Behavioral Activation for Alcohol Use Disorder
Recruiting in Palo Alto (17 mi)
Age: Any Age
Sex: Any
Travel: May Be Covered
Time Reimbursement: Varies
Trial Phase: Phase 2
Recruiting
Sponsor: University of Kansas
No Placebo Group
Prior Safety Data
Trial Summary
What is the purpose of this trial?The transition from high school to college is a developmentally sensitive period that is high risk for escalations in alcohol use. Although risky drinking is a common problem among freshmen, engagement in treatment services is very low. The proposed study will test a behavioral activation intervention that addresses factors limiting participation in standard treatment services by targeting alcohol use indirectly, by directly addressing concerns most relevant to incoming college freshmen, and by integrating an intervention into the college curriculum.
Will I have to stop taking my current medications?
The trial information does not specify whether you need to stop taking your current medications.
What data supports the effectiveness of the treatment Behavioral Activation for Alcohol Use Disorder?
Behavioral Activation (BA) is a well-supported treatment for depression and has been shown to help increase positive activities and reduce avoidance behaviors, which are common in many mental health issues. While specific data for alcohol use disorder is limited, BA's success in enhancing positive reinforcement and reducing negative mental states in other conditions suggests it could be beneficial for alcohol use disorder as well.
12345Is Behavioral Activation Therapy safe for humans?
In a study of psychosocial treatments for substance abuse, including alcohol use disorder, no serious adverse events were found to be related to the therapy itself, suggesting that these types of behavioral interventions are generally safe.
46789How is Behavioral Activation Intervention different from other treatments for Alcohol Use Disorder?
Behavioral Activation Intervention is unique because it focuses on increasing engagement in positive activities and reducing avoidance behaviors, which can help improve mood and motivation. This approach is different from other treatments that may focus more on cognitive restructuring or motivational interviewing.
145810Eligibility Criteria
This trial is for college freshmen enrolled in UNIV 101 freshman seminar courses at the University of Kansas. It's designed to help students who are transitioning from high school to college and might be facing increased stress, which can lead to risky behaviors like heavy drinking or eating disorders.Inclusion Criteria
College freshmen enrolled in UNIV 101 freshman seminar courses at the University of Kansas assigned to the study
Exclusion Criteria
Not applicable.
Participant Groups
The study is testing a behavioral activation intervention integrated into the college curriculum. This approach aims to reduce alcohol use and related issues by focusing on concerns relevant to new college students rather than directly targeting alcohol consumption itself.
2Treatment groups
Experimental Treatment
Active Control
Group I: Behavioral Activation CourseExperimental Treatment1 Intervention
Behavioral activation course condition administered in a college freshman orientation seminar
Group II: Standard Orientation CourseActive Control1 Intervention
Standard freshman orientation seminar course condition
Find a Clinic Near You
Research Locations NearbySelect from list below to view details:
University of KansasLawrence, KS
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Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?
University of KansasLead Sponsor
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)Collaborator
References
What is behavioral activation? A review of the empirical literature. [2022]Behavioral Activation (BA) for depression is an empirically supported psychotherapy with a long history dating back to the 1970s. To date there have been no systematic reviews of how BA treatment packages and their accompanying components have evolved over the years. This review sought to identify and describe the specific treatment components of BA based on the descriptions of techniques provided in empirical articles on BA and referenced treatment manuals when available. The following component techniques were identified: activity monitoring, assessment of life goals and values, activity scheduling, skills training, relaxation training, contingency management, procedures targeting verbal behavior, and procedures targeting avoidance. The implementation of these techniques is reviewed, along with their empirical support both as stand-alone components and as components of larger treatment packages. Whereas activity scheduling, relaxation, and skills training interventions have received empirical support on their own, other procedures have shown effectiveness as parts of larger treatment packages. Although BA interventions differed in tools used, activity monitoring and scheduling were shown to be constant components across interventions. Possible directions for the future evolution of BA are discussed.
Behavioral activation: a strategy to enhance treatment response. [2014]Behavioral activation is an empirically validated treatment for depression pioneered in 1973 by Ferster, based on B.F. Skinner's behavioral principles. After publication of Beck's work on cognitive therapy, the boundaries of behavioral and cognitive therapies were blurred and the two now overlap substantially. Behavioral activation is also used as a stand-alone treatment and can also be effective in conjunction with antidepressant medication. Case conceptualization in behavioral activation entails an assessment of the behaviors that the patient has stopped that produce pleasure or are of importance, as well as behaviors essential to self-care. Activity monitoring, which provides treatment targets and leads to the case conceptualization in behavioral activation, consists of using charts, forms, or other prompts to track the relationship between activities and other variables (e.g., mood, enjoyment). That technique is also used to target rumination, procrastination, and avoidance and may also be helpful for patients with psychosis.
