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Alcohol Use and Intimate Partner ViolenceAddictionMental healthBehavioralBehavioral

What this study is

This is a study to provide much-needed experimental data on the efficacy of a brief alcohol Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) pre-group intervention for Veterans receiving group treatment for IPV perpetration. The investigators will compare those assigned to receive this 2-session MET intervention to those receiving a 2-session Alcohol Education (AE) intervention or a 2-session standard treatment as usual (TAU) telephone monitoring intervention. The investigators will examine whether MET leads to greater reductions in alcohol use problems and IPV perpetration, and increased help-seeking behavior for alcohol use problems. Participants will be 300 Veterans drawn from the Strength at Home IPV intervention program across the entire Veterans Health Administration system.

What's being tested

  • Motivational Enhancement Therapy

    Intervention · BEHAVIORAL

    In Session 1, the therapist provides personalized feedback on a range of assessment variables, including alcohol consumption levels, negative consequences from alcohol use, and family risk of alcoholism. Sessions 2-4 are follow-through sessions in which the therapist attempts to help the Veteran participant establish or reaffirm a commitment to an action plan for addressing alcohol concerns.

  • Alcohol Education Control

    Intervention · BEHAVIORAL

    Will consist of 4 weekly individual sessions, approximately 60 minutes each. AE therapists will explain that their job is to provide the Veteran participants with information and education about the effects of alcohol, and that it is up to the Veteran participant to use this information as he sees fit. In each session, the Veteran participant will watch an educational videotape in a comfortable consulting room and will be given an opportunity to discuss the videotape with the project therapist for approximately 10 minutes. Written educational materials will supplement the information provided in the videos, and the therapist will ask several structured questions to determine whether the Veteran participant understood the material presented in the video.

  • Treatment as Usual

    Intervention · BEHAVIORAL

    Supportive telephone monitoring sessions that ensure equal spacing between assessments across conditions and equal number of therapist contacts.

  • Strength at Home

    Intervention · BEHAVIORAL

    IPV intervention which consists of 12 weekly, 2-hour cognitive-behavioral sessions offered in a closed group format and co-led by doctoral level male and female therapists. Strength at Home is based on a social information processing model of trauma and IPV and provides material covering psychoeducation regarding trauma and IPV, conflict and anger management skills, assertiveness training, and skills in stress management and communication.

Study details

Official title
Adjunctive Motivational Alcohol Intervention to Prevent Intimate Partner Violence
Sponsor
VA Office of Research and Development
Conditions
Alcohol Use and Intimate Partner Violence
Enrolling
300 people
Starts
2023-09-01
Est. completion
2028-09-30
Design
Single-blind, randomized, parallel groups
Record
View on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