An interventional study of ABCT_Military in Alcohol Abuse, sponsored by University of Massachusetts, Worcester. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2019-05-23.
Sponsored by University of Massachusetts, Worcester · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
The specific aims of the ABCT_Military project are as follows: 1) To modify the existing, Alcohol Behavioral Couple Therapy (ABCT) model to treat service members in the reconstitution (post deployment, reintegration, or separation) stage of service, and develop optional psychoeducation modules to address relevant co-morbid problems and challenges in this population in a weekly, 15 session, stand-alone outpatient format. 2) To test feasibility and preliminary efficacy of the study intervention protocol in a successive cohort design for one cohort of 8 couples and one cohort of 22 couples, with iterative manual revision.
The study staff will screen potential participants over the phone, and arrange Baseline (BL) research interviews for appropriate couples. The couple will meet with the program interviewer for approximately 2 hours. After the BL interview, couples will be scheduled to attend therapy sessions. Couples will complete brief within treatment self-report assessments. Couples will complete a post treatment follow up interview four months after session 1.
1,606 studies on the registry are indexed under Alcoholism; 329 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 60 is below the median of 87 across 1,371 interventional studies indexed under Alcoholism.
Browse Alcoholism studies →University of Massachusetts, Worcester is the lead sponsor of 288 studies on the registry; 54 are open to participants now.
Of its 25 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 18 (72%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria:
Exclusion criteria for the service member only:
Exclusion criteria for both members of the couple if SO is spouse/romantic partner:
ABCT_Military manual will address alcohol use, couple issues and military specific issues. Required interventions include: routine interventions, overview of treatment, reintegration issues, motivational techniques, patient-focused interventions for abstinence, partner-related interventions for abstinence, couple interventions, general coping skills, social skills and relapse prevention. In addition, to personalize each treatment plan, interventions from optional modules (e.g., intimate partner violence (IPV), depression, trauma, and traumatic brain injury (TBI)) will be integrated into each couple's treatment plan depending on clinical presentation.
Behavioral: ABCT_Military
15 Weekly Couple Therapy Sessions
Percent Drinking Days (PDD)
Derived from Timeline Followback (TLFB)
Time frame: Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1
Percent Heavy Drinking Days
Derived from Timeline Followback (TLFB)
Time frame: Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1
Mean Drinks Per Drinking Day
Derived from Timeline Followback (TLFB)
Time frame: Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1
Couple Satisfaction Inventory 16
16 item measure assessing satisfaction in couple relationship. Scores range from 0 to 81 and higher scores indicate higher levels of relationship satisfaction. Total score is calculated by summing all values.
Time frame: Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1
Coping Strategies Scale
25-item brief measure assessing coping in alcohol-specific and non-alcohol situations. Scores range from 1-4 and higher scores indicate greater use of coping skills. Total score is calculated by averaging all values.
Time frame: Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1
World Health Quality of Life Questionnaire - Bref
26-item self report assessing quality of life across 4 domains/subscales: Physical health, Psychological, Social relationships, Environment. The first two items measure quality of life and overall health and are examined separately, with scores ranging from 1-5. The four domain scores are calculated by averaging values and scores range from 1-5. Higher scores indicate higher quality of life within each domain. Mean scores are then multiplied by 4 in order to make domain scores comparable with the scores used in the WHOQOL-100 (full scale measure).
Time frame: Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1
Treatment Services Review
Interview assessing quantity and type of services received (e.g., health, psychological) outside of study intervention. Total scores are calculated by summing the number of outside services used. Total scores have a minimum of 0 and no maximum value.
Time frame: Weekly during treatment, for up to 16 weeks
Working Alliance Inventory Short Form
12-item self-report measure of the therapeutic alliance. Total scales are calculated by summing all values. Values range from 1-7 with total scores ranging from 12 to 84). Higher scores indicate greater alliance.
Time frame: Baseline and through study completion, about 16 weeks
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Percent of sample with a PTSD diagnosis as determined by scores on the Life Events Checklist (LEC-5) and the PTSD Checklist (PCL-5).
Time frame: Baseline
PTSD Checklist (PCL-5)
20-item self-report questionnaires assessing current symptoms of PTSD, used to assess current (past 30 days) PTSD severity. Total scores are calculated by summing all values. Scores on the PCL-5 range from 0-80 and reflect a global PTSD severity score, with higher scores indicating greater severity.
Time frame: Baseline and through study completion, about 16 weeks
Use of Treatment Skills
Self-report questionnaire assessing use of skills learned during treatment. Item scores range from 1-5 and a total score is calculated by summing all values. Higher scores indicate greater use of skills.
Time frame: Baseline and through study completion, about 16 weeks
Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II)
self-report questionnaire assessing depression symptoms over the prior two weeks (scores range 0-63) and higher scores indicate greater depression symptomatology. All item scores are summed to attain a total score.
Time frame: Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1
Copello Coping Questionnaire
30 item self-report assessing partner alcohol-related coping skill use. Total score is calculated by summing the values from each item and scores range from 0-90 with higher scored indicating greater use of coping strategies.
Time frame: Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)
Percent of sample with IPV as determined by scores on the Conflict Screener Form H.
Time frame: Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1
Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale (SOCRATES) Short Form
19 item self-report questionnaire assessing client readiness for change. An additional item assesses the client's motivation for coming to therapy. There are three sub scales (Recognition, Ambivalence, and Taking Steps) which are derived from individual items. Higher scores indicate greater recognition, ambivalence and taking steps and scores range from 7 to 35, 4 to 20, and 8-40, respectively.
Time frame: Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Percent of sample with a TBI as determined by scores on the TBI Checklist.
Time frame: Baseline
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Checklist
Severity of TBI as determined by total scores on the TBI Checklist. Scores are calculated by summing individual item scores with possible scores ranging from 8 to 88.
Time frame: Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1
Partner Quantity Frequency Questionnaire
Self-report questionnaire assessing frequency and quantity of current and lifetime substance use. Measure is used to provide descriptive data about partner substance use. Total scores are not used.
Time frame: Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1
Medical History Questionnaire
40 item self-report assessing presence of medical conditions currently and in the past. Scores are calculated by summing individual item scores with possible scores ranging from 0 to 40. Higher scores indicate greater number of medical problems.
Time frame: Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1
End of Treatment Questionnaire
Self-report questionnaire of helpfulness of therapy elements on a 7 point scale of -3 (greatly harmful), -2, -1, 0 (neutral), +1, +2, +3 (greatly helpful). Total scores are calculated by averaging scores across individual items.
Time frame: 4 months post session 1
Brief COPE
28 item self-report assessing general coping skill use. Sub scale scores are calculated by summing individual items (2 items per sub scale) with possible scores of 2 to 8. The sub scales are: Self-distraction, Active coping, Denial, Substance use, Use of emotional support, Use of instrumental support, Behavioral disengagement, Venting, Positive reframing, Planning, Humor, Acceptance, Religion, and Self-blame. Higher scores reflect greater use of each category of coping skills.
Time frame: Change from baseline at 4 months post Session 1
Client Satisfaction Questionnaire
8 item self-report assessing satisfaction with treatment. Individual item scores are averaged to calculate a total score with possible scores ranging from 0 to 4. Two additional items assessed the client's ideal number of sessions and length of treatment, with scores ranging from 1 to 24 sessions and 1-12 months.
Time frame: 4 months post session 1
Plan to share: No — Individual Participant Data will not be shared with investigators outside of the core study team.
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
This study is completed, as verified in May 2019. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.
University of Massachusetts, Worcester