Behavioral activation as a common mechanism of change across different orientations and disorders. [2018]Behavioral activation is an effective treatment for depression, based on targeting deprivation of positive rewards. It becomes more and more evident that many forms of mental disorders and psychological suffering involve reduction of goal-driven and pleasant activities. This reduction leaves negative mental states free to take the center of consciousness, without being counterbalanced by positive feelings, memories, and experiences of agency, self-efficacy, competence, relaxation, energy, and satisfaction. Reduced activity can be found in disorders ranging from chronic pain to personality disorders and schizophrenia. We believed that the time was ripe to reason that behavioral activation, more than a treatment in itself, can be considered a fundamental mechanism of change in the psychotherapy for a wide range of dysfunctions, irrespective of the clinician's preferred orientation. In this special section, authors from diverse orientations describe how they integrate behavioral activation in their clinical practice, while providing rich and detailed clinical illustrations. We reflect that behavioral activation needs to be implemented in many forms of psychotherapy and for a wide range of disorders. Moreover, it has the potential to make treatment faster and maximize outcomes, as long as it is delivered under careful consideration of the therapy relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record
Therapist and client discussions of drinking and coping: a sequential analysis of therapy dialogues in three evidence-based alcohol use disorder treatments. [2019]Research into the active ingredients of behavioral interventions for alcohol use disorders (AUD) has focused upon treatment-specific factors, often yielding disappointing results. The present study examines common factors of change in motivational enhancement therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy and 12-Step facilitation therapy by (1) estimating transitional probabilities between therapist behaviors and subsequent client Change (CT) and Sustain (ST) Talk and (2) examining therapist skillfulness as a potential predictor of transition probability magnitude.
Behavioral activation strategies for major depression in transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioral therapy: An evidence-based case study. [2019]Behavioral activation (BA) is a treatment approach that uses functional analysis and context-dependent strategies to enhance environmental positive reinforcement for adaptive, healthy behavior, and decrease behavioral avoidance. BA has gained considerable support for the treatment of depression and can be broadly applied across a wide range of settings and clinical populations. In this article, we provide a brief description of BA as a therapeutic behavioral strategy for depression and present a clinical case example illustrating the integration of BA with other components of a transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioral treatment for emotional disorders. Implications for clinical practice and avenues for future research will be discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record
Serious adverse events in randomized psychosocial treatment studies: safety or arbitrary edicts? [2021]Human subjects protection policies developed for pharmaceutical trials are now being widely applied to psychosocial intervention studies. This study examined occurrences of serious adverse events (SAEs) reported in multicenter psychosocial trials of the National Institute on Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network. Substance-abusing participants (N = 1,687) were randomized to standard care or standard care plus either contingency management or motivational enhancement. Twelve percent of participants experienced 1 or more SAEs during the 27,198 person-weeks of follow-up. Of the 260 SAEs recorded, none were judged by the data safety monitoring board to be study related, and there were no significant differences between experimental and control conditions in SAE incidence rates. These data underscore the need to reconsider the rationale behind, and appropriate methods for, monitoring safety during psychosocial therapy trials.
Training, supervision and quality monitoring of the COMBINE Study behavioral interventions. [2019]Current standards for clinical trials require that behavioral interventions be thoroughly specified, that clinicians be well trained and closely supervised and that performance be carefully monitored to ensure and document treatment fidelity. This article describes procedures developed and implemented for this purpose in the COMBINE Study, a multisite trial combining medications and behavioral interventions for alcohol dependence.
Behavioral therapy across the spectrum. [2021]Numerous effective behavioral therapies have been developed that can bring the treatment to the patient rather than bringing the patient to treatment. These behavioral therapy techniques, which can provide effective treatment across the spectrum of severity of alcohol abuse disorders, include facilitated self-change, individual therapies, couples and family approaches, and contingency management. New methods of delivery and successful adjuncts to existing behavioral treatments also have been introduced, including computerized cognitive-behavioral treatments, Web-based guided self-change, and mindfulness-based approaches. Although a wide variety of behavioral approaches have been shown to have good efficacy, choosing the treatment most appropriate for a given patient remains a challenge.
Evaluation of Drinking Risk Levels as Outcomes in Alcohol Pharmacotherapy Trials: A Secondary Analysis of 3 Randomized Clinical Trials. [2022]The US Food and Drug Administration recognizes total abstinence and no heavy drinking days as outcomes for pivotal pharmacotherapy trials for alcohol use disorder (AUD). Many patients have difficulty achieving these outcomes, which can discourage seeking treatment and has slowed the development of medications that affect alcohol use.
Cognitive-behavioral treatment with behavioral activation for smoking cessation: Randomized controlled trial. [2020]Behavioral Activation is a behavioral-based treatment that has been proposed as suitable for smoking cessation, as it simultaneously addresses reinforcement-related variables and also mood management. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of a cognitive-behavioral smoking cessation treatment with components of behavioral activation (SCBSCT-BA) with a standard cognitive-behavioral treatment (SCBSCT), and a wait-list control group (WL).