Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for HIV+ Hazardous Drinkers

Launched by SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY · Oct 16, 2024

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is studying a type of therapy called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help people living with HIV who drink alcohol at unhealthy levels. The goal is to see if ACT can reduce alcohol use and improve mental health symptoms like depression and anxiety. Participants will be randomly assigned to either the ACT program or another therapy known as Brief Intervention (BI). The study will follow participants over several months to assess changes in their drinking and overall well-being.

To be eligible for this trial, you must be an adult (18 years or older) living with HIV and report drinking at unhealthy levels based on a specific questionnaire. You should also be currently receiving treatment for HIV and able to read at an 8th-grade level. However, if you have severe depression or anxiety, you won’t be able to participate, but you will receive referrals for mental health support. Participants can expect to take part in six phone sessions over about seven weeks, and they will have their alcohol use and mental health tracked at various points during and after the study.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Living with HIV
• • Drink at unhealthy levels based on self-reported answers to the AUDIT-C, referencing drinking over the previous 3 months \[score of ≥4 (men) or ≥3 (women) will be used to identify eligible participants\]
• • on HIV treatment and are
• • 18 years or older.
• • Read at an 8th grade level
• • Can provide a physical address
• • Able to provide informed consent
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Anyone with a score = 12 on the AUDIT-C will be excluded.
• • Anyone with a score ≥20 on the PHQ-9, indicative of severe depression, will be excluded.
• • Anyone with a score of ≥15 on the GAD-7, indicative of severe anxiety, will be excluded.
• • Referrals for mental health treatment will be given to all participants who screen out.