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Transdiagnostic CBT for Comorbid Alcohol Use and Anxiety Disorders

NCT03230006 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 75

Last updated 2025-04-09

Study results available
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Summary

Almost 18 million US adults have alcohol use disorders (AUD), with one third of these individuals also diagnosed with anxiety disorders (AXD). The coexistence of AUD and AXD imposes a high burden via healthcare costs and lost productivity. To date, existing treatment approaches for addressing AUD/AXD comorbidity have been only modestly effective and there is a lack of adequate research to guide treatment decisions.

The Unified Protocol (UP) is a transdiagnostic, cognitive-behavioral therapy that has shown efficacy in treating emotional disorders. The efficacy of the UP to facilitate abstinence from alcohol consumption in individuals with comorbid AUD/AXD has also been examined, with results from this study indicating a reduction from baseline in drinks consumed per day. However, further evaluation of the UP for managing AUD/AXD is warranted.

In this clinical trial, the investigators will further assess the UP's effectiveness in reducing alcohol consumption in patients with comorbid AUD/AXD. Participants will be randomized to one of two conditions: 1) treatment with the UP or 2) treatment with therapist-guided Take Control (TC; a computerized alcohol reduction program). In addition, in a subset of twenty-five participants, functional magnetic resonance scanning (fMRI) will be used to examine the effects of the UP on changes in brain activity in areas important to regulation of emotional and reward processes implicated in excessive alcohol consumption.

The researchers' primary hypotheses are that the UP group will, compared to the TC group: 1) be superior in acute symptom reduction from pre- to post-treatment, and 2) evidence greater reductions in percent days heavy drinking, percent days of drinking per week, and alcohol craving.

Conditions

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders

The UP will be conducted in a standardized fashion over 16 sessions, in a minimum of 16- and a maximum of 21-weeks, following the published therapist guide with minor refinements for application in the proposed comorbid population.

BEHAVIORAL

Take Control

TC will be conducted over 12 sessions, in a minimum of 12- and a maximum of 16-weeks. Therapists will review material from TC and offer general advice on implementation of the alcohol reduction skills in daily life.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Boston University Charles River Campus

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Todd Farchione, PhD · Boston Univeristy

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
21 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2018-03-01
Primary Completion
2023-08-31
Completion
2024-01-31

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Entities

Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT03230006 on ClinicalTrials.gov