AAT-App Outpatient Trial

Summary

Cognitive biases contribute to the difficulty experienced by heavy drinkers wishing to reduce their alcohol use. Recent interventions designed to reduce cognitive biases demonstrate efficacy for Approach Bias Modification (ApBM). Reductions in the likelihood of relapse have been found after ApBM in Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) patients during residential treatment. Current methods of ApBM are usually delivered by computer and joystick and come with several limitations, including accessibility. If ApBM could be shown to be feasible in other settings, such as outpatient treatment, it could benefit a much larger population with AUD.

This randomised controlled trial will test the efficacy of a recently-developed ApBM smartphone app called "AAT-App" ("Alcohol Avoidance Training App"). We aim to test whether AAT-App, relative to a minimal version of the app which excludes ApBM training, is effective at reducing alcohol use, cravings, severity of dependence, and approach bias (a measure of a person's automatic tendency to automatically approach alcohol-related stimuli), and to explore user experiences of AAT-App to guide future improvements to the app and its implementation.

Conditions

• Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD)

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

AAT-App

Participants will receive the active AAT-App on their smartphone, which includes ApBM training, and prompted to engage with the app during the 28-day intervention period.

BEHAVIORAL

Minimal AAT-App

Participants will receive the minimal version of AAT-App, which does not include ApBM training, on their smartphone and prompted to engage with the app during the 28-day intervention period.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Monash Health

  collaborator OTHER

• St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne

  collaborator OTHER

• Uniting Vic Tas

  collaborator OTHER

• Star Health

  collaborator OTHER

• Odyssey House

  collaborator OTHER

• Turning Point

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Victoria Manning · Turning Point

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

TRIPLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-05-25

Primary Completion

2024-02-21

Completion

2024-05-15

Countries

• Australia

Study Locations