A Brief Intervention for Young Adult Substance Users With Interpersonal Trauma

NCT07118826 | Withdrawn

• 1 other identifier: 1839376-8
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: N/A
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This proposal seeks to improve a mobile-based brief intervention for young adults who engage in heavy alcohol use and have experienced interpersonal trauma. The enhancement involves incorporating adaptive coping strategies to address trauma-related distress and engaging peer coaches following the intervention to support sustained treatment effects. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either the enhanced intervention with peer coaching or a standard version of the brief intervention. Follow-up assessments will be conducted at 3 and 6 months after the intervention. The research team expects that the trauma-informed and peer-supported brief intervention (TIPS-BI) will have low dropout rates, be well-received by participants, and lead to greater reductions in alcohol use than the standard brief intervention.

Conditions

Heavy Drinking; Alcohol Drinking; Substance Use; Drinking Behavior

Keywords

Brief intervention; Alcohol; Trauma; Drinking; Peer coaching

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (7)

• Alcohol use

  The Daily Drinking Questionnaire

  Change from Baseline to 3-month follow-up

• Alcohol use

  The Daily Drinking Questionnaire

  Change from Baseline to 6-month follow-up

• Alcohol consequences

  The Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire

  Change from Baseline to 3-month follow-up

• Alcohol consequences

  The Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire

  Change from Baseline to 6-month follow-up

• Intervention feasibility

  Percentage of drop out in the interventions

  6-month follow-up

• Intervention acceptability

  Participants in both the standard and modified brief interventions will be asked to rate on a Likert scale how satisfied they were with the brief intervention content.

  Baseline

• Peer coaching acceptability

  Participants in the modified brief intervention will be asked to rate on a Likert scale how satisfied they were with the peer coaching.

  Baseline

Secondary Outcomes (6)

• Alcohol use motives

  Baseline to 3-month follow-up

• Alcohol use motives

  Baseline to 6-month follow-up

• Substance-related coping

  Baseline to 3-month follow-up

• Substance-related coping

  Baseline to 6-month follow-up

• Coping self-efficacy

  Change from baseline to 3-month follow-up

Study Arms (2)

Standard Brief Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

Immediately following completion of the baseline assessment, participants will be texted a link to a secure website which contains the participant's personalized feedback. Personalized feedback is automatically presented via a programming algorithm that is based on the participants baseline survey responses. The personalized feedback component will include a personalized substance use profile, information on peer norms, prior substance-related consequences experienced by the participant, practical costs (e.g., money spent on substances, fees for a DUI), and standard protective behavioral strategies to limit substance-related risk.

Behavioral: Standard Brief Intervention; Behavioral: Trauma-Informed and Peer-Supported Brief Intervention

Trauma-Informed and Peer-Supported Brief Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

In addition to the components of the standard brief intervention, the TIPS-BI will include personalized feedback about participants use of substances to cope. Additionally, participants will be provided with psychoeducation about the link between substance use, trauma, and coping motives, and information highlighting the iatrogenic effects that substance use has on negative emotions. Participants will also be given a series of evidence-based alternative coping strategies for managing trauma-related distress such as anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Participants will be asked to set goals related to utilization of these alternative coping strategies. Participants will then be informed that a trained peer who is part of the research team will follow up with them via text message at the monthly time points to review adherence to their goals and offer support.

Behavioral: Trauma-Informed and Peer-Supported Brief Intervention

Interventions

Trauma-Informed and Peer-Supported Brief Intervention BEHAVIORAL

In addition to the components of the standard brief intervention, the TIPS-BI will include personalized feedback about participants use of substances to cope. Additionally, participants will be provided with psychoeducation about the link between substance use, trauma, and coping motives, and information highlighting the iatrogenic effects that substance use has on negative emotions. Participants will also be given a series of evidence-based alternative coping strategies for managing trauma-related distress such as anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Participants will be asked to set goals related to utilization of these alternative coping strategies. Participants will then be informed that a trained peer who is part of the research team will follow up with them via text message at the monthly time points to review adherence to their goals and offer support.

Standard Brief Intervention; Trauma-Informed and Peer-Supported Brief Intervention

Standard Brief Intervention BEHAVIORAL

Immediately following completion of the baseline assessment, participants will be texted a link to a secure website which contains the participant's personalized feedback. Personalized feedback is automatically presented via a programming algorithm that is based on the participants baseline survey responses. The personalized feedback component will include a personalized substance use profile, information on peer norms, prior substance-related consequences experienced by the participant, practical costs (e.g., money spent on substances, fees for a DUI), and standard protective behavioral strategies to limit substance-related risk.

Standard Brief Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 29 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Age 18 to 29
• Ability to speak and understand English
• Access to a cell phone
• Lifetime history of interpersonal trauma exposure
• Heavy alcohol use

You may not qualify if:

• \) Currently receiving psychological therapy or psychotropic medication for substance use.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Western Kentucky University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Western Kentucky University

Bowling Green, Kentucky, 42101, United States

Location

Related Publications (6)

• Bonomo Y, Coffey C, Wolfe R, Lynskey M, Bowes G, Patton G. Adverse outcomes of alcohol use in adolescents. Addiction. 2001 Oct;96(10):1485-96. doi: 10.1046/j.1360-0443.2001.9610148512.x.

  PMID: 11571067 BACKGROUND

• Wilk AI, Jensen NM, Havighurst TC. Meta-analysis of randomized control trials addressing brief interventions in heavy alcohol drinkers. J Gen Intern Med. 1997 May;12(5):274-83. doi: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.1997.012005274.x.

  PMID: 9159696 BACKGROUND

• Kurtz SP, Pagano ME, Buttram ME, Ungar M. Brief interventions for young adults who use drugs: The moderating effects of resilience and trauma. J Subst Abuse Treat. 2019 Jun;101:18-24. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2019.03.009. Epub 2019 Mar 24.

  PMID: 31174710 BACKGROUND

• Bountress KE, Cusack SE, Sheerin CM, Hawn S, Dick DM, Kendler KS, Amstadter AB. Alcohol consumption, interpersonal trauma, and drinking to cope with trauma-related distress: An auto-regressive, cross-lagged model. Psychol Addict Behav. 2019 May;33(3):221-231. doi: 10.1037/adb0000457. Epub 2019 Mar 14.

  PMID: 30869917 BACKGROUND

• Tanner-Smith EE, Parr NJ, Schweer-Collins M, Saitz R. Effects of brief substance use interventions delivered in general medical settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Addiction. 2022 Apr;117(4):877-889. doi: 10.1111/add.15674. Epub 2021 Oct 14.

  PMID: 34647649 BACKGROUND

• Teeters JB, Soltis KE, Murphy JG. A Mobile Phone-Based Brief Intervention With Personalized Feedback and Text Messaging Is Associated With Reductions in Driving After Drinking Among College Drinkers. J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2018 Sep;79(5):710-719. doi: 10.15288/jsad.2018.79.710.

  PMID: 30422784 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Alcohol Drinking; Substance-Related Disorders; Drinking Behavior; Wounds and Injuries

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior; Chemically-Induced Disorders; Mental Disorders

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: Participants will be randomly assigned to either 1) a standard brief intervention 2) a modified brief intervention with peer coaching and trauma-related information

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 5, 2025
• First Posted: August 12, 2025
• Study Start: September 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): February 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): October 1, 2027
• Last Updated: February 27, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-02

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)