CanCope: Digital Intervention for Coping With Cannabis Craving

The CanCope Study is a micro-randomized trial conducted to gather evidence about and compare the effectiveness of a momentary intervention to help young adults cope with cannabis cravings as they attempt to reduce their use.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Cannabis Use
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: CanCope

Detailed Description

The CanCope Study is designed to test the effectiveness of two distinct strategies (mindfulness and distraction) to cope with cannabis cravings in young adults (19 - 25 years) who are attempting to reduce their cannabis use. Cannabis use is determined using a single-item question about the number of days out of the past 30 days the individual used cannabis. Young adults who reported using cannabis >10 out of the past 30 days, who were not pregnant or breastfeeding, and who were not currently in treatment for problems related to substance use were eligible to enroll in this four-week study.

The CanCope intervention was delivered to participants through the MetricWire app, which was available for download on the participants' personal smartphones. Participants were asked to complete five ecological momentary assessments (EMA) per day, which asked questions related to cannabis use including one question about current level of craving on a scale of 0 - 10. If a participant reported a craving level >4, a message was sent via the app encouraging the participant to try a mindfulness or distraction coping strategy, or the participant received a thank-you for completing the EMA which served as an attention control.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 53
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New Hampshire
    • Lebanon, New Hampshire, United States, 03766
      • Center For Technology and Behavioral Health

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 19 years to 25 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Used cannabis at least 10 out of the past 30 days

Exclusion Criteria:

• Currently pregnant or breastfeeding
• Currently in treatment for problems related to substance use

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: CanCope Intervention; The CanCope intervention was delivered through the MetricWire app which was available to each participant on their personal smartphone. The intervention included a "push" component which was responsive to a participant's level of craving (based on self-report assessed via EMA) and sent messages to each participant via the MetricWire app according to a decision rule. MetricWire randomized delivery of the push component with a probability of 0.33 for receiving a mindfulness coping strategy, 0.33 for receiving a distraction coping strategy, and 0.33 for receiving a thank-you message (attention control) at each decision point when participants were available for the intervention.

Behavioral: CanCope; Messages prompted participants to use mindfulness-based or distraction-based coping strategies, or a thank-you message which served as an attention control. If participants reported elevated craving (4 or greater) prior to a decision point, they received either a coping strategy message or a control message. If participants reported craving levels of less than 4 they received a control message.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Average Craving Level - Active vs. Control Messages	Participants were asked to rate their level of cannabis craving on a scale of 0 - 10 five times per day where higher scores indicate more craving. Participants were considered available for randomization when craving >=4 and they clicked the intervention message in the study app. To determine the effect of messaging on craving, we will calculate the average craving level for each EMA eligible for intervention and randomized to receive an active coping strategy message or a control message. It was pre-specified based on a priori power analyses for this small pilot study to combine the "mindfulness-based coping strategies" and "distraction-based coping strategies" interventions in the "Active Message" Row". Craving levels will be averaged across randomized observations. There were up to 140 decision points (5 EMAs per day x 28 days) per participant for the intervention period.	Minimum 2.8 hours after each decision point; Maximum 12.8 hours after each decision point

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Trustees of Dartmouth College
• Collaborators: University of Michigan
• Investigators: Study Director: Catherine Stanger, PhD, Dartmouth College

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 27, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 16, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): December 16, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 7, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 7, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): April 14, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 25, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 2, 2024
• Last Verified: September 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Substance-Related Disorders; Chemically-Induced Disorders; Marijuana Abuse
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY00032248

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No