Adapting CBT-I for Hazardous Alcohol Users

Description

Drinking problems and sleep problems each cause significant loss at individual and societal levels. Insomnia in particular is highly prevalent in patients with alcohol use disorder, is prospectively associated with the development of alcohol use disorder and contributes to poorer recovery prognosis following alcohol treatments. Insomnia, therefore, represents a modifiable risk factor for negative outcomes associated with alcohol use along the full continuum of alcohol use problems.

Accordingly, the project proposes to improve sleep with an insomnia intervention (cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia) tailored to adults who meet widely accepted definitions for hazardous alcohol use as well as diagnostic criteria for insomnia disorder. An iterative approach to development, refinement, and preliminary examination of the utility of a telephone-delivered, 4-session intervention will be used. A small (N = 10), open label pilot to develop and refine procedures for administering the intervention is followed by a small (N=60), randomized trial comparing the intervention to a sleep and alcohol education control condition. A number of intervention and study design feasibility domains will be assessed in preparation for designing a larger study. The investigators will also assess the effects of the intervention on alcohol use, sleep and mood by measuring these outcomes at baseline, post-treatment, and at 3- and 6-month follow up assessments.