# CBT by Phone to Promote Use of Alcohol Related Care and Reduce Drinking

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER · 2021 · $120,643

## Abstract

Abstract
Numerous evidence based treatments for alcohol use disorder (AUD) have been developed, and research
shows that individuals who obtain alcohol specialty care have improved drinking outcomes and are more likely
to recover, yet a small percentage of individuals with AUD obtain treatment. Use of Screening, Brief
Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) interventions is a potential strategy to increase treatment
seeking, yet there is little evidence that these interventions increase participation in alcohol-related care and a
lack of evidence that such care serves as a mechanism for improved drinking outcomes. The current
randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a one session intervention delivered by telephone seeks to address these
gaps in evidence. The specific aims are to show that research volunteers ages 18 and older with AUD who are
assigned to the intervention compared to an information control condition are more likely to initiate alcohol
specialty care (aim 1), have decreased frequency of alcohol use (as measured by percent days abstinent) and
intensity of alcohol use (as measured by drinks per drinking day) (aim 2), and that treatment engagement
serves as a mediator of the improved drinking outcomes (aim 3). Innovations include the use of an SBIRT
intervention based on the theory of planned behavior and cognitive behavioral treatment principles and that the
intervention was developed for phone administration from the onset and was explicitly designed to promote
treatment engagement. The project is in response to PA-15-299, Alcohol Use Disorders: Behavioral
Treatment, Services, and Recovery Research. It builds on a smaller efficacy trial that showed that the
intervention leads to increased engagement in alcohol-related care (Stecker et al., 2012) and extends that
study in several ways including through the use of a priori tests to determine efficacy of the intervention to
improve drinking outcomes and that treatment engagement serves as a mediator of the improved outcomes.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10430307
- **Project number:** 3R01AA026815-04S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER
- **Principal Investigator:** KENNETH R CONNER
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $120,643
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2018-09-01 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10430307

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10430307, CBT by Phone to Promote Use of Alcohol Related Care and Reduce Drinking (3R01AA026815-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10430307. Licensed CC0.

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