Food diary, digital coach, and push notifications. How does digital addiction prevention work today?

Existing digital prevention programs often provide health information, as well as strategies and tips for managing one’s own consumption, and refer users to professional support when needed. These programs are based on approaches such as psychoeducation—that is, the structured teaching of information about effects and risks— cognitive behavioral therapy, which focuses on working on patterns of behavior and thinking, and motivational interviewing. The latter involves a non-confrontational conversation in which an individual’s own motivations for change are identified.

A well-established approach involves setting a goal and tracking progress. Substance use diaries are a natural tool for monitoring one’s own use. A great example of this is the free online counseling program “Quit the Shit” from the Federal Institute for Public Health. The program combines a four-week consumption diary, a self-selected goal ranging from reduction to quitting, and weekly feedback from a counselor.

The structural advantage of digital interventions is that they can provide ongoing support to young adults and are always low-threshold and, if desired, accessible anonymously. This addresses real barriers to access, such as travel, costs, the effort involved in finding a local counseling center, and fear of stigmatization. At the same time, this approach can potentially be more effective in reaching people who have not yet developed an addiction problem.

Furthermore, support is particularly effective when it is provided at the right moment. Push notifications, situational reminders, and mobile support in everyday life can therefore be useful. In research, this is referred to as “just-in-time adaptive interventions.” This term describes interventions that adapt their content and timing to the person’s current state rather than to a fixed schedule.

We also know from the literature that risk communication alone—for example, through informational materials that lack opportunities for reflection and practical application—has only limited effectiveness. These materials are often too general and impersonal, as people differ in terms of their motivations for consumption, risk perception, willingness to change, need for support, and much more. Precisely for this reason, a “one-size-fits-all” intervention may not be the right approach to engage young people. 

What we aim to achieve with IndiSuKI:

This is exactly where IndiSuKI comes in: We want to bring together the design options mentioned above (and many more) to develop an AI that is personally tailored to users’ needs. In doing so, we’ll focus on personalization wherever possible, along with engaging design and playful elements. 

After all, our research has shown that there is no shortage of good individual elements. The open question is how to bring them together in a way that truly resonates with young adults. That’s why we’re developing the app not for, but with, the target audience.