An efficacy trial of adaptive interventions for alcohol use disorder

Adaptive interventions, sometimes referred to as "stepped care", are those interventions in which the type or dosage of treatment offered to patients is tailored to baseline clinical presentation and then adjusted over time in response to patient progress or lack thereof. Currently, no adaptive brief interventions exist specifically for alcohol use disorder (AUD).

This study used a sequential multiple assignment randomized trial design with 160 individuals with AUD recruited both locally and nationally who had a goal to reduce or abstain from drinking. Participants received brief advice (BA) and then the study reassessed them three weeks later; the study randomized those who did not respond to BA, defined as reducing their drinking to low-risk guidelines, to two session of motivational interviewing (MI) or more BA. The study then reassessed participants at week 8. The study re-randomized nonresponders to receive either MI alone or MI plus behavioral self-control therapy (BSCT), also referred to as coping skills therapy, and evaluated participants at week 13.

Overall, participants receiving any BSCT made the greatest reductions in drinking. Participants who received MI at week 4 and BSCT at week 8 outperformed all other groups.

Findings reveal that prolonged treatment, more sessions, and/or a specific combination of MI and BSCT provided optimal outcomes. Future research should determine whether such an algorithm holds across heterogenous groups of individuals with AUD.