Alcohol Abuse
Conditions
Keywords
Veterans, Cognitive Therapy, Couple Therapy
Brief summary
The specific aims of the ABCT\_Military project are as follows: 1) To modify the existing, Alcohol Behavioral Couple Therapy (ABCT) model to treat service members in the reconstitution (post deployment, reintegration, or separation) stage of service, and develop optional psychoeducation modules to address relevant co-morbid problems and challenges in this population in a weekly, 15 session, stand-alone outpatient format. 2) To test feasibility and preliminary efficacy of the study intervention protocol in a successive cohort design for one cohort of 8 couples and one cohort of 22 couples, with iterative manual revision.
Detailed description
The study staff will screen potential participants over the phone, and arrange Baseline (BL) research interviews for appropriate couples. The couple will meet with the program interviewer for approximately 2 hours. After the BL interview, couples will be scheduled to attend therapy sessions. Couples will complete brief within treatment self-report assessments. Couples will complete a post treatment follow up interview four months after session 1.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALABCT_Military
15 Weekly Couple Therapy Sessions
Sponsors
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
University of Massachusetts, Worcester
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Age 18 and older; * Married (or separated with efforts to reconcile) or in a committed relationship (cohabiting, or in an exclusive dating relationship), or significant other (SO) (first, second or third degree relative (including step relative or in-law) or close trusted friend not active in same military branch. The service member only must meet the following inclusion criteria: * Served or serving in the U.S. Military, * Current Alcohol Use Disorder diagnosis, or drink at high risk levels as defined by NIAAA (2010)
Exclusion criteria
* Either individual is not fluent in the English language.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Percent Drinking Days (PDD) | Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1 | Derived from Timeline Followback (TLFB) |
| Couple Satisfaction Inventory 16 | Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1 | 16 item measure assessing satisfaction in couple relationship. Scores range from 0 to 81 and higher scores indicate higher levels of relationship satisfaction. Total score is calculated by summing all values. |
| Mean Drinks Per Drinking Day | Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1 | Derived from Timeline Followback (TLFB) |
| Percent Heavy Drinking Days | Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1 | Derived from Timeline Followback (TLFB) |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Coping Strategies Scale | Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1 | 25-item brief measure assessing coping in alcohol-specific and non-alcohol situations. Scores range from 1-4 and higher scores indicate greater use of coping skills. Total score is calculated by averaging all values. |
| World Health Quality of Life Questionnaire - Bref | Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1 | 26-item self report assessing quality of life across 4 domains/subscales: Physical health, Psychological, Social relationships, Environment. The first two items measure quality of life and overall health and are examined separately, with scores ranging from 1-5. The four domain scores are calculated by averaging values and scores range from 1-5. Higher scores indicate higher quality of life within each domain. Mean scores are then multiplied by 4 in order to make domain scores comparable with the scores used in the WHOQOL-100 (full scale measure). |
| Treatment Services Review | Weekly during treatment, for up to 16 weeks | Interview assessing quantity and type of services received (e.g., health, psychological) outside of study intervention. Total scores are calculated by summing the number of outside services used. Total scores have a minimum of 0 and no maximum value. |
| Working Alliance Inventory Short Form | Baseline and through study completion, about 16 weeks | 12-item self-report measure of the therapeutic alliance. Total scales are calculated by summing all values. Values range from 1-7 with total scores ranging from 12 to 84). Higher scores indicate greater alliance. |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) | Baseline | Percent of sample with a PTSD diagnosis as determined by scores on the Life Events Checklist (LEC-5) and the PTSD Checklist (PCL-5). |
| PTSD Checklist (PCL-5) | Baseline and through study completion, about 16 weeks | 20-item self-report questionnaires assessing current symptoms of PTSD, used to assess current (past 30 days) PTSD severity. Total scores are calculated by summing all values. Scores on the PCL-5 range from 0-80 and reflect a global PTSD severity score, with higher scores indicating greater severity. |
| Use of Treatment Skills | Baseline and through study completion, about 16 weeks | Self-report questionnaire assessing use of skills learned during treatment. Item scores range from 1-5 and a total score is calculated by summing all values. Higher scores indicate greater use of skills. |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) | Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1 | self-report questionnaire assessing depression symptoms over the prior two weeks (scores range 0-63) and higher scores indicate greater depression symptomatology. All item scores are summed to attain a total score. |
| Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) | Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1 | Percent of sample with IPV as determined by scores on the Conflict Screener Form H. |
| Copello Coping Questionnaire | Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1 | 30 item self-report assessing partner alcohol-related coping skill use. Total score is calculated by summing the values from each item and scores range from 0-90 with higher scored indicating greater use of coping strategies. |
| Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) | Baseline | Percent of sample with a TBI as determined by scores on the TBI Checklist. |
| Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale (SOCRATES) Short Form | Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1 | 19 item self-report questionnaire assessing client readiness for change. An additional item assesses the client's motivation for coming to therapy. There are three sub scales (Recognition, Ambivalence, and Taking Steps) which are derived from individual items. Higher scores indicate greater recognition, ambivalence and taking steps and scores range from 7 to 35, 4 to 20, and 8-40, respectively. |
| Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Checklist | Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1 | Severity of TBI as determined by total scores on the TBI Checklist. Scores are calculated by summing individual item scores with possible scores ranging from 8 to 88. |
| Partner Quantity Frequency Questionnaire | Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1 | Self-report questionnaire assessing frequency and quantity of current and lifetime substance use. Measure is used to provide descriptive data about partner substance use. Total scores are not used. |
| Medical History Questionnaire | Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1 | 40 item self-report assessing presence of medical conditions currently and in the past. Scores are calculated by summing individual item scores with possible scores ranging from 0 to 40. Higher scores indicate greater number of medical problems. |
| End of Treatment Questionnaire | 4 months post session 1 | Self-report questionnaire of helpfulness of therapy elements on a 7 point scale of -3 (greatly harmful), -2, -1, 0 (neutral), +1, +2, +3 (greatly helpful). Total scores are calculated by averaging scores across individual items. |
| Brief COPE | Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1 | 28 item self-report assessing general coping skill use. Sub scale scores are calculated by summing individual items (2 items per sub scale) with possible scores of 2 to 8. The sub scales are: Self-distraction, Active coping, Denial, Substance use, Use of emotional support, Use of instrumental support, Behavioral disengagement, Venting, Positive reframing, Planning, Humor, Acceptance, Religion, and Self-blame. Higher scores reflect greater use of each category of coping skills. |
| Client Satisfaction Questionnaire | 4 months post session 1 | 8 item self-report assessing satisfaction with treatment. Individual item scores are averaged to calculate a total score with possible scores ranging from 0 to 4. Two additional items assessed the client's ideal number of sessions and length of treatment, with scores ranging from 1 to 24 sessions and 1-12 months. |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed