Adapting and Piloting Behavioral Activation for Veterans With Alcohol Use Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Key facts
- Who runs it
- RTI International
- Where
- Durham, United StatesSee the site
- Trial code
- Status
- Completed
- People taking part
- 10 people enrolled
- Started
- 17 Jan 2025
- Ended
- 6 Oct 2025
- Type of study
- Interventional, 2 groupsOne group gets an existing treatment, for comparison.
- Treatments tested
- Behavioral Activation (BA)
- Relapse Prevention (RP)
- Record updated
- 9 June 2026
Who can take part
- Age
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- Women and men
- Healthy volunteers
- Cannot take part
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 14 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- Be a U.S. veteran,
- Be at least 18 years old,
- Meet Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) criteria for current AUD,
- Report 3+ heavy drinking days (5+ drinks for men/4+ drinks for women) or 1+ heavy drinking week (15+ drinks men/8+ drinks women) in the past 30 days,
- Meet DSM-5 criteria for current PTSD or satisfy the definition of current subthreshold PTSD (i.e., up to one of symptom clusters B-E may fall below diagnostic threshold),
- Be fluent and literate in English, and
- Be able to provide voluntary, informed consent to participate
Who cannot take part
- Prior inpatient alcohol withdrawal management,
- Psychotropic (including alcohol abstinence) medication changes within 30 days of study enrollment or plans to change medications during the study,
- Lifetime alcohol withdrawal-related seizures, delirium, or hallucinations,
- Current DSM-5 severe drug use disorder (DUD) except for severe tobacco use disorder,
- Current/planned non-study BA for any disorder during the study, or
- Current mania/hypomania or current psychosis,
- Current/planned evidence-based psychotherapy for AUD, PTSD, or DUD during the study
Where in United States
- Duke University School of MedicineDurham, United States
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
The goal of this clinical trial is to compare an adaptation of Behavioral Activation, a behavioral intervention, to Relapse Prevention treatment, another behavioral intervention, in a sample of U.S. military veterans with co-occurring alcohol use disorder (AUD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Read full original descriptionShow less
The primary aims of this study are to:
1. Adapt Behavioral Activation to treat veterans with AUD/PTSD, 2. Evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of Behavioral Activation for AUD/PTSD, and 3. Explore geospatial analysis as a new method for measuring AUD/PTSD recovery.
Participants will complete self-report and interview measures immediately before and immediately after treatment. Participants will also be asked to participate in passive geospatial assessment for 14-day periods immediately before and immediately after treatment. Participants will be randomized to treatment condition, which involves 8 sessions of either Behavioral Activation or Relapse Prevention, delivered individually by a trained study therapist.
The 2 groups in the trial
- Behavioral Activation (BA)Treatment being tested
Individual psychotherapy
- Relapse Prevention (RP)Existing treatment, for comparison
Individual psychotherapy
Data and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- Adapting and Piloting Behavioral Activation for Veterans With Co-Occurring AUD and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
- Record updated
- 9 June 2026