Psychol Med. 2024 Aug;54(11):2887-2898. doi: 10.1017/S0033291724000953. Epub 2024 May 22.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Problematic drinking frequently co-occurs with depression among young adults, but often remains unaddressed in depression treatment. Evidence is insufficient on whether digital alcohol interventions can be effective in this young comorbid population. In a randomized controlled trial, we examined the effectiveness of Beating the Booze (BtB), an add-on digital alcohol intervention to complement depression treatment for young adults.
METHODS: Participants were randomized to BtB + depression treatment as usual (BTB + TAU, n = 81) or TAU (n = 82). The primary outcome was treatment response, a combined measure for alcohol and depression after 6-month follow-up. Secondary outcomes were number of weekly drinks (Timeline Follow-back) and depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale). Treatment response was analyzed using generalized linear modeling and secondary outcomes using robust linear mixed modeling.
RESULTS: Low treatment response was found due to lower than expected depression remission rates. No statistically significant between-group effect was found for treatment response after 6-month follow-up (odds ratio 2.86, p = 0.089, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.85-9.63). For our secondary outcomes, statistically significant larger reductions in weekly drinks were found in the intervention group after 3-month (B = -4.00, p = 0.009, 95% CI -6.97 to -1.02, d = 0.27) and 6-month follow-up (B = -3.20, p = 0.032, 95% CI -6.13 to -0.27, d = 0.23). We found no statistically significant between-group differences on depressive symptoms after 3-month (B = -0.57, p = 0.732, 95% CI -3.83 to 2.69) nor after 6-month follow-up (B = -0.44, p = 0.793, 95% CI -3.69 to 2.82).
CONCLUSIONS: The add-on digital alcohol intervention was effective in reducing alcohol use, but not in reducing depressive symptoms and treatment response among young adults with co-occurring depressive disorders and problematic alcohol use.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: Pre-registered on October 29, 2019 in the Overview of Medical Research in the Netherlands (OMON), formerly the Dutch Trial Register(https://onderzoekmetmensen.nl/en/trial/49219).
PMID:39967504 | DOI:10.1017/S0033291724000953
