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NCT Number: NCT06422299

Developing and Testing an Online Intervention for Alcohol and Cannabis Misuse and Healthy Relationship Skills Among Young Adult Couples

The goal of this clinical trial is to develop and test a brief online intervention to reduce alcohol and cannabis misuse and improve healthy relationship skills among young adult couples. The main questions it aims to answer are:

* Will the intervention be feasible and acceptable to young adult couples? * Will the intervention demonstrate initial efficacy in reducing risky substance use and increasing relationship functioning?

Eligible couples will complete a virtual baseline session and be randomized to intervention condition (online intervention with 3-5 weeks of self-paced modules) or control condition (no intervention). Couples will complete two follow-up surveys (post-assessment - approximately 5 weeks after baseline, 3-month). Couples in the control condition will be offered the intervention after 3-month follow-up.

Researchers will compare intervention and control groups to see if there there is a difference between the groups on substance misuse and relationship functioning at post-assessment and 3-month follow-up.

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Key information

Conditions

Alcohol Drinking Behavior Cannabis Use Couples Drinking Behavior

Age range

18 year–29 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Both partners in the couple are 18-29 years old
  • In a committed romantic relationship (e.g., dating seriously, cohabiting, married) with each other for at least 3 months
  • Face-to-face contact their partner at least 5 days per week
  • Live in Washington State
  • Have a valid email address and access to a cell phone
  • Report alcohol and cannabis co-use at least three times in the past month
  • Willingness to: complete online surveys during the allotted time frames, receive text messages and emails from the project, complete a baseline session, and participate during the same time period as their partner

Exclusion criteria

  • Couples who endorse any perpetration or receipt of severe interpersonal aggression during screening will be excluded and provided with resources

Treatment and study plan

Online, couples-based intervention

Behavioral

During Phase 1 of the present study, the intervention will be iteratively developed using a rigorous, user-centered design approach through integration of knowledge gained from Phase 1 dyadic analyses and qualitative interviews, and existing gold-standard treatments for substance use among couples, including Integrative Behavioral Couples Therapy (IBCT; Christensen & Doss, 2016) and Behavioral Couples Therapy for Alcohol (ABCT; McCrady et al, 1995) and substance use brief interventions for young adults (Halladay, et al., 2019; Tanner-Smith et al., 2015).

Primary outcomes

  1. Heavy episodic and high intensity drinking

    Time frame: Screening, baseline, approximately 5 weeks after baseline, 3-month followup

    Alcohol use - number of days in the past month participant engaged in heavy episodic drinking (4+/5+ drinks in one occasion for women/men) and high intensity drinking (8+/10+ drinks in one occasion for women/men)

  2. Daily Drinking Questionnaire (DDQ)

    Time frame: Screening, baseline, approximately 5 weeks after baseline, 3-month followup

    Alcohol use - Average total drinks per week will be calculated as the sum of the total number of drinks reported.

  3. Daily Marijuana Questionnaire (DMQ)

    Time frame: Screening, baseline, approximately 5 weeks after baseline, 3-month followup

    Cannabis use - Average total hours high from cannabis per week will be calculated as the sum of the total hours high reported

  4. Intensity of Marijuana Use

    Time frame: Screening, baseline, approximately 5 weeks after baseline, 3-month followup

    Cannabis use intensity - Average number of times used cannabis per day will be calculated as the mean number of times participant reports using cannabis per each day of a typical week in the past month

  5. Perceived Program Effects on Healthy Relationship Self-Efficacy items

    Time frame: Screening, baseline, approximately 5 weeks after baseline, 3-month followup

    Healthy relationship self-efficacy - 3 items assessing perceived intervention impacts on healthy relationship self-efficacy scored 0=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree. Scores will be summed, total scores will range from 0 to 15, with higher scores indicating greater healthy relationship self-efficacy

  6. Couples Satisfaction Index

    Time frame: Screening, baseline, approximately 5 weeks after baseline, 3-month followup

    Relationship satisfaction - sum of 4 items ranges from 0 to 21, higher scores indicate greater relationship satisfaction

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Hana Basu, BA

CONTACT

425-372-6459

Katherine Walukevich-Dienst, PhD

CONTACT

[email protected]

508-282-0413

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Washington

Other

Collaborators

  • National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Registry information

Official study title

Developing and Testing an Online Intervention for Decreasing Alcohol and Cannabis Misuse and Increasing Healthy Relationship Skills Among Young Adult Couples: A Comprehensive Mixed-methods Approach

Important dates

Study start
2026
Primary completion
2027
Study completion
2027
First posted
May 20, 2024
Registry last updated
Jul 8, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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