Alcohol Drinking Clinical Trials

In this study, the investigators aim to capture inter- and intra-brain mechanisms underlying alcohol reward in novel social context. Read Less

The study will employ a combined laboratory-ambulatory design. Participants will engage in ambulatory assessment over the course of 14 days, wearing biosensors assessing transdermal alcohol concentration (TAC) and providing breathalyzer readings in real-world contexts. Also during this period, participants will attend three laboratory alcohol-administration sessions scheduled at one-week intervals, with alcohol dose and rate of consumption manipulated within and between participants, respectively. Laboratory visits will also double as ambulatory orientation, check-in, and close-out sessions. Read Less

The purpose of this research is to study how a nutritional ketone ester may effect brain function and alcohol consumption in regular alcohol users. The study will see how the brain responds, once after drinking the ketone ester and once after drinking a "placebo", which will look and taste the same as the ketone ester drink. Metabolic ketosis induced by a ketogenic diet has been previously shown to elevate brain ketone bodies and reduce alcohol withdrawal symptoms in humans with AUD, and reduce alcohol consumption in alcohol-dependent rats. The study investigates whether metabolic ketosis induced by a one-dose nutritional ketone ester (KE) reduces brain reactivity to alcohol cues (fMRI), alcohol craving and alcohol consumption in humans with AUD, and if KE elevates ketone bodies using proton spectroscopy. This study uses a double blind, random ordered, 2-way crossover design in n=20 non-treatment seeking AUD who come in on two separate testing days: on one testing day the participants consume KE ((R)-3-hydroxybutyl (R)-3-hydroxybutyrate), and on another testing day a drink with isocaloric dextrose (DEXT), after which participants are scanned for 1H-MRS and fMRI and complete an alcohol consumption paradigm each day after scanning. Read Less

As most adolescents visit a healthcare provider once a year, health behavior change interventions linked to clinic-based health information technologies hold significant promise for improving healthcare quality and subsequent behavioral health outcomes for adolescents (Baird, 2014, Harris, 2017). Recognizing the potential to leverage recent advances in machine learning and interactive narrative environments, the investigators are now well positioned to design health behavior change systems that extend the reach of clinicians to realize significant impacts on behavior change for adolescent preventive health. The proposed project centers on the design, development, and evaluation of a clinically-integrated health behavior change system for adolescents. CHANGEGRADIENTS will introduce an innovative reinforcement learning-based feedback loop in which adolescent patients interact with personalized behavior change interactive narratives that are dynamically personalized and realized in a rich narrative-centered virtual environment. CHANGEGRADIENTS will iteratively improve its behavior change models using policy gradient methods for Reinforcement Learning (RL) designed to optimize adolescents' achieved behavior change outcomes. This in turn will enable CHANGEGRADIENTS to generate more effective behavior change narratives, which will then lead to further improved behavior change outcomes. With a focus on risky behaviors and an emphasis on alcohol use, adolescents will interact with CHANGEGRADIENTS to develop an experiential understanding of the dynamics and consequences of their alcohol use decisions. The proposed project holds significant transformative potential for (1) producing theoretical and practical advances in how to realize significant impacts on adolescent health behavior change through novel interactive narrative technologies integrated with policy-based reinforcement learning, (2) devising sample-efficient policy gradient methods for RL that produce personalized behavior change experiences by integrating theoretically based models of health behavior change with data-driven models of interactive narrative generation, and (3) promoting new models for integrating personalized health behavior change technologies into clinical care that extend the effective reach of clinicians. Read Less

The goal of this pilot study is to identify the role of satiety on responses to alcohol drinking using human subject laboratory methods. Satiety will be manipulated over two sessions using a dietary supplement (fiber+green tea) or a calorically matched placebo. Responses to an acute alcohol challenge are measured. Read Less

