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A SMART Evaluation of an Adaptive Web-based AUD Treatment for Service Members and Their Partners

A SMART Evaluation of an Adaptive Web-based AUD Treatment for Service Members and Their Partners

Status
Recruiting
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05619185
Enrollment
744
Registered
2022-11-16
Start date
2024-06-14
Completion date
2027-08-31
Last updated
2026-04-27

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Alcohol Abuse, Alcohol Drinking, Alcohol Use Disorder, Military Family, Relations, Interpersonal

Keywords

military, alcohol, drinking, substance use

Brief summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of an adaptive web intervention (Partners Connect) on military spouse drinking behaviors (CPs) and service member help-seeking (SMs). The investigators want to identify for whom this intervention is most efficacious and on what drinking behaviors and mechanisms. The investigators hypothesize that the intervention will reduce concerned partner drinking and increase service member help-seeking, compared to website resources, and that phone-based CRAFT will increase help-seeking behaviors, compared to those who are guided via a CRAFT workbook.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALCRAFT Web-Based Intervention

Session 1 addresses CPs' mental health issues and drinking. CPs select reasons why they are seeking help and steps they will take towards those goals. Session 2 is focused on improving their relationship through communication exercises. Session 3 is focused on functional analysis of their partner's drinking, and how to positively reinforce their partner's sobriety and negatively reinforce their drinking. Finally, Session 4 focuses on continuing self-care and talking with their partner about their concerns while interacting with them in healthy ways. The WBI contains audio, video, text, and exercises that utilize digital storytelling and vignettes to convey teaching points - a method utilized by the military to address stigma and increase treatment utilization. Actresses portrayed different experiences that the CP may be going through and modeled skills. CPs clicked on the vignette that they most connected with and followed that character across all the sessions.

BEHAVIORALPhone-Based CRAFT

The phone-based CRAFT intervention consists of six individual sessions with a CRAFT clinician that will explore what they learned from the WBI and additional skills they need. Session content includes positive reinforcement of non-drinking SM behaviors, refraining from interfering in SM's consequences of alcohol use, communication skills, and self-care.

BEHAVIORALCRAFT Workbook

The self-directed CRAFT workbook Table 1.Partners Connect WBI has a parent and partner version that uses CRAFT to help the CP help with understanding, self-care, communication, and actions (e.g., how to react when a partner has been using substances and when they have not been using substances, how to talk to partner so that they are more likely to be heard) and includes more information about communicating than the WBI and several interactive worksheets.

BEHAVIORALGottman Self-Guided Resources

To match time spent reviewing the website, CPs will receive an orientation guide that includes the website URL and a 4-week guide for how they can navigate this website for 20-30 minutes per week (e.g., read article "'It's Not My Fault!': Why Defensiveness is Damaging" and write down one tool to dissolve defensiveness you're willing to try). We will send reminder emails each week to visit the website and include questions in the emails and our first online follow-up survey asking CPs approximately how many times they visited the website and how long they spent viewing content on the website. Reminder emails will be programmed such that CPs get directed automatically to the website if the CP notes no time spent on it.

Sponsors

Stanford University
Lead SponsorOTHER
University of Southern California
CollaboratorOTHER
RAND
CollaboratorOTHER
Northern California Institute of Research and Education
CollaboratorOTHER
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
CollaboratorNIH

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* at least 18 years of age; * be living together with their partner, with no plans to change that status in the next 2 months; * not be in the military themselves (to reduce concerns about mandated reporting of alcohol use); * score ≥4 on the AUDIT-C for females or ≥5 for males/other; * respond yes to "Do you feel safe in your current relationship?" from the Partner Violence Screen; * report not currently being in mental health or alcohol treatment (CP and SM) * understand English fluently, * be willing to try an online program to address risky drinking. We require cohabitating CPs and SMs with no anticipated changes in the next two months to ensure close contact and opportunity to practice new skills, and those who would feel safe participating.

Exclusion criteria

* CPs in substance use treatment or their SM was in treatment in the last three months; * does not feel safe in the current relationship; * does not understand English fluently; * has an impaired capacity (cognitive, visual, or hearing); * is not cohabitating with their SM

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Concerned Partner Drinking DaysBaseline to 6 month follow-upThe CP primary outcome is drinking defined as number of drinking days in the past month
Concerned Partner Drinks per EpisodeBaseline to 6 month follow-upThe CP primary outcome is drinking defined as number of drinks per episode in the past month
Service Member help-seekingBaseline to 6 monthCompletion of the personalized normalized feedback (PNF) component of the intervention as a signal of increase help-seeking behavior

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
mental health symptomsBaseline to 6 month follow-upAnxiety as measured by the global score on the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7)

Countries

United States

Contacts

CONTACTKat Nameth, BS
knameth@stanford.edu6505429699

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Apr 28, 2026