Raiff BR, Newman ST, Upton CR & Burrows CA. (2022). The feasibility, acceptability, and initial efficacy of a remotely delivered, financial-incentive intervention to initiate vaping abstinence in young adults. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 30(5), 632–641. https://doi.org/10.1037/pha0000468
This study investigated the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a remotely delivered intervention with financial incentives to promote vaping abstinence among young adults. Participants were recruited via a university email listserv and were between 18-35 years old, reported current vaping, and a desire to quit vaping. Eight participants were enrolled, given home cotinine saliva test kits (NicAlert and iScreen), and asked to abstain from vaping for 14 days. Live video meetings were scheduled every other day and provided the opportunity for participants to share their quitting process and receive support and guidance. All participants earned financial rewards for submission of their cotinine tests and escalating bonus rewards (increasing by $5 for each subsequent negative sample) for each cotinine negative sample at baseline and during the 14-day study. At the end of the study, participants completed exit survey questions on vaping behavior change and acceptability of study procedures. All participants completed 100% of video calls and were abstinent from vaping during the 2-week treatment period. Participants reported high favorability scores for the intervention (9.75-10 out of 10) related to convenience, effectiveness to help quit vaping, and fairness, and would recommend the intervention to someone else. Results also showed that cotinine levels decreased as financial bonuses for negative tests increased. This study provides a promising, acceptable, and safe approach to helping people stop vaping for 2 weeks. Future research should focus on exploring strategies for long-term sustainability of incentive-based interventions for vaping abstinence.