Brief Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for HIV-infected At-risk Drinkers

Summary

Alcohol consumption at hazardous levels is associated with negative consequences on nearly every step of the HIV care continuum. It is a critical factor in HIV treatment that, if unaddressed, significantly contributes to onward transmission and poor treatment outcomes. Alcohol interventions for people living with HIV (PLWH) in the United States (US) have shown mixed results, and no alcohol intervention for PLHW has shown long-term reductions in heavy drinking or a significant impact on HIV-related outcomes. One hypothesized reason for this limited success is the failure of these interventions to address the multiple overlapping problems (e.g., comorbid mental health conditions, behavioral health needs) of PLWH who are hazardous drinkers. Innovative alcohol intervention strategies that can have an impact on these multiple behavioral health needs, in a format that can be feasibly delivered in the context of HIV care, are needed. Brief Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a promising intervention for HIV-infected hazardous drinkers. ACT is a transdiagnostic treatment that uses mindfulness skills and values-guided behavioral action plans to impact a broad array of psychological symptoms. ACT has shown efficacy for treatment of anxiety, depression, chronic pain, and substance use, making it a promising approach for hazardous drinkers. The overall objective of this application is to adapt an existing brief ACT intervention developed for smoking cessation, and pilot test its feasibility and acceptability for PLWH who are hazardous drinkers. We hypothesize that the resulting intervention will be preliminarily associated with decreased alcohol use, improved ART adherence, decreased symptoms of depression, anxiety, and drug use, and increased acceptance-a known mechanism of change in ACT.

Conditions

• Treatment

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Brief Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy utilizes mindfulness skills and values-guided behavioral action plans to decrease experiential avoidance and impact a broad array of psychological symptoms.

BEHAVIORAL

Brief Alcohol Intervention

The Brief Alcohol Intervention is a standard intervention that will be adapted for men and women living with HIV. The intervention will be matched in frequency and length to the brief ACT intervention.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

  collaborator NIH

• Syracuse University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Sarah E Woolf-King, PhD · Syracuse University

• Stephen A Maisto, PhD · Syracuse University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2019-11-01

Primary Completion

2022-11-10

Completion

2022-11-10

Countries

• United States

Study Locations