An Internet-based Intervention for Problem Drinking

The main aim of this randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the efficacy of an Internet-delivered self-help intervention for problem drinkers in the general population.

Adult problem drinkers with home access to the Internet will be recruited from the CAMH Monitor. Subjects will be randomly assigned to receive a website address where they can obtain personalized feedback about their drinking, or to a no intervention control group.

Three-month and six-month follow-up surveys will be conducted by mail to assess drinking over the following three month periods. Collaterals will be requested and interviewed after the six-month follow-up. Subjects will be paid $40.00 and collaterals will be paid $20.00 for their participation. Drinking at three- and six-months will be compared between the groups. Subjects in the control group will be provided with the website address following the six-month follow-up.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Alcoholism
• Intervention / Treatment: Procedure: Internet personalized alcohol feedback (PAF)

Detailed Description

Self-change interventions have great potential to aid the many problem drinkers who do not seek formal treatment. Because self-change interventions circumvent some of the barriers associated with traditional treatment services, they may help reduce the harm associated with alcohol abuse among untreated individuals, whose number far exceeds that of the minority who ever access formal alcohol treatment programs. Self-change/self-help materials have the added advantage of being relatively inexpensive, increasing their potential for wide distribution and attendant public health impact. The Internet is one promising route for distributing such materials to a large segment of the population. Three-quarters of Canadians and Americans use the Internet, including a large number who seek health-related information on line. Drinking self-change websites abound on the Internet, but because none has been scientifically evaluated it is unknown whether such sites do more good than harm.

By being the first large scale, controlled evaluation, this project intends to advance the science of Internet-mediated intervention as well as provide valuable public health information on the effectiveness of Internet-delivered self-change materials. Specifically, the major objective of this project is to conduct a randomized controlled evaluation of the impact of an Internet-based self-help intervention for problem drinkers in the general population.

Participants will be recruited through the ongoing general population survey - the CAMH Monitor (N = 170 after attrition), and will be randomly assigned to be sent a World Wide Web page Internet address and password for the personalized alcohol feedback program or to a no intervention control group. Three and six-month drinking outcomes will be compared between experimental conditions using structural equation modeling.

The primary hypothesis is that respondents in the Internet personalized alcohol feedback condition will display significantly improved drinking outcomes at three and six-month follow-ups as compared to respondents in the no intervention control condition. Secondary hypotheses will address the mediating or moderating role of perceived drinking norms, perceived risk and the problem drinker's social reasons for drinking.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 359
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Alberta
    • Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
      • University of Alberta
  • Ontario
    • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 2S1
      • Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
• United States
  • California
    • Stanford, California, United States
      • Stanford University School of Medicine

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 18 years or older
• have home access to the Internet
• interested in receiving a computerized assessment of their drinking
• have a score of 8 or higher on the AUDIT.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
frequency of consumption
drinks per occasion
number of drinks in a typical week
frequency of 5+ consumption
highest number of drinks on one occasion.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
• Collaborators: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: John A Cunningham, PhD, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Cunningham JA, Wild TC, Cordingley J, Van Mierlo T, Humphreys K. Twelve-month follow-up results from a randomized controlled trial of a brief personalized feedback intervention for problem drinkers. Alcohol Alcohol. 2010 May-Jun;45(3):258-62. doi: 10.1093/alcalc/agq009. Epub 2010 Feb 10.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: September 1, 2006
• Study Completion: September 1, 2009

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 21, 2006
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 21, 2006
• First Posted (Estimate): August 23, 2006

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): August 16, 2010
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 13, 2010
• Last Verified: August 1, 2010

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: drinking; randomized; alcoholism; internet personalized alcohol feedback
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Chemically-Induced Disorders; Alcohol-Related Disorders; Substance-Related Disorders; Alcoholism
• Other Study ID Numbers: 053/2005