Pilot Study on Training Emerging Adults Skills in Navigating College

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Cognitive Deficit in Attention; Alcohol Abuse
• Interventions: Behavioral: Navigating College (NC) Training; Behavioral: Koru Mindfulness (KM) Training

• Registration Number: NCT05560425
• Lead Sponsor: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Brief Summary

Lifetime risk for developing an alcohol use disorder increases with earlier onset of alcohol consumption. This risk may reflect a tendency for escalated alcohol intake among youth due to immature executive control, leading to more frequent binge drinking, which is associated with more alcohol-related problems. Binge drinking is associated with deficits in behavioral flexibility, which may suggest impaired control networks that contribute to automatic behavior. Individuals with an alcohol or substance use disorder (A/SUD) exhibit attentional bias toward drug- or alcohol-related stimuli that have attained salience through consistent use. Reward history increases attention towards non-drug stimuli, even among individuals with no lifetime A/SUD. Preliminary data (from Dr. Boettiger's lab) from a nationally representative US adult sample using data collected via Prolific found that a questionnaire measure of mindfulness moderates the relationship between alcohol misuse and attention to reward. Given evidence that heavy alcohol drinking impairs behavioral flexibility, which in turn promotes escalating intake, insight into the relationship between mindfulness and behavioral flexibility could inspire new strategies to prevent alcohol and substance use disorders in people at elevated risk.

Detailed Description

This is a feasibility pilot study of training freshman college students, with a history of alcohol binge drinking, mindfulness and meditation skills in 4 virtual visits. Before and after the virtual intervention, behavioral flexibility will be measured using a reward-driven attentional bias (Reward-AB) computerized task, and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels will be collected.

Upon arrival for the first visit, participants will be screened for any current alcohol intoxication or recent substance use, followed by a mental health assessment with the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). The participant will then have blood collected by finger prick, complete a Reward-AB task, and fill out some paper surveys. During visits 2 through 5, participants will complete virtual training on either mindfulness and meditation skills, or navigating college skills. Each visit will last approximately 90 minutes, starting with the completion of a few online surveys. Visit 6 is similar to visit 1, without the health interview. Participants will be contacted one month following the date of the 6th study visit to complete online surveys.

Visit 1:

* Written consent, MINI interview, urine drug screen and breathalyzer alcohol test, CRP assay, Reward-AB task.

* Randomization to either the Koru Mindfulness (KM) intervention or the Navigating College (NC) control group.

Visits 2-5:

* Surveys completed online through REDCap.

* 75 minutes of instructor-led discussion

* Breakout sessions for participants to share thoughts and experiences in response to instructor's prompt.

Visit 6:

Similar to visit 1, without repeating the MINI interview.

Follow-up:

One month after the conclusion of visit 6, participants will be contacted via email with a link to REDCap to complete several surveys.

Reward-Attentional Bias (Reward-AB) Task:

This computerized task will be used to measure attentional bias pre- and post-intervention. The task includes a training and testing portion, each of which are adapted from tasks that measure the influence of reward on visual attention.

Navigating College (NC) Control Group Training:

Topics discussed during each training visit include: habits, roommate issues, homesickness, the internet (week 1); strategies when sinking, study skills, getting involved, habit formation (week 2); Hungry, Angry, Lonely, and Tired (HALT), gateway habit (week 3); and academic success tips, taking notes, and procrastination (week 4).

Koru Mindfulness (KM) Intervention Training:

Topics discussed during each training visit include: belly breathing, dynamic breathing, body scan (week 1); walking meditation, gatha (week 2); guided imagery, labeling thoughts (week 3); eating meditation, and labeling feelings (week 4).

Daily Logging of Skills:

Participants in the NC intervention will be asked to journal by hand or via Qualtrics every day for \>10 minutes, on anything related to the topics learned during that week's training visit. Participants in the KM intervention will be asked to practice every day for \>10 minutes any mindfulness or meditation skill previously learned during training visits, in addition to logging practice of skills and reflection on the experience using the Koru application.