Binge drinking, and its health/social consequences are substantial public health concerns, with a high prevalence in young adults, especially in the US military. Alcohol consumption in the military is very high and normative, but there is zero tolerance for alcohol-related legal trouble, and Air Force Airmen who experience this (e.g., DUI, sexual assault) typically receive a disciplinary action referred to as an Alcohol Related Incident (ARI). Brief Alcohol Interventions (BAIs) for alcohol misuse are effective in young adults who report binge drinking. Many BAI studies targeted young adults who drink hazardously; these individuals are typically not interested in abstaining but may try decreasing the amount or change the manner in which they drink in order to reduce harmful consequences. The investigators previously published the results of a BAI group-based intervention that reduced ARIs in over 150,000 Airmen on average by 16%. Since 2010, the BAI has been disseminated to most USAF Airmen in Technical Training. However, it is clear additional research is needed to enhance the efficacy of the intervention and reduce risks associated with problem drinking. One strategy to improve health outcomes is well-timed, tailored, and automated text messages. Building on the researchers' preliminary study where text messages reduced driving after drinking as well as total drinks consumed before driving, text messaging may be highly effective when sent at the precise time that Airmen gain access to alcohol (the first time they are allowed off base), a standard time for all Technical Trainees. One challenge to conducting alcohol research in the military is the lack of privileged communication. As a result, it is difficult to obtain valid self-reports due to a tendency to deny or minimize use. The investigators recently developed and validated a method for collecting anonymous data over time. This will be the first study in the military, as well as the first large scale, adequately powered trial, where intervention effects will be tracked out to a 6-month follow-up. The study's Specific Aims are to randomize approximately 3000 Airmen to either the current BAI versus the BAI+Text messages timed to occur before, during, and after Airmen have access to alcohol; and to evaluate the efficacy of the intervention at the end of training and 6 months post-training using repeated surveys with unique identifiers allowing researchers to match surveys while maintaining anonymity. Read Less

Emerging adult risky drinkers living in disadvantaged communities often have limited access to rewarding activities and adult roles that offer alternatives to heavy drinking. Guided by behavioral economics, this cluster randomized controlled trial will evaluate a brief behavioral intervention aimed at increasing future orientation and engaging pro-social alternatives to drinking delivered using a peer-driven sampling method and digital platform well suited for accessing their social networks. Read Less

Chronic pain and heavy drinking are common co-occurring conditions among patients presenting to primary care settings. Given their impact on functioning and medical outcomes, there would be considerable benefit to developing an accessible, easily utilized, integrative approach to reduce alcohol use and pain that can be readily incorporated into the health care settings. The objective of this study is to test a modified version of a smartphone-based intervention for reducing pain and alcohol use among individuals experiencing chronic pain who engage in heavy drinking. The primary goal is to test the feasibility and acceptability of implementing this intervention in a sample that includes participants from rural areas and providing initial data on the utility of the intervention. Read Less

This study employs a repeated measures experimental design to examine the effect of THC-dominant dose of cannabis and CBD-dominant dose of cannabis, relative to placebo, on subsequent drinking in an alcohol choice task in which participants choose either to drink or receive monetary reinforcement for drinks not consumed. Cannabis will be administered simultaneously with an alcohol-priming dose or alcohol placebo. The study will enroll up to 350 nontreatment-seeking heavy episodic alcohol drinkers who use cannabis weekly. Read Less

Mobile health (mHealth) will be used for early detection of oral cancer and pre-cancer lesions, and to improve awareness of oral cancer among the population and knowledge of oral cancer diagnosis among frontline health providers. This program is inclusive of long term surveillance to downstage oral cancer in India Read Less

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of an adaptive web intervention (Partners Connect) on military spouse drinking behaviors (CPs) and service member help-seeking (SMs). The investigators want to identify for whom this intervention is most efficacious and on what drinking behaviors and mechanisms. The investigators hypothesize that the intervention will reduce concerned partner drinking and increase service member help-seeking, compared to website resources, and that phone-based CRAFT will increase help-seeking behaviors, compared to those who are guided via a CRAFT workbook. Read Less

Among people living with HIV, heavy drinking increases the risk of heart disease and death. Studies suggest that alcohol changes the number and kind of bacteria in your gut and these changes increase the risk of heart disease and death. This randomized controlled trial will determine whether a pill containing healthy gut bacteria can increase the number good bacteria in the gut, lower levels of inflammation, and lower the risk of heart disease and death. Read Less