Learning to Resist the Urge: Inhibition Training in Abstinent Patients With Alcohol Use Disorders

Summary

The study aims to investigate the effects of a short computerized training as a therapeutic add-on to standard therapy in patients with alcohol-use disorder.

Conditions

• Alcohol Dependence

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Alc-IT (50/50) (morning)

This alcohol-specific inhibition-training (Alc-IT) training group will operate with a Go/NoGo ratio of 50/50 (Houben et al. 2011; 2012): This original version of the Alc-inhibition-training will include 80 alcoholic NoGo trials as well as 80 non-alcoholic Go trials. In order to arrive at the same training length while keeping the number of Alc-NoGo-pairings constant and the Go/NoGo-ratio at 50/50, it will additionally include 80 neutral Go-trials as well as 80 neutral NoGo-trials. It will thus consist of 320 trials and take about 10.5 minutes to be completed. In the morning group, this training will be administered within the first 2 hours after awakening.

BEHAVIORAL

Alc-IT (75/25) (morning)

This version of the alcohol-specific inhibition-training (Alc-IT) will operate with a Go/NoGo-ratio of 75/25. It will equally include 80 Alcoholic NoGo-trials and 80 non-alcoholic Go-trials, but now 160 neutral Go-trials will complete the set. This training will also consist of 320 trials and take about 10.5 minutes. In the morning group, this training will be administered within the first 2 hours after awakening.

BEHAVIORAL

Control-training (morning)

This group will receive an unspecific inhibition training. this training is of the same length and difficulty as the two Alc-inhibition-trainings. In the morning group, this training will be administered within the first 2 hours after awakening.

BEHAVIORAL

Alc-IT (50/50) (afternoon)

As in the arm "Alc-IT (50/50) (morning)", this alcohol-specific inhibition-training (Alc-IT) group will operate with a Go/NoGo ratio of 50/50 (Houben et al. 2011; 2012): This original version of the Alc-inhibition-training will include 80 alcoholic NoGo trials as well as 80 non-alcoholic Go trials. In order to arrive at the same training length while keeping the number of Alc-NoGo-pairings constant and the Go/NoGo-ratio at 50/50, it will additionally include 80 neutral Go-trials as well as 80 neutral NoGo-trials. It will thus consist of 320 trials and take about 10.5 minutes to be completed. In contrast to the In the morning group, this afternoon group will receive the training in the afternoon.

BEHAVIORAL

Alc-IT (75/25) (afternoon)

As in the arm "Alc-IT (75/25) (morning)", this version of the alcohol-specific inhibition-training (Alc-IT) will operate with a Go/NoGo-ratio of 75/25. It will equally include 80 Alcoholic NoGo-trials and 80 non-alcoholic Go-trials, but now 160 neutral Go-trials will complete the set. This training will also consist of 320 trials and take about 10.5 minutes. In contrast to the In the morning group, this afternoon group will receive the training in the afternoon.

BEHAVIORAL

Control-training (afternoon)

As in the arm "Control-training (morning), this group will receive an unspecific inhibition training. This training is of the same length and difficulty as the two Alc-inhibition-trainings. In contrast to the In the morning group, this afternoon group will receive the training in the afternoon.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Clinic Südhang

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Forel Clinic

  collaborator OTHER

• Psychiatric Center Muensingen

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• University of Bern

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Maria Stein, PhD · University of Bern, University Hospital for Psychiatry

• Leila Soravia, PhD · University of Bern, University Hospital for Psychiatry

• Franz Moggi, PD · University of Bern, University Hospital for Psychiatry

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

QUADRUPLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2016-12-31

Primary Completion

2019-09-30

Completion

2020-07-31

Countries

• Switzerland

Study Locations