Validating an Autonomous Interactive Internet-Based Delivery of an Empirically Supported Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Comorbidity
University of Minnesota
Summary
This project is designed to determine if a computer-delivered cognitive-behavioral treatment can improve the otherwise poor alcohol use disorder treatment outcomes for individuals with a co-occurring anxiety disorder. In the past, the investigators showed that this treatment does improve outcomes for these individuals when delivered by a therapist. If the present work shows that the computer-delivered version is also effective, it would provide an inexpensive program with virtually unlimited scalability to enable access to the treatment by many more individuals than is currently the case.
Description
The broad goal of the proposed work is to conduct a randomized controlled trial of a specialized computer-delivered cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) to supplement standard alcohol use disorder (AUD) treatment in patients with a co-occurring anxiety disorder ("comorbidity"). Comorbidity is both common in AUD treatment patients (up to 50%) and confers a substantial increase in the risk of a return to drinking in the months following treatment. Because research shows that simply adding a standard psychiatric treatment does not substantially improve the AUD outcomes of comorbid individuals, the…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 18–65 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria: * current (past 30 days) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV (DSM-IV) diagnosis of panic disorder with or without agoraphobia (PD/Ag), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) or social anxiety disorder (SAD) * receiving treatment primarily for alcohol (vs. drug) dependence * ability to provide informed consent * a minimum of an eighth grade English reading level * status as a residential patient in the Lodging Plus (LP) addiction treatment program * sufficient time left in their residential LP care to complete the study protocol through the post-treatment a…
Interventions
- BehavioralNegative Emotions and Addiction Tools Program (NEAT)- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
The program provides simplified clinical, learning and neuroscience-based education about the vicious cycle in which negative affect serves to motivate drinking, which, in turn, worsens negative affect. Participants also learn how each of three skills (breathing control, cognitive restructuring, problem solving) was designed to disrupt a specific element of the vicious cycle that includes physiological, psychological and behavioral processes.
- BehavioralProgressive Muscle Relaxation Training (PMRT)
PMRT is a standard stress management coping skill that entails tensing and releasing specified muscle groups to obtain deep muscle relaxation.
Location
- Lodging Plus Program, Fairview HospitalMinneapolis, Minnesota