None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
The DAISI project is investigating treatments for comorbid depression and alcohol use disorders. Specifically, this project aims to directly compare the effectiveness of four approaches to psychological treatment with varying emphasis on depression and alcohol use. Four programs of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and motivational interviewing will be delivered, and outcomes compared over a 3-year period: (i) 10-sessions of CBT that targets depression only (CBT-Dep); (ii) 10-sessions of CBT that targets alcohol use only (CBT-Alc); (iii) 10-sessions of CBT that targets depression and alcohol use concurrently (CBT-Int); and (iv) Brief intervention that targets depression and alcohol use concurrently (BI - control). It is hypothesised that this research will result in the development of an effective treatment program for people with comorbid alcohol and depressive disorders. We further hypothesise that the integrated CBT (CBT-Int) will produce greater, more sustainable reductions in both depressive and alcohol use outcomes relative to the other treatment conditions at the post-treatment follow-up assessments. The knowledge obtained through this research would assist counsellors in the field of alcohol and other drug treatment and mental health professionals to choose the most appropriate treatment for their clients who present with this comorbidity.
Interventions
(i) 10-once weekly sessions of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) that target depression only;
(ii) 10-once weekly sessions of CBT that target alcohol use only;
(iii) 10-once weekly sessions of CBT that target depression and alcohol use concurrently;
(iv) Brief intervention (one session) that targets depression and alcohol use concurrently.
Sponsors
University of Newcastle
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
16 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
(a) any person who is experiencing current levels of depressive symptoms (score at least 17 on the Beck Depression Inventory-II); and (b) who is also consuming alcohol at harmful levels. Harmful consumption of alcohol will be defined as consumption above recommended NHMRC guidelines for males and females (i.e. in excess of 2-4 standard drinks per day for males and 1-2 standard drinks for females, with fewer than 2 alcohol-free days).
Exclusion criteria
(a) any participant who screens positive for psychotic illness ); (b) people who are not using alcohol above recommended levels. NOTE: People may be using drugs in addition to alcohol and still be eligible for participation; (c) any participants requiring medical detoxification for their alcohol use will initially be referred to the appropriate service in the community. However, once the physical symptoms of withdrawal are managed, it is important to follow up with some form of further treatment, so at this time these participants will be recruited to the study; (d) any participants who exhibit significant learning difficulties; (e) non-English speakers; (f) people with organic brain diseases.
Outcome results
None listed