Evaluating the Efficacy of Telehealth-Delivered Brief Family Involved Treatment (B-FIT) for Alcohol Use Disorder Among Veterans
Medical University of South Carolina
Summary
Improving alcohol use disorder (AUD) treatment among Veterans is a national public health problem. The rate of AUD among Veterans is twice that of civilians, with up to 50% of Veterans having AUD. Family-based AUD programs are rarely undertaken in busy treatment clinics, and Veterans with problem drinking behavior or AUD are commonly excluded from couple therapies. As a result, there is a need to develop effective family AUD treatments that are both brief and highly accessible to Veterans. The purpose of this study is to evaluate a new treatment add-on called Brief Family-Involved Treatment (B-FIT), which will be delivered via telehealth among Veterans engaged in alcohol-based treatment/therapy. This study is an 12-week, Stage-II, open randomized controlled trial examining B-FIT in combination with treatment as usual (TAU), (in this case B-FIT+ Cognitive Behavioral Therapy treatment) as compared to TAU alone (CBT treatment).Veterans and their treatment companion (family member, partner, friend) will complete weekly assessments during the treatment phase in addition to 3 \& 6 month follow-up assessments, all via telehealth.
Description
Improving alcohol use disorder (AUD) treatment among Veterans is a national public health priority. The prevalence of AUD among Veterans is twice that of civilians, with up to 50% of Veterans meeting diagnostic criteria for lifetime AUD. Although one in 6 Veterans has an AUD diagnosis in their medical record, substantial barriers to accessing evidence-based AUD treatment persists in this population. While adaptive family support is a critical ingredient to effective AUD treatment and drinking reductions, maladaptive family functioning interferes with AUD recovery and is a precipitant of relaps…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 21+ years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria: * Participants will be 200 Veterans and a family member, plus their treatment companion, a concerned partner or friend (total N=400; 50% women veterans) aged 21 or older. Inclusion criteria for Veterans require that they: 1. Meet diagnostic criteria for current moderate to severe alcohol use disorder (AUD) with 2 or more heavy drinking days (\>5 for men, \>4 for women) in the 60 days prior to enrollment 2. Have an adult family member/treatment companion who is willing to participate 3. Demonstrate cognitive functioning sufficient to provide informed consent and participa…
Interventions
- BehavioralBrief Family-Involved Treatment (B-FIT)
Brief Family-Involved Treatment (B-FIT) is a manualized, 3-session intervention for Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). Designed to be implemented in combination with any existing alcohol treatment program, the goals of B-FIT are to (1) increase reinforcement for AUD treatment engagement, (2) increase positive rewards from drinking reductions, and (3) decrease drinking cues by decreasing negative communication and increasing positive communication.
- BehavioralCognitive Behavioral Therapy for Alcohol Use Disorder (CBT for AUD)
Participants will receive 12 sessions of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Alcohol Use Disorder (CBT for AUD).
Location
- Medical University of South CarolinaCharleston, South Carolina