Testing A Couple-based Program for Alcohol Risk Reduction in the National Guard (GF_CARE)

University of Massachusetts, Worcester

Status: Completed

Conditions: Alcohol; Harmful Use

Treatments: Behavioral: In-person sessions: ABCP_P; Behavioral: Video conference sessions: ABCP_T

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT03589508

R34AA023589 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

AA023589

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this project is to develop and test indicated prevention intervention to harness support and health promoting endeavors to address use of alcohol to cope with reintegration challenges in Massachusetts National Guard (MANG) service members.

Full description

Specific Aim 1: To modify the existing, efficacious Alcohol Behavioral Couple Therapy (ABCT) manual into a 6-session prevention protocol, called Alcohol Behavioral Couple Prevention (ABCP) that will be developed for delivery via in-person and telehealth platforms. The goal of the new ABCP is for individuals or family dyads to learn to work together to minimize hazardous drinking in order to effectively address other problems often present among returning service members.

Specific Aim 2: To field test feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a prevention protocol using a successive cohort design. First, an in-person protocol will be tested with 4 National Guard (NG) members and then adapt and test the protocol for 4 NG members via an analog telehealth design. Again, the manual and accompanied materials will be revised.

Specific Aim 3: To conduct a small Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) to compare 2 conditions with 22 NG Members in each: (1) In person (ABCP_P; 11 individual, 11 dyad), and (2) Telehealth (ABCP_T; 11 individual, 11 dyad).

Enrollment: 44 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion Criteria for NG member:

• Age 18 and older and a member of the MANG.
• Have a SO or trusted friend who is 18 or older
• Service member endorsed one item on the 10-item Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test within their lifetime

Exclusion Criteria:

• unable to give consent
• Prisoners
• Principal Investigators determined the participant requires a higher level of care (based on unstabilized psychiatric disorder, and/or high drinking or drug use severity, and/or inability to attend to adl's and/or agitated behavior
• Service Member is unable to read or comprehend English at the 7th grade education level

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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44 participants in 2 patient groups

In-Person Sessions: ABCP_P

Experimental group

Description:

In-person therapy sessions: 6 Weekly Prevention Session conducted in person (half of participants will attend alone, half of participants will attend with a significant other)

Treatment:

Behavioral: In-person sessions: ABCP_P

Video conference sessions: ABCP_T

Experimental group

Description:

Video conference therapy sessions: 6 Weekly Prevention Session conducted using videoconference (half of participants will attend alone, half of participants will attend with a significant other)

Treatment:

Behavioral: Video conference sessions: ABCP_T