Clinical trial NCT00818636: Expressive Writing for Co-Occurring Depression and Alcohol Misuse
Official title: Expressive Writing for Co-Occurring Depression and Alcohol Misuse
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Depression
Alcohol, Drinking
Keywords: expressive writing
ruminating
ruminative thinking
experiential avoidance
depression
alcohol
drinking
emotional processing
Lead sponsor: Baylor College of Medicine
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
First posted: 2009-01-08
Enrollment: 89
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: \*\*\*Please note that this study does not offer comprehensive treatment program for alcohol abuse or depression. Please do not contact the study staff if you are seeking psychological treatment. Further, this study is only enrolling people who are clients at Career and Recovery Resources, Inc., in Houston.

The hypothesis is that writing about feelings and thoughts will help people who are in group treatment feel less depressed and abuse alcohol less.

Detailed description: Expressive writing applied to a variety of populations (e.g., HIV, cancer, PTSD, depression) has been associated with health improvements, reductions in symptoms of emotional distress, and one preliminary study found reductions in alcohol misuse among college students. Data suggest that expressive writing is a technique to facilitate emotional processing that can influence a number of clinical outcomes by facilitating cognitive restructuring (Hunt, 1998; Pennebaker, 2004). In addition to examining cognitive content change following expressive writing, we believe the effects of emotional writing on mood and drinking may involve two additional processes that have been found significant for both depression and alcohol misuse, namely experiential avoidance and ruminative thinking. We hypothesize that expressive writing will lead to less drinking and enhanced mood by reducing: (1) negative thought content, (2) experiential avoidance of unpleasant private events (e.g., negative thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations), and (3) ruminative thinking.

Eligibility criteria: \*\*\*Please note that this study does not offer comprehensive treatment program for alcohol abuse or depression. Please do not contact the study staff if you are seeking psychological treatment. Further, this study is only enrolling people who are clients at Career and Recovery Resources, Inc., in Houston.

Inclusion Criteria:

* Enrolled in group therapy program at Career and Recovery Resources, Inc.
* Must be at least 18.
* Willing and able to participate in the study through the one month follow up.
* Able to provide the contact information of at least two people who can generally locate their whereabouts.
* Speak English fluently.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Inability to read, write, speak English.
* History of bipolar or psychotic disorders.
* Severe medical, cognitive and /or psychiatric impairment that precludes cooperation with study protocol.
* Substance withdrawal symptoms requiring medical attention.
* Currently receiving other individual psychosocial therapy outside of C\&R for substance abuse or other psychiatric conditions with the exception of AA, NA or CA.
* Impending incarceration or other factor that would create inability or unwillingness to participate in the 6 week long study period (e.g., halfway house or other aftercare program restrictions).

Primary outcomes:
measure: Beck Depression Inventory, Second Edition
timeFrame: Baseline, Post-writing (2 weeks post-baseline), and One Month Follow-Up (Six weeks post-baseline)
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Number of Alcoholic Drinks Consumed
timeFrame: 30 days pre-baseline compared to 30 days post-intervention
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Houston
country: United States
facility: Career and Recovery Resources, Inc.
state: Texas
Study officials:
affiliation: The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston- ** This contact information should not be used for counseling or informational purposes**
name: Carrie L Dodrill, Ph.D.
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston- ** This contact information should not be used for counseling or informational purposes**
name: Angela L Stotts, Ph.D.
role: STUDY_CHAIR
References:
citation: Frattaroli J. Experimental disclosure and its moderators: a meta-analysis. Psychol Bull. 2006 Nov;132(6):823-65. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.132.6.823.