Increasing Effectiveness of an Alcohol Use Reduction Exercise Using Self-Talk Videos

The goal of the current study is to develop and test an innovative, low-burden method of post-intervention contact that is based on principles of motivational interviewing and the elicitation of change talk. Participants will be randomly assigned to an assessment only control group, a standard BMI group or a BMI + video group. Participants in the BMI and BMI + video groups will complete a semi-structured, motivational intervention. Following the intervention, participants in the BMI + video group will be asked to create a personalized video in which they speak to their future self and describe their reasons for wanting to reduce their alcohol use and their commitment to change. Doctoral level psychology graduate students will assist participants in idea generation and creation of the post-intervention video. Video group participants will then be sent their personalized videos 21 days after the baseline session, a time when motivation to reduce drinking often begins to wane. It is hypothesized that participants in the BMI + video group will rate the video exercise as helpful, encouraging, and easy to complete. It is further hypothesized that, over the 6-week intervention period, (1) participants in the BMI + video group will reduce their alcohol use more than those in the standard BMI and control groups and (2) participants in the standard BMI group will reduce their alcohol use more than those in the control group.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Heavy Drinking
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Motivational Interviewing; Behavioral: Motivational Interview with Self-Talk Video

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 120
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Michigan
    • Detroit, Michigan, United States, 48201
      • Wayne State University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Meets National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism criteria for heavy drinking
• 18 year or older
• Accessibility to internet and laptop with camera and microphone

Exclusion Criteria:

• Failure to meet inclusion criteria

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Assessment Only
Active Comparator: Motivational Interview Only	Behavioral: Motivational Interviewing; Participants will engage in an interview based in motivational interviewing
Experimental: Motivational Interview Plus Video	Behavioral: Motivational Interview with Self-Talk Video; Participants will engage in an interview based in motivational interviewing techniques and then record a self talk video discussing their goals and reasons for reducing their drinking.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Alcohol Consumption		6 weeks post intervention
Motivation to Change Rating Scale	This outcome measure asks: On a scale of 1 to 5, how likely are you to reduce your drinking over the next week, month, and year. In this scale 1 represents not at all likely and 5 represents extremely likely.	6 weeks post intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Rating Scales Assessing Satisfaction with the Intervention	This outcome measure asks participants to rate their experience with the intervention on a number of dimensions (e.g. empathic, personalized). Additionally, video participants are asked to rate the extent to which they experienced different emotions (e.g. anger, proudness) while watching their video recording. Responses range from not at all to extremely.	6 weeks post intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Wayne State University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 15, 2024
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 26, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): November 26, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 3, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 9, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): September 19, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 10, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 6, 2025
• Last Verified: November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Drinking Behavior; Alcohol Drinking; Health Services; Health Care Facilities Workforce and Services; Behavioral Disciplines and Activities; Directive Counseling; Counseling; Mental Health Services; Motivational Interviewing
• Other Study ID Numbers: 23-10-6241

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No