Perceived Alcohol Rewards and Risks Study (PARS)

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Heavy Drinking

Treatments: Behavioral: Brief Alcohol Intervention; Behavioral: Control Condition

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT04710095

IRB#15-000237

R21AA023669 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Details and patient eligibility

About

The identification of mechanisms that underlie how people reduce or eliminate alcohol use is a critical public health issue. Understanding these mechanisms can inform how to effectively intervene with problem drinkers. Thus far it has been a challenge for the alcohol research field to find consistent empirical evidence in support of candidate mechanisms of behavior change. Scientific advancement in this area may be aided by longitudinal transdisciplinary research on the interplay between behavioral intervention, cognition, and brain activity to understand underlying processes of behavior change among heavy drinkers. This study employed a randomized 2-arm repeated measures design with a sample of non-treatment seeking adult heavy drinkers to examine changes in perceived reward value and risks of alcohol use as a mechanism of alcohol behavior change after a brief behavioral intervention. Participants were randomized to either a 1-session behavioral intervention or to an attention-matched control condition and immediately after completed an fMRI scan. The focus of this project is to examine if group differences in perceived alcohol reward value after the intervention mediates an intervention effect on reducing alcohol use in the 1 month following the intervention.

Enrollment: 60 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 21+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. engaged in regular heavy drinking, as indicated by consuming 5 or more drinks per occasion for men or 4 or more drinks per occasion for women at least 4 times in the month prior to enrollment
2. a score of ≥ 8 on the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT)

Exclusion criteria

1. under the age of 21
2. currently receiving treatment for alcohol problems, history of treatment in the 30 days before enrollment, or currently seeking treatment
3. a positive urine toxicology screen for any drug other than cannabis
4. a lifetime history of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or other psychotic disorder
5. serious alcohol withdrawal symptoms
6. history of epilepsy, seizures, or severe head trauma
7. non-removable ferromagnetic objects in body
8. claustrophobia
9. pregnancy

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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60 participants in 2 patient groups

Brief Alcohol Intervention

Active Comparator group

Description:

A brief intervention consisting of a 30-45 minute individual face-to-face session based on the principles of motivational interviewing.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Brief Alcohol Intervention

Attention-Matched Control Condition

Sham Comparator group

Description:

Brief attention-matched control condition.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Control Condition