Current Research | Department of Psychology

Current Research

22-173 Improving Remote Breathalyzer Procedures used by Clinicians and Researchers to Remotely Monitor Alcohol Use

This project is a 4 week procedure where participants are asked to blow into a breathalyzer 4 times a day while also wearing an ankle alcohol monitoring device. Remote breath alcohol monitors have been increasingly adopted for use in clinical, research and forensic settings to monitor alcohol use, offering several key advantages over other available monitoring methods. However, it remains unknown if remote breathalyzers reliably detect alcohol use because there is up to a 10-hour window of time when breath samples are not obtained (to allow for sleeping). Additionally, we will examine whether a supplemental measurement of a blood alcohol use biomarker (phosphatidylethanol) can confirm abstinence and/or detect individuals' alcohol use.

22-394 Validation of a Novel Wearable Alcohol Detection Device

The purpose of this study is to develop pilot data using two new transdermal alcohol devices (the SOBRsafe wrist monitor and SOBRcheck desktop device). We will compare breath alcohol levels with output from these devices, which are designed to detect alcohol use (and confirm sobriety). These data will be used to support the current grant renewal. This study will compare the performance of SOBRsafe against police-grade breathalyzer BAC measurements, which uses a Dräger fuel sensor to detect ethanol gas to examine the ability of both SOBRsafe devices to monitor alcohol consumption. These devices, and their validation, will be important to our future planned studies designed to monitor drinking in the "real world" and encourage reductions in problematic drinking.