Web Intervention for Concerned Partners to Prevent Service Member Alcohol Abuse Abuse

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Alcohol Abuse
• Interventions: Behavioral: Web Brief Intervention (WBI)

• Registration Number: NCT02073825
• Lead Sponsor: RAND

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to adapt and pilot-test a web-based intervention intended to help concerned partners provide support to service members with alcohol misuse and to begin development of a service member module based on service member's input.

Detailed Description

U.S. military service members engaged in alcohol misuse are a vulnerable population with high unmet need. Alcohol misuse is a stage of problem drinking that occurs before abuse and dependence, placing service members' partners and families at risk for serious consequences. Unfortunately, existing military reporting policies may discourage service members from seeking help for fear of negative career consequences. Service members report encouragement from their partners as the most prevalent facilitator of seeking care and individuals who change their drinking patterns most often cite partner support as the most helpful mechanism in supporting change. Thus, targeting service members' partners using preventive interventions can be an important vehicle for preventing the progression to abuse and dependence. A 3-year study is proposed to adapt and pilot-test a web-based intervention (WBI) intended to help concerned partners (CPs) provide support to service members with alcohol misuse and to begin development of a service member module based on service member's input. First, an evidence-based intervention known as Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) intervention will be adapted to the web. The specific aims are as follows: Aim 1: Develop a 4-session web-based intervention (WBI) prototype and make iterative revisions based on feedback from 15-20 CPs. Aim 2: Conduct a randomized controlled pilot-test of the finalized WBI (n=50) compared to delayed WBI (n=50), and evaluate the impact of the WBI on CP's reports of service member help-seeking (e.g., counseling, self-help, primary care, treatment) and drinking, and CP well-being and relationship satisfaction three months after the intervention. Aim 3: Begin development of a follow-on WBI module for service members based on service member input and content evaluation. Service members will be asked their intervention preferences and feedback on a proposed WBI for them. This project is significant because it has the potential to benefit a large population of military service members who may be disproportionately affected by the current OEF/OIF/OND conflicts and whose drinking misuse would otherwise go undetected and untreated. It also develops a new prevention model that does not rely on service members or partners attending a hospital or clinical facility to access care. The proposed study is innovative because there are no CP-based preventive interventions addressing misuse. This pilot study will inform the development of an R01 trial that evaluates a larger randomized study of a WBI for CPs with a follow-on intervention for service members.

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2014-02-20
• Study First Submitted QC: 2014-02-25
• Study First Posted: 2014-02-27
• Study Start: 2014-11
• Primary Completion: 2015-10
• Study Completion: 2017-08-31
• Status Verified: 2017-09
• Last Update Submitted: 2017-09-27
• Last Update Posted: 2017-09-29

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 312

Inclusion Criteria

1. if they are currently living with their partner,
2. if they have had contact with their partner at least 40% of the time in the past 90 days (e.g., most of the evenings or most of the days in a given week),
3. if they are in a romantic relationship with the service member,
4. if they have a computer they can use in a private area,
5. if the CP and service member are at least 18 years of age,
6. if their partner is currently an active duty service member,
7. if the CP or service member has not attended couples or drug/alcohol counseling in the past 60 days,
8. if the CP does not plan to separate from their partner in the next 60 days,
9. if they feel their partner has a problem with their drinking, and
10. if they do not endorse any domestic violence in the past year. -

Exclusion Criteria

1. if the CP plans to seek counseling in the next 90 days, and/or
2. reports feeling unsafe to discuss drinking with his/her partner -

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Web Brief Intervention (WBI)	Web Brief Intervention (WBI)	4-session WBI

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Perceptions of Partner's Drinking	Three months after intervention	DNRF: "Consider a typical week during the past month (30 days). How much alcohol, on average, (measured in number of drinks), do you think your partner had on each day of a typical week?"
Concern about Partner's Drinking	Three months after intervention	Thinking about your Partner's Drinking (TPD): http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306460313002517
Relationship Quality	Three months after intervention	Quality Marriage Index (QMI): Norton, R. (1983). Measuring marital quality: A critical look at the dependent variable. Journal of Marriage and Family, 45, 141-151.
Partner's readiness to change	Three months after intervention	On a scale from 0 to 10, how ready do you feel your partner is to change his/her drinking?
Partner help-seeking	Three months after intervention	On a scale from 0 to 10, how ready do you think your partner feels about seeking help for their drinking (for example, talking with a counselor or going to AA meetings regularly).

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
CP Depression and Anxiety	Three months after intervention	PHQ-8 and BAI
Family Environment	Three months after intervention	Family Environment Scale (FES)

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

RAND; 🇺🇸 Santa Monica, California, United States