
Brief Internet Intervention for Hazardous Alcohol Use
Alcohol ConsumptionAmazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk) is an online platform that has become a popular means of recruiting participants with problem drinking, gambling, or even illicit drug use for the purposes of survey-based research. There is also the possibility that potential participants could be identified through MTurk for online longitudinal studies, including for brief intervention research. The potential to quickly and easily identify large numbers of participants through MTurk is important for research evaluating online interventions during the period that these interventions are being developed and refined. However, before proposing MTurk workers as a viable source for participants in online intervention trials, it is important to evaluate the feasibility of using MTurk for such a purpose. This pilot study proposes to test this feasibility by systematically replicating a trial of an extensively evaluated brief online intervention for hazardous alcohol use (CheckYourDrinking; CYD) and will attempt to recruit and follow-up participants for this replication using people recruited through MTurk. Participants will be recruited through Amazon's MTurk crowdsourcing platform. Participants identified as problem drinkers based on an initial survey will be invited to complete another survey in 3 months time. Those who are interested will be randomized to receive access to the Check Your Drinking screener (CYD condition) or to a no additional information condition (control condition). At three-months post-baseline, the MTurk portal will be used to send invitation emails that contain a link to the follow-up survey. The primary hypothesis to be tested is that participants receiving access to the CYD intervention will report a greater level of reduction in number of drinks in a typical week between the baseline survey and three-month follow-up as compared to participants in the no information control condition.

Evaluating Perceived Fitness to Drive While Intoxicated
Alcohol DrinkingAlcohol Intoxication6 moreThe goal of this study is to conduct a laboratory-based pilot randomized control trial of smartphone-enabled breath alcohol monitoring on perceived fitness to drive a vehicle among intoxicated adults. The study team will enroll up to 30 adults aged > 21-44 who are frequent drinkers without dependence who drive more than four times per week to complete a standardized alcohol drinking protocol in a monitored setting collecting breathalyzer measurements. The protocol involves consuming three weight-based doses of alcohol with a target BAC of 0.10 and completing breathalyzer measurements every 20 minutes until a BAC of 0.03 is reached. The control group will complete a visual analog scale on their perceived fitness to drive and be blinded to their breath alcohol readings with the BACtrack Mobile Pro breathalyzer device, while the intervention group would do the same, but be shown their breath alcohol readings on the paired BACtrack smartphone application. The research team's previous research has validated the accuracy of the BACtrack Mobile Pro device to measure BAC within +/- 0.001 of police-grade breathalyzer and estimate BAC within +/- 0.01 of a blood test.

Violence Brief Intervention Pilot v1.1
Alcohol ConsumptionViolence1 moreThis study is a randomised controlled trial of a new brief intervention with young (16-29) adult male patients who have a facial injury sustained as a result of interpersonal violence (fighting or assaults). It will be undertaken at the Maxillofacial outpatient trauma clinic at the Southern General Hospital, Glasgow. The major risk factors associated with facial injury in Scotland are male gender, young age, interpersonal violence and alcohol. Previous research with facial injury patients attending this clinic has shown that an Alcohol Brief Intervention (ABI) is effective in helping reduce alcohol consumption, so all patients are now offered ABI as standard practice. ABI is delivered by trained nurses from Addiction Services. This will not be withdrawn. In addition we wish to offer some patients a Violence Brief Intervention (VBI). This will be delivered by the same nurses who deliver the ABI. The study is randomised so only those selected at random will receive this extra intervention and all others will receive treatment as normal (ABI only). VBI is a short psychological intervention which uses Brief Motivational Interviewing (BMI) to encourage reflection of involvement in violence and consideration of strategies to avoid future violence. The intervention also compares participants' attitudes towards violence to those of their peers. The intervention takes about 15 minutes, and patients will be involved for an additional 30-45 minutes longer than normal when they attend the clinic, including consent and baseline data collection. Patients will be followed up by telephone at 1, 3 and 6 months, and asked a suite of questions which will take approximately 15 minutes on each occasion. We wish to determine whether a VBI of this type has any effect on attitudes to violence or propensity for involvement in violence or on reinjury, examined through self report measures and routinely collected health and criminal justice data at 12 months post intervention.

Observational Study on Patients With Baclofen Treatment for Alcohol-dependence in France
Alcohol DrinkingCirrhosis1 moreBaclofen is an agonist of the amino-butyricum B (GABA-B) receptor used for a long time in neurology to treat spastic contracture. Several clinical studies have suggested its efficacy in the treatment of alcohol-dependence in low, even in case of cirrhosis and high dose. French drug authority has authorized its use in 2012 whereas the l'European Association for the Study of the Liver recommends to perform additional studies on this indication. The goal of this observational study is to evaluate the use of baclofen for alcohol-dependence in real life care as well its efficacy.

Effectiveness of an Intervention to Reduce Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol Among Drivers...
Alcohol ConsumptionTraffic Accident1 moreObjectives: The main objective of this pilot study is to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of a brief intervention to reduce drinking-driving behavior. Methods: Design: Pilot multicentre before/after intervention study without control group. Participants: We aim to recruit, from 01/01/2013 to 01/05/2013, 212 drivers aged 18 to 65 who declared to have consumed alcohol previous to driving, at least once in the past 30 days. Intervention: Brief behavioral intervention to reduce alcohol consumption before driving. Outcomes: Frequency of driving under the influence of alcohol in the past 30 days, regular alcohol consumption (Audit-C test), level of self-efficacy and stage of change according to the Prochaska and DiClemente's Transtheoretical Model of Change, sociodemographic variables, driver's profile, chronic pathologies, long -term medications, level of self risk perception. Information will be checked against medical record. Information on a) frequency of driving under the influence of alcohol in the past 30 days, b) regular alcohol and c) level of self-efficacy and stet of change according Prochaska State will be gathered at one month and 12 month post intervention. Descriptive bivariate analysis to assess the distribution of risk elements associated to drinking-driving behavior. Potential impact expected: This pilot project will determine the feasibility of making a brief advice intervention in drivers under the influence of alcohol in primary care.

