PFI for Pain-Related Anxiety Among Hazardous Drinkers With Chronic Pain

Hazardous alcohol use contributes to mental and physical health problems, disability, and may lead to increased risk of premature death. Among individuals with chronic pain the rate of hazardous alcohol use is elevated compared to the general population, yet, hazardous alcohol users with chronic pain remain an underserved group. There is a critical need to test alternative and complimentary approaches to the implementation of effective interventions to reduce hazardous alcohol use among this high-risk segment of the general population; doing so in an integrated fashion (i.e., jointly targeting alcohol and affective mechanisms that may maintain pain-alcohol associations) may provide a more efficient and targeted intervention approach. Targeting pain-related anxiety, a transdiagnostic vulnerability factor that is prospectively associated with both hazardous drinking and chronic pain, may be beneficial. Thus, more work is needed to evaluate the benefit of targeting elevated pain-related anxiety among hazardous drinkers with chronic pain. Our approach will follow a staged model consistent with NIH guidelines for developing and standardizing behavioral interventions. Phase IB activities will include a proof-of-concept and highly rigorous randomized clinical trial designed to compare pain-related anxiety/alcohol PFI (PA-PFI) to assessment only among a sample of 130 hazardous drinkers with chronic pain who have elevated levels of pain-related anxiety. This study represents an important and pivotal step in the larger landscape of translating basic research to more efficacious strategies for reducing hazardous drinking among underserved populations with medical comorbidities. The proposed intervention would be highly disseminable and relevant to millions of hazardous drinkers with chronic pain. Given the collective public health impact of chronic pain and hazardous drinking, the proposed study will yield findings that enhance scientific knowledge, enhance our understanding of mechanisms in reciprocal pain-alcohol relations, and inform the development of novel treatments for hazardous drinkers with chronic pain with elevated pain-related anxiety that are adaptable and easily implemented across a variety of healthcare settings.

Inclusion criteria

• ≥ 21 years of age
• Current hazardous drinking pattern (AUDIT scores ≥ 8 for males and ≥ 7 for females)
• Current chronic pain (1) on most days of the week (i.e., 4 or more days per week), (2) at an average weekly severity of 3 or greater on a 0-10 numerical rating scale, and (3) for at least three months in duration
• Fluent in English

Exclusion criteria

• Concurrent alcohol or other substance use treatment
• Not being fluent in English
• Current acute psychiatric distress or thought disorder
• Current imminent risk of suicidality