Drinking in Young Adult Duos (DYAD) Study

May 22, 2025 updated by: Kasey Creswell, Carnegie Mellon University

Understanding Alcohol Use in Young Adult Couples

This study examines the role of alcohol use in understanding the dynamics of romantic relationships. Couples will participate in a research session where they consume either an alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage and complete study tasks. After the session, participants will provide information about their drinking habits, alcohol- and non-alcohol-related experiences, and relationship factors through brief surveys on their smart phones and again at 6-month and 12-month follow-up sessions. The findings from this study aim to improve understanding of alcohol use in close relationships and may inform future strategies for promoting healthier relationships and behaviors.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This study investigates alcohol consumption in romantic relationships. Couples will be recruited to participate in a laboratory-based alcohol administration session, during which they will consume either a moderate dose of alcohol or a non-alcoholic beverage. Following beverage consumption, couples will complete questionnaires and tasks.

The study employs a multi-method approach to assess alcohol in couples, including self-reports and behavioral tasks, both inside and outside of the lab (e.g., using ecological momentary assessment). Additionally, participants' drinking patterns and relationship factors will be tracked over time, with follow-up assessments conducted at 6-months and 12 months post-laboratory session.

The findings from this research will provide insights into the role that alcohol consumption plays in close relationships and may inform interventions to support healthier drinking behaviors and relationship outcomes.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

504

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 Contact

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Pennsylvania
      • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 15213
        • Recruiting
        • Carnegie Mellon University
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Kasey G. Creswell, PhD
        • Contact:

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

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Both members of the couple must:

  • be between the ages of 21 and 30
  • regularly consume alcohol
  • own a smartphone

Exclusion Criteria:

Neither member of the couple:

  • has a history of adverse reaction to the amount of beverage used in the study
  • has a history of major problems related to alcohol
  • is taking medications that could adversely interact with alcohol
  • is pregnant

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: Other
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Other: Healthy couples who drink alcohol
Healthy young adult couples who regularly drink alcohol
Drug: Alcohol beverage
moderate dose of alcohol
Other: Non-alcohol beverage
No alcohol given

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Social behaviors-observational
Time Frame: During couple interactions in the lab for a total duration of 55 minutes.
Behavioral measures of social processes using validated and reliable behavioral coding schemes to code facial expressions, speech behaviors, and speech content: the Facial Action Coding System (Ekman, Friesen, & Hagar, 2002) and the Rapid Marital Interaction Coding System (Heyman, 2004). This coding uses binary (yes/no) codes for presence/absence of behaviors at each moment in time. Higher scores represent more instances of behaviors.
During couple interactions in the lab for a total duration of 55 minutes.
Emotions
Time Frame: Immediately after the couple interactions in the lab referenced above.
The 8-item Mood Measure (Fairbairn et al., 2021) will assess self-reported positive and negative emotions on scales from 0 (none) to 10 (extremely). Higher scores indicate a greater intensity of emotions.
Immediately after the couple interactions in the lab referenced above.
Social behaviors-self-report
Time Frame: Immediately after the couple interactions in the lab referenced above.
Participants will provide ratings of their own and their partners' social behaviors on ten-point Likert scales. Higher scores indicate a greater endorsement of each behavior.
Immediately after the couple interactions in the lab referenced above.
Real-world experiences
Time Frame: The EMA protocol will be completed for 14 days post-lab session.
Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) methods will be used to send a series of brief surveys to participants' smartphones to assess alcohol consumption (in standard alcoholic drinks).
The EMA protocol will be completed for 14 days post-lab session.
Longer term alcohol problems
Time Frame: Assessed longitudinally up to 12-months post-lab session.
Follow-up sessions will assess alcohol problems using DSM-5 alcohol use disorder criteria. Higher scores reflect more alcohol problems.
Assessed longitudinally up to 12-months post-lab session.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Relationship functioning
Time Frame: Assessed longitudinally up to 12-months post-lab session.
Relationship functioning will be assessed on 10 point Likert scales (Jakubiak & Feeney, 2009), with higher scores representing higher relationship functioning.
Assessed longitudinally up to 12-months post-lab session.

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Carnegie Mellon University

Collaborators

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

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)

February 1, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

September 1, 2029

Study Completion (Estimated)

September 1, 2029

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 24, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 6, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

February 12, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 28, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 22, 2025

Last Verified

May 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • AA031009
  • R01AA031009 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Data will be shared in the NIAAA Data Archive

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

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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