Boston Alcohol Research Collaboration on HIV/AIDS (ARCH) Cohort
HIV InfectionAlcohol Use2 moreThe purpose of this study is to expand and continue a cohort of HIV-infected adults to establish the longitudinal Boston ARCH Cohort of 250 HIV-infected men and women with current substance dependence or ever injection drug use that have a spectrum of alcohol use; and to determine the effect of alcohol consumption on changes in bone health prospectively in the Cohort.

The Efficacy of Computerized Alcohol Screening and Intervention (CASI) in At-Risk Emergency Department...
Alcohol ConsumptionThe purpose of this research is to examine the effectiveness of computerized alcohol screening and brief intervention in the UC Irvine Medical Center Emergency Department (ED) and Trauma Patients. Brief interventions have a high potential impact in ED and Trauma populations. Computerized alcohol screening and brief intervention (CASI) is a fast and easy to use tool for patients and healthcare providers. CASI mitigates barriers to proper screening and intervention, including time, availability of trained personnel, patient comfort, and language barriers. CASI provides the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) followed by a brief intervention and customized alcohol intake recomendations for the patient. The intervention of this study will be the addition of a brief CASI questionnaire to the standard of care for a random subset of subjects. All subjects who screen positive for hazardous alcohol use will be followed up and reassessed for alcohol use. The researchers hypothesize that the addition of CASI will lead to a decrease in alcohol intake within three months. The basis of this research is evidence of the effectiveness in the CASI system, the growing public health issue of alcohol abuse, the need to be able to provide effective screening and brief intervention in the high volume ED settings, and findings that the primary method to reduce traumatic death is prevention.

Learning in Young Adults as Predictor for the Development of Alcohol Use Disorders
High-risk Alcohol Consumption PatternLow-risk Alcohol Consumption PatternOverall goal of this study is to scrutinize the relation of learning behavior and related brain activity to the development of alcohol use disorder (AUD). The researchers aim is to characterise a representative sample (200 men at age 18) with regard to learning parameters and their respective neural correlates which are thought to be indicators for the risk to develop an alcohol use disorder. As part of a large multi-center study on alcohol dependency (in Dresden & Berlin, Germany) the researchers will characterize the sample and then prospectively assess alcohol consumption and development of AUDs over a period of three years plus additional follow-ups after that period, depending on future funding. Among other hypotheses it is expected that increased activation of striatal and prefrontal brain regions by the Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer process is related to increased risk of developing an AUD.

Self-Affirmation and Response to Health Risk Information
Alcohol DrinkingEmotions1 moreBackground: - Self-affirmation is the process of reflecting on values that a person considers important. This process may encourage people to be more open to information about health risks. It may also encourage them to change their behaviors or lifestyle to decrease these health risks. Researchers want to look at the effect of self-affirmation on people s responses to new health risk information. Because recent studies have linked alcohol consumption to increased risk of breast cancer, the study will focus on alcohol s link to breast cancer. Objectives: - To study how self-affirmation can change opinions following a message about a health risk. Eligibility: - Women at least 18 years of age who drink at least two alcoholic beverages per week and/or at least three alcoholic beverages per sitting. Design: Participants will be recruited through an online panel. The study will be conducted entirely online. Participants will respond to two short studies. The first will ask about life events and how they make people feel. The second will look at how people respond to information about alcohol and breast cancer. For the first study, participants will write a paragraph or two about an important event in their lives. They will answer questions about how that event made them feel. They will also write a paragraph about an important personal value. For the second study, participants will read information about alcohol and breast cancer risk. They will then answer questions about this information. They will also answer questions about their beliefs about alcohol and breast cancer. Participants will receive financial compensation for being in this study.

Alcohol and Implicit Process in Sexual Risk Behavior in MSM
Alcohol DrinkingSex Behavior1 moreThe current study is the first empirical investigation that directly addresses the correspondence between responses regarding indicators of risky sexual behavior while under the influence of alcohol in the laboratory and the occurrence of sexually risky behavior while under the influence of alcohol in the natural environment, by use of Ecological Sampling Methodology (ESM). The study will allow us to compare and contrast implicit and explicit assessments of sexual risk in respect to future behavior in the natural environment. The data obtained will thus provide new information regarding the external validity of alcohol administration studies of sexual risk behavior and will provide information to optimize the selection of dependent measures. The current study also represents the first attempt to test a causal model linking alcohol intoxication and risky sexual behavior as a function of both automatic, reflexive, approach tendencies and effortful, deliberative, self-control (operationalized by executive working memory in this application). The ESM study will augment the findings of the experiment by providing a detailed assessment of contextual factors that affect sexual risk behavior as well as replicating and extending the findings of the experiment to sexual risk situations in the natural environment. Finally, to our knowledge there has been only one experimental study of alcohol and sexual risk in MSM (Maisto, Palfai, Vanable, Heath, & Woolf-King, 2012), which is remarkable given that MSM have been identified as the population at highest risk to contract the HIV in the U.S. since the virus was identified in the early 1980s. Thus the proposed research is only the second attempt to add to an understanding of the connections among alcohol, cognitive processes, and sexual risk behaviors in MSM.