Evaluating a Mobile Application against Dating Violence in African American Adolescents

Background: Due to the limited availability of a mobile application (app) for use in preventing dating violence, we developed the Better Me app for adolescents to monitor their mood, partner’s behaviors, and events that may lead to conflicts in order to better understand their relationship and determine if it is violent. Purpose: To examine content, features and functionality, and usability of the app in African-American adolescents. Methods: A user-center approach was employed to evaluate the app. At the current stage, we have recruited seven of 20 African-American female adolescents aged 13-17 years from Milwaukee's lowest income areas to participate in a think-aloud protocol and audiotaped individual interviews. Instruments included a guideline for task performances, demographic questions, the System Usability Scale (SUS), and a semi-structure interview guide. The SUS score was calculated, and the audio-taped individual interviews were analyzed using content analysis method. Results: Two-third of participants had dating expereinces (71.4%), and six participants had a minimum of one year experience of using apps (85.7%). The SUS score was 81.4 considered the top 10% of scores indicating that participants were more likely to recommend the app to a friend. Five themes emerged:  clarity of the app content, effectiveness of the features and functionality, satisfaction and intention to use in the future, strengths of the app, and suggested areas for improvements. Conclusion: Findings will guide us to prove the app quality and indicate the app’s potential to use as a tool to prevent dating violence.