# Affect Regulation Training (ART)for Alcohol Use Disorder: A Stage II Efficacy Trial

> **NIH NIH R01** · STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO · 2021 · $117,438

## Abstract

Both theory and research suggest that the desire to regulate one’s affective experience is an important motive
underlying problem alcohol use. Both positive and negative affect are commonly cited reasons for alcohol use
and relapse to use following treatment among individuals with an alcohol use disorder (AUD). Although the
use of alcohol to regulate affective states may be viewed by the individual as adaptive in the short term, in the
long term, drinking to regulate affect can prove to result in a host of negative personal, social and physiological
outcomes. However, despite the strong links between affect and drinking, few studies have directly addressed
whether interventions that target negative affect positively impact drinking outcomes among men and women
with an AUD. In a completed Stage 1a/1b Behavioral Therapies Development study (AA016054), our research
team successfully developed (Stage 1a) and conducted an initial evaluation (Stage 1b) of Affect Regulation
Training (ART), a 12-session treatment supplement which was combined with standard cognitive-behavioral
therapy (CBT) for alcohol use disorders to enhance alcohol treatment outcomes. To our knowledge, this is the
first affect regulation intervention specifically developed for use with substance use disorders. This new
treatment (ART) was then compared to a Health and Lifestyles control condition (HLS) that was combined with
the same CBT for alcohol use disorders. Thus, both the ART and HLS conditions contained the identical CBT
for alcohol use disorders component. This design provided a strong initial test of ART’s efficacy because ART
had to show a treatment benefit beyond that provided by an active, empirically-supported treatment for AUD
(i.e., the CBT component of HLS). Study results provided promising empirical support for further developing
ART as an enhancement to CBT treatment. Specifically, the study met all of the aims of the Stage 1b pilot
study as outlined by Rounsaville et al. (2001): (a) excellent patient acceptance of ART (i.e., treatment retention
and satisfaction, strong therapeutic alliance), (b) ability to recruit the target population, (c) feasibility of
treatment delivery with Master’s level therapists in an outpatient setting, (d) clinically significant patient
improvement in at least one important outcome domain (i.e., alcohol outcomes), and (e) effect size estimates
to be used to determine the sample size for a Stage II clinical trial. For non-drinking outcomes, the results
revealed small to moderate effects for several treatment process variables consistent with ART’s proposed
mechanisms of change (i.e., decreased negative affect, increased mindfulness, increased reappraisal, and
increased emotion regulation skills). Given these promising results, we propose to conduct a fully-powered
Stage II efficacy trial in which we will compare 12 weekly, individual sessions of ART to the HLS control
condition. An important aspect of a Stage II randomized clinical trial ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10224418
- **Project number:** 3R01AA024628-05S1
- **Recipient organization:** STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO
- **Principal Investigator:** Clara Margaret Bradizza
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $117,438
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-08-01 → 2022-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10224418

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10224418, Affect Regulation Training (ART)for Alcohol Use Disorder: A Stage II Efficacy Trial (3R01AA024628-05S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10224418. Licensed CC0.

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