Mobile Intervention to Address Cannabis Use Disorder Among Black Adults: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

TL;DR

This study is developing a mobile treatment for cannabis use disorder in Black adults, focusing on reducing false safety behaviors and improving accessibility.

Contribution

The study introduces a culturally tailored mobile intervention targeting false safety behaviors in cannabis use disorder among Black adults.

Findings

Black adults with cannabis use disorder may benefit from a mobile intervention targeting false safety behaviors.

The study will pilot-test a new treatment approach that integrates culturally tailored strategies for cannabis reduction.

Results may inform accessible and effective treatment options for Black individuals with cannabis use disorder.

Abstract

African American or Black (hereafter referred to as Black) adults who use cannabis use it more frequently and are more likely to meet criteria for cannabis use disorder (CUD) than both White and Hispanic or Latin individuals. Black adults may be more apt to use cannabis to cope with distress, which constitutes a false safety behavior (FSB; a behavior designed to reduce psychological distress in the short term). Although FSB engagement can perpetuate the cycle of high rates of CUD among Black individuals, limited work has applied an FSB elimination treatment approach to Black adults with CUD, and no previous work has evaluated FSB reduction or elimination in the context of a culturally tailored and highly accessible treatment developed for Black individuals.

This study aims to develop and pilot-test a culturally tailored adaptive intervention that integrates FSB reduction or elimination skills for cannabis reduction or cessation among Black adults with probable CUD (Culturally Tailored-Mobile Integrated Cannabis and Anxiety Reduction Treatment [CT-MICART]).

Black adults with probable CUD (N=50) will complete a web-based screener, enrollment call, baseline assessment, 3 daily ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) for 6 weeks, and a follow-up self-report assessment and qualitative interview at 6 weeks after randomization. Participants will be randomized into 1 out of the 2 conditions after baseline assessment: (1) CT-MICART+EMAs for 6 weeks or (2) EMAs only for 6 weeks.

The enrollment started in June 2023 and ended in November 2023. Data analysis will be completed in March 2024.

No culturally tailored, evidence-based treatment currently caters to the specific needs of Black individuals with CUD. This study will lay the foundation for a new approach to CUD treatment among Black adults that is easily accessible and has the potential to overcome barriers to treatment and reduce practitioner burden in order to support Black individuals who use cannabis with probable CUD.

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05566730; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05566730

DERR1-10.2196/52776

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