An interventional study of Alcohol beverage and Non-alcohol beverage in Alcohol Consumption, Alcohol Drinking and Alcohol Intoxication, sponsored by Carnegie Mellon University. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 21 Years to 30 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-05-28.
Sponsored by Carnegie Mellon University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Other
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.
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.
701 studies on the registry are indexed under Alcohol Drinking; 133 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 504 is above the median of 122 across 607 interventional studies indexed under Alcohol Drinking.
Browse Alcohol Drinking studies →Carnegie Mellon University is the lead sponsor of 46 studies on the registry; 5 are open to participants now.
Compared within Alcohol Drinking, the registry's first condition term, which may not be this study's main condition. Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily. How we classify →
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Both members of the couple must:
Exclusion Criteria:
Neither member of the couple:
Healthy young adult couples who regularly drink alcohol
Drug: Alcohol beverage · Other: Non-alcohol beverage
moderate dose of alcohol
No alcohol given
Social behaviors-observational
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.
Time frame: During couple interactions in the lab for a total duration of 55 minutes.
Emotions
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.
Time frame: Immediately after the couple interactions in the lab referenced above.
Social behaviors-self-report
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.
Time frame: Immediately after the couple interactions in the lab referenced above.
Real-world experiences
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).
Time frame: The EMA protocol will be completed for 14 days post-lab session.
Longer term alcohol problems
Follow-up sessions will assess alcohol problems using DSM-5 alcohol use disorder criteria. Higher scores reflect more alcohol problems.
Time frame: Assessed longitudinally up to 12-months post-lab session.
Relationship functioning
Relationship functioning will be assessed on 10 point Likert scales (Jakubiak \& Feeney, 2009), with higher scores representing higher relationship functioning.
Time frame: Assessed longitudinally up to 12-months post-lab session.
Plan to share: Yes — Data will be shared in the NIAAA Data Archive
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Started Feb 2025 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Sep 2029, 55 months after the start.
Of 328 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Alcohol Drinking, half reached primary completion within 24 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 11 and three quarters within 45. This study's planned 55 months is above that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 336 studies reached it within 24 months; a quarter within 10 and three quarters within 45.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
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Carnegie Mellon University