Alcohol Drinking, Cannabis Use, Couples
Conditions
Keywords
alcohol use, cannabis use, couples, healthy relationships, young adults
Brief summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to develop and test a brief online intervention to reduce alcohol and cannabis misuse and improve healthy relationship skills among young adult couples. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Will the intervention be feasible and acceptable to young adult couples? * Will the intervention demonstrate initial efficacy in reducing risky substance use and increasing relationship functioning? Eligible couples will complete a virtual baseline session and be randomized to intervention condition (online intervention with 3-5 weeks of self-paced modules) or control condition (no intervention). Couples will complete two follow-up surveys (post-assessment - approximately 5 weeks after baseline, 3-month). Couples in the control condition will be offered the intervention after 3-month follow-up. Researchers will compare intervention and control groups to see if there there is a difference between the groups on substance misuse and relationship functioning at post-assessment and 3-month follow-up.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALOnline, couples-based intervention
During Phase 1 of the present study, the intervention will be iteratively developed using a rigorous, user-centered design approach through integration of knowledge gained from Phase 1 dyadic analyses and qualitative interviews, and existing gold-standard treatments for substance use among couples, including Integrative Behavioral Couples Therapy (IBCT; Christensen \& Doss, 2016) and Behavioral Couples Therapy for Alcohol (ABCT; McCrady et al, 1995) and substance use brief interventions for young adults (Halladay, et al., 2019; Tanner-Smith et al., 2015).
Sponsors
University of Washington
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 29 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Both partners in the couple are 18-29 years old * In a committed romantic relationship (e.g., dating seriously, cohabiting, married) with each other for at least 3 months * Face-to-face contact their partner at least 5 days per week * Live in Washington State * Have a valid email address and access to a cell phone * Report alcohol and cannabis co-use at least three times in the past month * Willingness to: complete online surveys during the allotted time frames, receive text messages and emails from the project, complete a baseline session, and participate during the same time period as their partner
Exclusion criteria
* Couples who endorse any perpetration or receipt of severe interpersonal aggression during screening will be excluded and provided with resources
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Heavy episodic and high intensity drinking | Screening, baseline, approximately 5 weeks after baseline, 3-month followup | Alcohol use - number of days in the past month participant engaged in heavy episodic drinking (4+/5+ drinks in one occasion for women/men) and high intensity drinking (8+/10+ drinks in one occasion for women/men) |
| Daily Drinking Questionnaire (DDQ) | Screening, baseline, approximately 5 weeks after baseline, 3-month followup | Alcohol use - Average total drinks per week will be calculated as the sum of the total number of drinks reported. |
| Daily Marijuana Questionnaire (DMQ) | Screening, baseline, approximately 5 weeks after baseline, 3-month followup | Cannabis use - Average total hours high from cannabis per week will be calculated as the sum of the total hours high reported |
| Intensity of Marijuana Use | Screening, baseline, approximately 5 weeks after baseline, 3-month followup | Cannabis use intensity - Average number of times used cannabis per day will be calculated as the mean number of times participant reports using cannabis per each day of a typical week in the past month |
| Perceived Program Effects on Healthy Relationship Self-Efficacy items | Screening, baseline, approximately 5 weeks after baseline, 3-month followup | Healthy relationship self-efficacy - 3 items assessing perceived intervention impacts on healthy relationship self-efficacy scored 0=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree. Scores will be summed, total scores will range from 0 to 15, with higher scores indicating greater healthy relationship self-efficacy |
| Couples Satisfaction Index | Screening, baseline, approximately 5 weeks after baseline, 3-month followup | Relationship satisfaction - sum of 4 items ranges from 0 to 21, higher scores indicate greater relationship satisfaction |
Contacts
CONTACTKatherine Walukevich-Dienst, PhD
CONTACTHana Basu, BA
Outcome results
None listed