Recruiting

MET vs. AE

Sponsor:

VA Office of Research and Development

Code:

NCT05287711

Conditions

Alcohol Use and Intimate Partner Violence

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Motivational Enhancement Therapy

Alcohol Education Control

Treatment as Usual

Strength at Home

Study Details

Brief summary:

This is a study to provide much-needed experimental data on the efficacy of a brief alcohol Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) pre-group intervention for Veterans receiving group treatment for IPV perpetration. The investigators will compare those assigned to receive this 2-session MET intervention to those receiving a 2-session Alcohol Education (AE) intervention or a 2-session standard treatment as usual (TAU) telephone monitoring intervention. The investigators will examine whether MET leads to greater reductions in alcohol use problems and IPV perpetration, and increased help-seeking behavior for alcohol use problems. Participants will be 300 Veterans drawn from the Strength at Home IPV intervention program across the entire Veterans Health Administration system.

Conditions

Alcohol Use and Intimate Partner Violence

Study ID

NCT05287711

Start date

Sep 1, 2023

Status verified date

Nov, 2025

Completion date

Sep 30, 2028

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Sep 30, 2028

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

All Veteran participants must meet the following eligibility criteria:

  • participant is a Veteran
  • minimum age 18
  • participant is enrolled in the Strength at Home program following program intake
  • participant displays evidence of alcohol-related problems during program intake, as indicated by any of the following:

  • a report of physical IPV while under the influence of alcohol in the past year
  • a score of 8 or greater on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)
  • consumption of 6 or more standard drinks per occasion on one or more occasions in the previous 6 months
  • average weekly consumption of 14 or more standard drinks in the prior 6 months
  • participant provides written consent to participate in the study
  • inclusion for this study is broad because this is a population who possesses a number of comorbid problems and exclusion for those based on psychopathology or risk for aggression could potentially lead to a biased sample

Exclusion Criteria:

  • None

Study Design

Enrollment

300 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Motivational Enhancement Therapy

Motivational enhancement therapy for alcohol use problems, which includes empathic support, feedback and advice, strategies for enhancing self-efficacy, techniques for eliciting self-motivational statements from the participant, strategies for addressing participant ambivalence about change and participant resistance to change, and methods for eliciting and affirming commitment to a specific change plan (active intervention).

experimental: Alcohol Education Control

Psychoeducational intervention intended to: (1) dispel myths about the effects of alcohol, (2) provide information about the general risks of drinking and process of recovery from alcohol problems, (3) provide information about the specific risks related to family relationships and IPV, (4) offer self-help program information and related strategies to address drinking problems, (5) promote and encourage healthy decision-making, and (6) reinforce the benefits of abstinence or controlled drinking.

other: Telephone Monitoring

Brief supportive telephone monitoring sessions that are commonly delivered while Veterans wait to begin their groups (treatment as usual).

Interventions

Motivational Enhancement Therapy

In Session 1, the therapist provides personalized feedback on a range of assessment variables, including alcohol consumption levels, negative consequences from alcohol use, and family risk of alcoholism. Sessions 2-4 are follow-through sessions in which the therapist attempts to help the Veteran participant establish or reaffirm a commitment to an action plan for addressing alcohol concerns.

Alcohol Education Control

Will consist of 4 weekly individual sessions, approximately 60 minutes each. AE therapists will explain that their job is to provide the Veteran participants with information and education about the effects of alcohol, and that it is up to the Veteran participant to use this information as he sees fit. In each session, the Veteran participant will watch an educational videotape in a comfortable consulting room and will be given an opportunity to discuss the videotape with the project therapist for approximately 10 minutes. Written educational materials will supplement the information provided in the videos, and the therapist will ask several structured questions to determine whether the Veteran participant understood the material presented in the video.

Treatment as Usual

Supportive telephone monitoring sessions that ensure equal spacing between assessments across conditions and equal number of therapist contacts.

Strength at Home

IPV intervention which consists of 12 weekly, 2-hour cognitive-behavioral sessions offered in a closed group format and co-led by doctoral level male and female therapists. Strength at Home is based on a social information processing model of trauma and IPV and provides material covering psychoeducation regarding trauma and IPV, conflict and anger management skills, assertiveness training, and skills in stress management and communication.

Primary outcome measure

  • Quantity/Frequency of Alcohol Consumption, Self-Report (QFV) [ Time Frame: Baseline, post-treatment, three-month, six-month, nine-month, and twelve-month follow-ups ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Casey T Taft, PhD

(857) 364-4344Casey.Taft@va.gov

Samuel F Frank, BA

(617) 821-2591samuel.frank@va.gov

Locations

VA Boston Healthcare System Jamaica Plain Campus, Jamaica Plain, MA

Recruiting

Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02130-4817

Contacts

Casey T Taft, PhD

(857) 364-4344Casey.Taft@va.gov

Samuel F Frank, BA

(617) 821-2591samuel.frank@va.gov

Principal Investigator:

Casey Tyler Taft, PhD

VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI

Recruiting

Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, 48105-2303

Contacts

Jamie Winters, PhD

734-222-7651Jamie.Winters@va.gov

Minneapolis VA Health Care System, Minneapolis, MN

Recruiting

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, 55417-2309

Contacts

Noah Venables, PhD

612-629-7422Noah.Venables@va.gov

More Information

Sponsor

VA Office of Research and Development

Last update posted

Nov 20, 2025

Last verified

Nov, 2025

Keywords

  • Intimate Partner Violence
  • Alcohol Use

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by VA Office of Research and Development on 2025-11-20.