At a glance
ClinicalIndex Comparison RecordStandardized by ClinicalIndex from the ClinicalTrials.gov record · verify against the source.
AAT-App Trial: A Clinical Trial of a "Brain-training" Smartphone App to Help Reduce Alcohol Use in People Accessing Outpatient Alcohol Treatment
In Brief
A clinical study evaluating AAT-App and Minimal AAT-App for Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). Completed, enrolled 82 participants across 6 sites.
Detailed Summary
Cognitive biases contribute to the difficulty experienced by heavy drinkers wishing to reduce their alcohol use. Recent interventions designed to reduce cognitive biases demonstrate efficacy for Approach Bias Modification (ApBM). Reductions in the likelihood of relapse have been found after ApBM in Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) patients during residential treatment. Current methods of ApBM are usually delivered by computer and joystick and come with several limitations, including accessibility. If ApBM could be shown to be feasible in other settings, such as outpatient treatment, it could benefit a much larger population with AUD. This randomised controlled trial will test the efficacy of a recently-developed ApBM smartphone app called "AAT-App" ("Alcohol Avoidance Training App"). We aim to test whether AAT-App, relative to a minimal version of the app which excludes ApBM training, is effective at reducing alcohol use, cravings, severity of dependence, and approach bias (a measure of a person's automatic tendency to automatically approach alcohol-related stimuli), and to explore user experiences of AAT-App to guide future improvements to the app and its implementation.
Study Details
Timeline
Interventions
Participants will receive the active AAT-App on their smartphone, which includes ApBM training, and prompted to engage with the app during the 28-day intervention period.
Participants will receive the minimal version of AAT-App, which does not include ApBM training, on their smartphone and prompted to engage with the app during the 28-day intervention period.