Brief ROC Training Effects on Alcohol Drinking

February 26, 2024 updated by: Yale University

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.

Study Overview

Status

Terminated

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

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.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

57

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Connecticut
      • New Haven, Connecticut, United States, 06510
        • Clinical & Affective Neuroscience Lab

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 25 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

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).

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: CRAVING REGULATION
In the CRAVING REGULATION condition, participants will first read a brief essay about the adverse consequences of drinking alcohol. Then, participants may complete a comprehension check consisting of questions to ensure that they understood and encoded the content of the essays. Participants will be trained to use the information to inform the strategy they will use in the regulation of craving training (ROC-T). A single trial in the regulation of craving training will have two possible instructions: (a) STRATEGY: implement the strategy ("bring to mind the negative facts from the essay") and (b) LOOK: to merely observe the image and allow natural responses to come. Participants will follow the instructions; followed by an alcohol-related picture, a brief delay, and will then rate their craving. Participants will then be instructed to use this strategy in daily life situations when they might drink.
Behavioral: Regulation 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.
Other Names:
  • Neurocognitive training
Placebo Comparator: CONTROL (NO REGULATION)
In the CONTROL condition, participants will first read a brief essay about a non-alcohol-related topic (e.g., color perception). Then, participants will complete a comprehension check consisting of questions to ensure that they understood and encoded the content of the essays. Participants will view images of objects that are unrelated to alcohol. Furthermore, participants in the control condition will not practice any strategy in the regulation of craving task (ROC-T). That is, in the CONTROL condition, participants would merely observe the image and allow natural responses to come (i.e., LOOK instruction) and rate how colorful is each item (this controls for task time and experiment setting).
Behavioral: Control (NO REGULATION)
In the CONTROL condition, participants would simply observe non-alcohol-related images and allow natural responses to come
Other Names:
  • Sham (No regulation)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Timeline followback (TLFB)
Time Frame: 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.
Baseline (first visit) to post-intervention (an average of one week after first visit)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Frequency of regulating drinking + craving.
Time Frame: 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.
Will be measured at post-intervention (one week after first visit)
Timeline followback (TLFB)
Time Frame: 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.
First visit, post-intervention (one week after first visit), follow-up (two weeks after first visit)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Yale University

Investigators

  • Study Director: Uri Berger, PhD, Yale University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

April 10, 2019

Primary Completion (Actual)

March 15, 2020

Study Completion (Actual)

March 15, 2020

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 11, 2019

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 24, 2019

First Posted (Actual)

April 26, 2019

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

February 28, 2024

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 26, 2024

Last Verified

February 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2000023367

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

IPD will not be shared with other researchers.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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