Alcohol Drinking, Alcohol Drinking in College, Binge Drinking, College Drinking, Drinking Behavior, Drinking Excessive, Drinking Problem, Drink Too Much, Drunkenness, Heavy Drinker, Heavy Drinking, Young Adult
Conditions
Keywords
Binge Drinking, Heavy Drinking, Young Adult, Heavy Drinker, Regulation of craving, Cognitive behavioral therapy, Neurocognitive training, Emotion regulation, Alcohol
Brief summary
The goal of the proposed study is to examine whether a single session of training in regulation of craving (ROC-T) affects alcohol drinking. The study will consist of (1) a basic screening (phone and/or online) and an in-person visit, to determine eligibility and conduct pre-intervention baseline assessments; (2) a training (ROC-T) visit, (3) a post-intervention assessment visit, and (4) 1-2 phone/online follow-up assessments. The study will take up to 10 hours of the participants' time.
Detailed description
The investigators propose to test the efficacy of such training by randomizing 120 individuals who report alcohol drinking to the following conditions: (1) a brief training in cognitive regulation and (2) a control or no-training condition. Training will be delivered in a computerized session (approximately 60 minutes). If randomized into the cognitive regulation training, subjects will be trained to use a cognitive strategy while viewing images of alcoholic drinks. The strategy would be to follow instructions to think about the adverse outcomes associated with continued alcohol drinking. If randomized into the control condition, participants will only view non-alcohol-related images with no use of strategy. After all the training sessions are completed, participants will complete several follow-ups. The investigators will evaluate the effects of training on alcohol drinking pre- and post-training.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALRegulation of craving
Participants in the ROC-T condition will be trained to use a strategy that instructs them to think of the negative outcomes associated with alcohol drinking while looking at alcohol-related images.
BEHAVIORALControl (NO REGULATION)
In the CONTROL condition, participants would simply observe non-alcohol-related images and allow natural responses to come
Sponsors
Yale University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 25 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
1. Adults ages 18-25 2. Capability of performing the experimental tasks (e.g., can read, able to use computers) 3. Native or fluent speaker of English 4. Provides informed consent 5. Normal or corrected-to-normal vision 6. Willing to commit to the full length of the protocol 7. Heavy drinking or binge-drinking
Exclusion criteria
. 1. Present DSM disorders, apart from alcohol use disorders 2. Reports of neurological or systemic disorders that can cause cognitive impairment 3. Minor cognitive impairment evidenced by an inability to correctly understand study information 4. Reports entirely no interest in reducing the amount of drinking (Alcohol Contemplation Ladder score of 9 or 10).
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Timeline followback (TLFB) | Baseline (first visit) to post-intervention (an average of one week after first visit) | The Alcohol TLFB is a drinking assessment method that obtains estimates of daily drinking. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Frequency of regulating drinking + craving. | Will be measured at post-intervention (one week after first visit) | Participants will be asked to report their craving regulation (if any) since the intervention. In order to assess the level of craving regulation the participants will answer several questions in our craving regulation questionnaire. This assessment will include questions about the number of attempts at craving regulation, the number of times the participant intended to regulate craving, one's confidence in one's ability to regulate craving, the level of motivation to regulate drinking before each drinking episode, and the participant's intention to regulate drinking in the future. Finally, participants will be asked how many times they were thinking of negative consequences in general and while experiencing alcohol craving. |
| Timeline followback (TLFB) | First visit, post-intervention (one week after first visit), follow-up (two weeks after first visit) | The Alcohol TLFB is a drinking assessment method that obtains estimates of daily drinking. |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed