NCT02861807

Brief Summary

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) impacts millions of Americans and is associated with significant behavioral, social, economic, medical, and neurobiological dysfunction, yet current behavioral treatments for AUD are only modestly effective. The proposed research will test the efficacy of a novel behavioral intervention, which combines brain stimulation with mindfulness-based relapse prevention, and is hypothesized to improve neural dysfunction and ultimately lead to large effect size reductions in heavy drinking among individuals with AUD. Given that mindfulness and brain stimulation are already available for "home use" there is great potential for the ultimate dissemination of the intervention on a large scale, which could have a significant impact on public health.

Trial Health

87
On Track

Trial Health Score

Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach

Enrollment
84

participants targeted

Target at P50-P75 for not_applicable

Timeline
Completed

Started Nov 2016

Geographic Reach
1 country

1 active site

Status
completed

Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.

Trial Relationships

Click on a node to explore related trials.

Study Timeline

Key milestones and dates

First Submitted

Initial submission to the registry

August 3, 2016

Completed
7 days until next milestone

First Posted

Study publicly available on registry

August 10, 2016

Completed
3 months until next milestone

Study Start

First participant enrolled

November 22, 2016

Completed
1.8 years until next milestone

Primary Completion

Last participant's last visit for primary outcome

August 27, 2018

Completed
Same day until next milestone

Study Completion

Last participant's last visit for all outcomes

August 27, 2018

Completed
1.2 years until next milestone

Results Posted

Study results publicly available

November 26, 2019

Completed
Last Updated

February 5, 2020

Status Verified

November 1, 2019

Enrollment Period

1.8 years

First QC Date

August 3, 2016

Results QC Date

December 20, 2018

Last Update Submit

January 21, 2020

Conditions

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

  • Drinks Per Drinking Day

    The Form 90 will be used to derive estimates of the primary outcome: drinks (standard drink=14 grams of pure alcohol) per drinking day.

    Post-treatment and 2-month follow-up

Secondary Outcomes (1)

  • Percent Heavy Drinking Days

    Post-treatment and 2-month follow-up

Other Outcomes (3)

  • Cue Reactivity at the Post-Treatment Assessment

    Post-treatment

  • Reductions in Self-reported Craving

    2 months following treatment

  • Improvements in Inhibitory Control

    Post-treatment

Study Arms (2)

Active stimulation with mindfulness

EXPERIMENTAL

Brain stimulation with mindfulness-based relapse prevention. Treatment sessions will be 2 hours for 8 sessions, with the first 30 minutes consisting of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) with the current set to 2.0 milliamps (mA) and guided meditation practice.

Device: Brain stimulation with mindfulness-based relapse prevention

Sham brain stimulation with mindfulness

SHAM COMPARATOR

Brain stimulation with mindfulness-based relapse prevention. Treatment sessions will be 2 hours for 8 sessions, with the first 30 minutes consisting of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) with the current set to ramp up to 2.0 milliamps (mA) and then ramp down to 0.0 mA and guided meditation practice.

Device: Brain stimulation with mindfulness-based relapse prevention

Interventions

Participants will participate in weekly or twice weekly group mindfulness based relapse prevention (MBRP) + transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) intervention sessions for up to eight weeks. All participants will receive 8 two hour sessions of MBRP + tDCS, regardless of the group schedule. Subjects will receive 30 minutes of either active or sham tDCS stimulation, depending on their group assignment. After tDCS, sessions will include discussions of mindfulness as a means of coping with craving, cognitions, and emotions, role play exercises, and mindfulness practice.

Active stimulation with mindfulnessSham brain stimulation with mindfulness

Eligibility Criteria

Age18 Years+
Sexall
Healthy VolunteersNo
Age GroupsAdult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

  • interested in reducing alcohol drinking
  • right-handed

You may not qualify if:

  • lifetime diagnosis of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder or current substance use disorder other than nicotine or marijuana
  • cardiac pacemaker
  • implantable defibrillator
  • metal objects in upper body that might interfere with tDCS, or that tDCS may interfere with their function, including metal plates, screws and prosthetics in head, certain older tattoos and permanent makeup using metal containing inks, aneurysm clips, neural stimulators of any kind, ear implants, insulin pumps, drug infusion devices and dental appliances
  • for females, pregnant or attempting to get pregnant
  • history of seizures or seizure disorder
  • allergic to latex, rubber, conductive medium like saline or electrode gel
  • if assigned to active tDCS and unable to tolerate 1.5 mA of tDCS during a baseline stimulation session

Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Study Sites (1)

University of New Mexico Psychology Clinical Neuroscience Center

Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87131, United States

Location

Related Publications (3)

  • Witkiewitz K, Stein ER, Votaw VR, Wilson AD, Roos CR, Gallegos SJ, Clark VP, Claus ED. Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation to Reduce Heavy Drinking: A Double-Blind Sham-Controlled Randomized Trial. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2019 Jun;43(6):1296-1307. doi: 10.1111/acer.14053. Epub 2019 May 9.

  • Brown DR, Jackson TCJ, Claus ED, Votaw VR, Stein ER, Robinson CSH, Wilson AD, Brandt E, Fratzke V, Clark VP, Witkiewitz K. Decreases in the Late Positive Potential to Alcohol Images Among Alcohol Treatment Seekers Following Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention. Alcohol Alcohol. 2020 Feb 7;55(1):78-85. doi: 10.1093/alcalc/agz096.

  • Gibson BC, Votaw VR, Stein ER, Clark VP, Claus E, Witkiewitz K. Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Provides no Additional Benefit to Improvements in Self-Reported Craving Following Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention. Mindfulness (N Y). 2022 Jan;13(1):92-103. doi: 10.1007/s12671-021-01768-5. Epub 2021 Nov 26.

Related Links

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Alcohol DrinkingAlcoholic IntoxicationAlcoholism

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Drinking BehaviorBehaviorAlcohol-Related DisordersSubstance-Related DisordersChemically-Induced DisordersMental Disorders

Limitations and Caveats

We were unable to assess alcohol biomarkers and relied entirely on self-reported drinking, which may be prone to errors. Another potential limitation is the relatively higher age and wide age range of this sample (52.3 years, SD 13.00, range 19-77).

Results Point of Contact

Title
Katie Witkiewitz
Organization
University of New Mexico

Publication Agreements

PI is Sponsor Employee
No
Restrictive Agreement
No

Study Design

Study Type
interventional
Phase
not applicable
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Masking
QUADRUPLE
Who Masked
PARTICIPANT, CARE PROVIDER, INVESTIGATOR, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
Masking Details
Double blind
Purpose
TREATMENT
Intervention Model
PARALLEL
Sponsor Type
OTHER
Responsible Party
SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

First Submitted

August 3, 2016

First Posted

August 10, 2016

Study Start

November 22, 2016

Primary Completion

August 27, 2018

Study Completion

August 27, 2018

Last Updated

February 5, 2020

Results First Posted

November 26, 2019

Record last verified: 2019-11

Data Sharing

IPD Sharing
Will share

The investigators will make the data publicly available given that it will be a unique data set that will not only allow for further exploration by alcohol researchers, but also allow for methods development by the broader research community. The investigators plan to release the data to the public once the primary manuscripts describing the main findings of the study have been accepted for publication. Anonymized and preprocessed EEG data as well as deidentified behavioral and questionnaire data will be shared with investigators from institutions with a Federal Wide Assurance; all investigators with whom the data is shared will be included in the annual progress report. To ensure accessibility of the data set, instructions for obtaining the data set will be included in publications of the data collected under this grant.

Locations