Alcohol Problem, Alcohol-Related Harm, Harm Reduction
Conditions
Brief summary
This is a randomized controlled trial to examine the efficacy of a game-based intervention to reduce alcohol-related harms among sexual and gender minority youth.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALSingularities Game
Singularities is a theory-based, community-informed, web-accessible, roleplaying game-based intervention incorporating 4 primary components: fostering healthy identity development in a safe environment; encouraging help-seeking behaviors; encouraging use of productive coping; alcohol-harm reduction; and encouraging healthy internet and social media use.
BEHAVIORALFood4Thought
Food4Thought is an attention control condition in which we provide participants with similar amounts of research team contact and program contact as the intervention. Participants will play the game Pick Your Plate! A Global Guide to Nutrition, developed by the Smithsonian Science Education Center. Participants are instructed to build healthy meals using cuisine from around the world while ensuring they stick to a budget and meet all their nutritional needs. Food4Thought will be delivered via Qualtrics.
Sponsors
University of Pittsburgh
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Intervention model description
Two-armed parallel randomized controlled trial
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
14 Years to 18 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Able to participate in English * Live in the U.S., * 14-18 years old * Have a sexual minority identity (i.e., gay, lesbian, bisexual, or queer) or a gender minority identity (i.e., consider themselves to be transgender or nonbinary), * Have an internet-accessible computer, smart phone, or tablet, * Provide an email address. * Have drank alcohol in their lifetime or intend to in the next year.
Exclusion criteria
* Cisgender heterosexuals.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Alcohol-related Harms | 3 months | Primary outcome is alcohol-related harms defined as the frequency of 19 total harms (e.g., Hangover after drinking, Unable to remember what happened after drinking, Had sex that you later regretted, Trouble with parent(s) because of drinking Physical fight because you were affected by alcohol, Drove in a vehicle after drinking) as measured in the School Health and Alcohol Harm Reduction Project (SHAHRP) |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Drinking Quantity | 3 months | Number of drinks consumed on a typical day of drinking in the past three months via Quantity-Frequency items |
| Drinking Frequency | 3 months | Number of days on which one or more drinks were consumed in past month via Quantity-Frequency items. |
| Binge Drinking | 3 months | Number of times where 4 or 5+ drinks (asking both, regardless of assigned/biological sex at birth to be inclusive of gender minorities) were consumed in a 2-hour period over the past 3 months, via NIAAA items |
| Alcohol Use Initiation | 3 months | Survey item from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey assessing lifetime alcohol use. |
| Alcohol Harm Reduction Skills | 3 months | Which behaviors are engaged in while drinking or partying, measured with the Protective Behavioral Strategies Scale (PBSS). Scores range from 20 to 120, with higher scores indicating more skills used |
| Bystander Alcohol Harm Reduction Skills | 3 months | Total # of times a specific strategy was used to help others before, during, or after drinking, using the Strategies subscale of the Bystanders to Alcohol Risk Scale (BARS). Scores range from 0 to 27, with higher scores indicating more skills used |
| Emotional Distress Tolerance Skills | 3 months | Beliefs about feeling distressed or upset, measured with the Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS). Scores range from 15 to 75, with higher scores indicating a poorer outcome |
| Emotion Regulation and Decentering Practices | 3 months | How often mindfulness practices are used, measured with the Applied Mindfulness Process Scale (AMPS). Scores range from 0 to 60, with higher scores indicating a better outcome |
| Healthy Social Media Use | 3 months | Endorsement of beliefs and thoughts about social media, using MetroWest Adolescent Health Survey items |
Countries
United States
Contacts
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORRobert WS Coulter, PhD
University of Pittsburgh
Participant flow
Pre-assignment details
Trial was terminated before all enrolled participants were randomized.
Baseline characteristics
| Characteristic | — |
|---|---|
| Age, Categorical <=18 years | 23 Participants |
| Age, Categorical >=65 years | 0 Participants |
| Age, Categorical Between 18 and 65 years | 0 Participants |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Hispanic or Latino | 2 Participants |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Not Hispanic or Latino | 9 Participants |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Unknown or Not Reported | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) American Indian or Alaska Native | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Asian | 2 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Black or African American | 1 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) More than one race | 2 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Unknown or Not Reported | 2 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) White | 15 Participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Female | 10 Participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Male | 2 Participants |
Adverse events
| Event type | EG000 affected / at risk | EG001 affected / at risk |
|---|---|---|
| deaths Total, all-cause mortality | 0 / 13 | 0 / 10 |
| other Total, other adverse events | 0 / 13 | 0 / 10 |
| serious Total, serious adverse events | 0 / 13 | 0 / 10 |
Outcome results
None listed