Effectiveness Trial of an mHealth Intervention to Help Parents Prevent Early Onset Alcohol Use (BIPAS Alcohol)

June 27, 2026 updated by: Nisha Gottfredson O'Shea, RTI International

Type I Hybrid Implementation Effectiveness Cluster Randomized Trial of an mHealth Intervention to Help Parents Prevent Early Onset Alcohol Use

Many parents are permissive about children's alcohol use (e.g., they allow sips of alcohol); this leniency increases the risk that children will experience serious alcohol-related consequences as they become teenagers. This promising digital intervention that teaches parents about their influence and provides skills and tools they need to discourage underage alcohol use.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Drinking before age 14, or "early-onset alcohol use" (EOAU), is a serious and highly prevalent risk behavior that often begins at home, with sips of alcohol provided by parents. By age 11, nearly one-quarter of U.S. children have already sipped alcohol. This research has identified specific parenting beliefs and behaviors that are not being adequately addressed in family-based interventions. This research shows that many parents who provide alcohol have the mistaken belief that doing so teaches children how to drink in moderation; other parents report simply not having given thought to the risks. Even in the context of other protective factors, adolescents whose parents had permissive beliefs about alcohol use exhibited quicker escalations in alcohol involvement across adolescence than did those whose parents had less permissive beliefs. The investigators developed and piloted an intervention program called Better Informed Parents Keeping Adolescents Safe from Alcohol (BIPAS Alcohol), which is a universal, theory-informed, digital intervention for parents of incoming middle schoolers that is delivered via mobile devices. Findings from the pilot study demonstrated that BIPAS is highly acceptable to parents and can be delivered at low cost. Furthermore, preliminary results show that BIPAS Alcohol is effective across a range of cognitive and behavioral outcomes, including parental provision of sips of alcohol to their children. Building on this research, the current application has the following aims. Aim 1: Expand the reach of BIPAS Alcohol by translating it into Spanish while maintaining fidelity to key intervention content; Aim 2: Use a rigorous national cluster-randomized trial with 2,000 parent-child dyads (N = 4,000 total) to assess the effects of BIPAS Alcohol on EOAU, secondary outcomes (e.g., children's alcohol use susceptibility), and hypothesized mediators that are the target of the intervention (e.g., parental permissive beliefs about adolescent alcohol use) relative to an attention control condition; and Aim 3: Evaluate implementation outcomes, including program reach, participant engagement and experience, and delivery cost. Aim 3 will include qualitative interviews to identify implementation supports that address factors that inhibit engagement. Across all aims, the investigators will examine variability in mechanisms and outcomes across multiple dimensions, including parent language, educational attainment, and alcohol use status. By rigorously testing the effectiveness of a universal digital intervention with the potential for widespread reach, this study will provide novel evidence for reducing EOAU and its associated consequences. Furthermore, findings regarding implementation supports for reaching families will provide insights into how best to support engagement more broadly across other digital parenting interventions.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
4000

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Be age 18 or older and
  • Be the parent or guardian of a child in or entering 5th or 6th grade
  • Cohabitate part-time (averaging at least 2 days/week) or more with index child
  • Consent to being randomized to study arm
  • Be able to complete study activities in Spanish or English
  • Own or have regular access to a smartphone that can download apps
  • Be willing to turn on app notifications for the study app
  • Consent to having their child complete surveys privately

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Another child from the same family/household is already participating

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: BIPAS Alcohol intervention group
BIPAS Alcohol intervention
Behavioral: BIPAS Alcohol
Digital intervention for parents of rising middle schoolers to prevent early onset alcohol use
Other Names:
  • BIPAS
No Intervention: Control group
Does not receive intervention

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Adolescent alcohol quantity frequency (AQF)
Time Frame: From enrollment to 24 months
Frequency and amount of drinking over the past 30 days
From enrollment to 24 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Parent alcohol attitudes and beliefs
Time Frame: From enrollment to 24 months
Questionnaire responses to items focusing on parent's beliefs about anticipated effects of alcohol consumption. Response options are: strongly agree; disagree; agree; and strongly agree.
From enrollment to 24 months
Parental allowance of sipping
Time Frame: From enrollment to 24 months
Questionnaire responses to item asking if parent allows child to sip alcohol. Response options are: never; rarely; sometimes; often; very often.
From enrollment to 24 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
RTI International

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Nisha Gottfredson O'Shea, PhD, RTI International

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
September 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
September 1, 2029

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
September 1, 2029

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
June 19, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
June 27, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
July 6, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
July 6, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
June 27, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • R01AA031980 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Primary outcome variables for individual participants will be shared on the NIMH Data Archive

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • ICF

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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