# Development of a Personalized Feedback Intervention Targeting Pain-Related Anxiety for Hazardous Drinkers with Chronic Pain

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON · 2022 · $34,753

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Hazardous alcohol use contributes to mental and physical health problems, disability, and may lead to
increased risk of premature death3,4. Among individuals with chronic pain the rate of hazardous alcohol use is
elevated compared to the general population5, 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 pain6,7, 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 IA activities will involve collecting qualitative feedback from iterative focus groups (N = 10)
to refine intervention content and evaluate treatment acceptability and feasibility. 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 control PFI (C-PFI) 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.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10365945
- **Project number:** 5F31AA028694-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Andrew H. Rogers
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $34,753
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-03-15 → 2024-03-14

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10365945

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10365945, Development of a Personalized Feedback Intervention Targeting Pain-Related Anxiety for Hazardous Drinkers with Chronic Pain (5F31AA028694-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10365945. Licensed CC0.

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