training objectives involve building expertise in (1) the theory and practice of T1 translation intervention development and adaption, (2) behavioral economic theory and its application to addictive behaviors, (3) the development and refinement of mobile health-delivered (mHealth) interventions, and (4) the development, refinement, and use of statistical methods of analyzing data to inform adaptive interventions and just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs). Training objectives will be met through a comprehensive training plan involving (1) ongoing one-on-one meetings with mentors Drs. Sylvie Naar, Mark Greenwald, Steven Ondersma, and Inbal Nahum-Shani, (2) workshops and summer institutes, (3) conferences, (4) seminars, and (5) coursework for the responsible conduct of research. Skills gained through the training plan will be put into action through the complementary three-phase research plan. Phase 1, to be completed in Years 1 and 2, involves basic behavioral science of pre-intervention development. To address Aim 1, we will collect online survey data from 300 young women age 18-25 to examine common behavioral economic factors related to heavy episodic drinking (HED) and loss-of-control (LOC) eating among sexual and/or dating violence survivors (SVDV), such as relative reinforcing value of alcohol and food, delay discounting of alcohol and food, costs and consequences of alcohol and LOC eating, and reinforcement from non-alcohol and food-related activities. Results will guide intervention and development and beta testing in Phase 2 (T1 translation). Phase 2, to be completed in Years 2-3, involves developing and beta testing the 12-week online behavioral economic-guided JITAI to reduce HED and LOC eating behaviors with 12 SVDV survivors, to address Aim 2. Phase 3, to be completed in Years 4 and 5, focuses on proof of concept and involves feasibility and preliminary efficacy testing of the intervention developing in Phase 2.
Aim 3 a concerns feasibility and refinement of participant methods and intervention content, and Aim 3b concerns testing invention efficacy by conducting a within- subjects multiple baseline pilot study with 36 SVDV survivors. The proposed studies will provide pilot data for Dr. Jacques-Tiura?s first R01 proposal to NIAAA, to be submitted in Year 5. Mentors Drs. Naar, Greenwald, Ondersma, and Nahum-Shani will share their expertise in (1) T1 translation of health intervention, (2) behavioral economics, (3) mHealth, and (4) JITAI research design and statistical analysis. Wayne State University offers suitable resources and a fruitful environment ripe for growing a career in the addictive behaviors. This proposal is aligned with the NIH Research Career Development program?s overall goal of ensuring the training of a diverse pool of scientists to address the USA?s behavioral and biomedical needs.
The proposed project addresses major public health issues related to young women?s heavy drinking and obesity. We first seek to assess common behavioral choice factors ? such as reinforcement from alcohol, food, and other activities; ability to delay consumption of alcohol and preferred foods; and heavy drinking and overeating costs and consequences ? related to heavy drinking and overeating among survivors of sexual and/or dating violence. Using results from the survey data, we then seek to develop and pilot test an online mHealth just-in-time adaptive intervention to reduce heavy drinking and overeating among survivors. Overall, this series of studies seeks to lay the foundation for a full randomized control trial of the behavioral intervention to reduce heavy drinking and overeating in the wake of sexual and/or dating violence victimization.