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2022-09-26
• Study First Submitted QC: 2022-09-26
• Study First Posted: 2022-09-29
• Study Start: 2023-09-11
• Primary Completion: 2023-12-20
• Study Completion: 2023-12-20
• Status Verified: 2024-04
• Results First Submitted: 2024-09-09
• Results First Submitted QC: 2024-11-18
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-11-18
• Results First Posted: 2024-11-26
• Last Update Posted: 2024-11-26

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 16

Inclusion Criteria

• High school educated; college enrolled first-year student
• Medically healthy
• Ages 18-19
• Native-English speaker (or fluent < 7 years old)
• Self-report of >4 lifetime binge drinking episodes (>4 drinks/2hours for females, >5 drinks/2 hours for males).

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Exclusion Criteria

• Psychiatric disease (such as depression or psychosis) using the MINI [25]
• Systemic disease such as cancer, cardiovascular or inflammatory disease which could influence cognitive functioning
• Motor or visual disturbance (e.g., colorblind)
• Current use of psychoactive drugs (aside from moderate caffeine or alcohol), including prescription medications, or individuals with a known history of any substance use disorders (not including alcohol; including nicotine) or desire to seek treatment for excess substance (not including alcohol) use.

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Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Navigating College (NC) Training	Navigating College (NC) Training	Control Group
Koru Mindfulness (KM) Training	Koru Mindfulness (KM) Training	Study Group

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Participant Retention	10 weeks	Participant retention will be measured by the percentage of enrolled participants remaining in the study after 6 visits.
Compliance With Independent Training of Skills	6 weeks	To determine participant compliance with training skills learned during each of the 4 virtual visits, the average number of journal entries logged during the 4 weeks of training, for each group, is calculated as a total score (6 times/week x 4 weeks = 24). Scores range from 0 to 24, with higher scores indicating greater compliance with independent training.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Average CEQ Ratings - Credibility Subscale	1 week	The Credibility subscale of the Credibility/Expectancy Questionnaire (CEQ) measures the the credibility of an intervention in clinical studies. The word "therapy" is replaced with "intervention" and modified to reflect the intent of the intervention (i.e., to improve skills in navigating college). Three items are each scored on a range from 0-9 and averaged together for a credibility rating, with high scores indicating greater perceived credibility of the intervention.
Average CEQ Ratings - Expectancy Subscale	1 week	The Expectancy subscale of the Credibility/Expectancy Questionnaire (CEQ) measures the the expectancy of an intervention in clinical studies. The word "therapy" is replaced with "intervention" and modified to reflect the intent of the intervention (i.e., to improve skills in navigating college). Three items are each scored on a range from 0-9 and averaged together for an expectancy rating, with high scores indicating greater perceived expectancy of positive outcomes of the intervention.
Mean Change in Emotional Distress Scores	Baseline, Week 6	The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) is composed of three self-report scales that measure depression, anxiety and stress. Items are rated on a Likert-type scale (0=Did not apply to me at all, to 3=Applied to me very much, or most of the time). Scores for the three subscales are calculated by summing the scores for the relevant items. The severity rating for Depression are Normal: 0-4, Mild: 5-6, Moderate: 7-10, Severe: 11-13, and Extremely Severe: 14-21; for Stress the ratings are Normal: 0-7, Mild: 8-9, Moderate: 10-12, Severe: 13-16, and Extremely Severe 17-21; and for Anxiety the ratings are Normal: 0-3, Mild: 4-5, Moderate: 6-7, Severe: 8-9, and Extremely Severe: 10-21. The total DASS-21 score is calculated by summing all three subscales, with a range from 0-63. For all scales, higher scores indicate greater emotional distress.
Participant Satisfaction	5 weeks	Feedback will be collected the same day as each training visit, using a simple survey designed on Qualtrics.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; 🇺🇸 Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States