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Not yet recruitingNCT07621822Updated Aug 17, 2026

Telephone-Based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Young Adult Hazardous Drinkers

An interventional study of Telephone-Based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Waitlist control with Telephone-Based Social Support in Hazardous Drinking and Harmful Alcohol Use, sponsored by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Not yet recruiting. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 35 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-08-17.

Sponsored by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
288
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 35 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if telephone-based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) works to help young adults with hazardous or harmful alcohol use quit drinking. It will also learn about the psychological effects of ACT on participants.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

  1. Does telephone-based ACT increase the number of participants who quit drinking, as confirmed by a urine test?
  2. Does telephone-based ACT help participants reduce their alcohol consumption and improve their psychological flexibility?

Researchers will compare telephone-based ACT to a telephone-based social support programme to see if ACT works to help young adults quit drinking.

Participants will:

  1. Receive telephone-based ACT or social support once a week for 6 weeks Complete questionnaires about their alcohol use and psychological flexibility.
  2. Keep a record of their daily alcohol consumption throughout the study using a standardised diary method.
  3. Provide a urine sample at the 6-month follow-up if they report having quit drinking
02

Conditions studied

  • Hazardous Drinking
  • Harmful Alcohol Use

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Keywords

  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
  • Telephone-based intervention
  • Alcohol use
  • Psychological flexibility
  • Randomized controlled trial
03

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 35 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • (1) aged 18-35 years
  • (2) able to read Chinese and speak Cantonese
  • (3) have AUDIT scores ≥ 8

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • (1) currently receiving other behavioural therapies for drinking
  • (2) has serious mental illnesses, defined as a Kessler Psychological Distress Scale score ≥ 13
04

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Single (Participant)
Enrollment
288 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Telephone-Based ACT Intervention

    Telephone-based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for participants

    Behavioral: Telephone-Based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

  • Other
    Waitlist control with Telephone-Based Social Support

    Waitlist control with Telephone-Based Social Support

    Behavioral: Waitlist control with Telephone-Based Social Support

Interventions

  • BehavioralTelephone-Based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

    Participants in the intervention group will receive six weekly telephone sessions of ACT (45-60 min each) from interventionist.

  • BehavioralWaitlist control with Telephone-Based Social Support

    Participants in the control group will receive six weekly telephone sessions of social support (45 min each) from interventionist.

05

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Biochemically-Validated Abstinence

    Participants who self-report quitting drinking in the past 30 days are tested for ethyl glucuronide (a by-product of alcohol metabolism) via urine strips to confirm abstinence biochemically.

    Time frame: T4 (6 months after the end of the intervention)

Secondary outcomes

  1. Self-Reported 30-Day Abstinence

    Reduction in alcohol consumption and self-reported 30-day abstinence will be recorded using TLFB. Participants will be asked to report the number of drinks they have consumed within the past 30 days.

    Time frame: T0 (baseline), T1 (immediately after completion of the 6-week intervention), T2 (1 month after completing the intervention), T3 (3 months after completing the intervention), T4 (6 months after completing the intervention)

  2. Reduction in Alcohol Consumption

    Defined as 50% or more reduction in average alcohol consumption per day compared to baseline, measured using the Timeline Follow-Back (TLFB) questionnaire.

    Time frame: T1 (immediately after completion of the 6-week intervention), T2 (1 month after the intervention), T3 (3 months after the intervention), T4 (6 months after the intervention)

  3. Psychological Flexibility Index

    Personalised Psychological Flexibility Index(PPFI) will be used to measure psychological flexibility by 19 items rating on a 7-point scale. Higher scores represent greater psychological flexibility. It has been validated among Chinese college students

    Time frame: T0 (baseline), T1 (immediately after completion of the 6-week intervention), T2 (1 month after completing the intervention), T3 (3 months after completing the intervention), T4 (6 months after completing the intervention)

06

Study locations

No study locations are listed for this record.

07

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07621822
Lead sponsor
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Responsible party
Dr Katherine Lam (Assistant Professor, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Jun 2, 2026
Start date
Aug 1, 2026 (estimated)
Primary completion
Jul 31, 2029 (estimated)
Completion
Jul 31, 2029 (estimated)
Last update
Aug 17, 2026

Study contacts

Ka Wai Katherine LAM, Doctor of Philosophy
Contact
kw-katherine.lam@polyu.edu.hk
+852 27666420

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Aug 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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