Trial results for a study investigating Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Alcohol Use were posted on ClinicalTrials.gov on 2025-06-26, with 505 participants enrolled.
Background
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) often co-occurs with hazardous drinking, presenting complex challenges for individuals. Effective, accessible interventions are crucial for managing both conditions. This study aimed to refine and test a brief, self-directed intervention delivered via text-messaging for individuals with PTSD and co-occurring hazardous drinking. The intervention explored the impact of theoretically-driven strategies from cognitive psychology (message framing) and social psychology (facilitating growth mindsets) to improve outcomes for PTSD symptoms and hazardous drinking by addressing participant feedback related to avoidance and motivation.
Trial design
This completed study, designated as Phase NA, enrolled 505 participants to investigate Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Alcohol Use. The trial tested a brief, self-directed intervention delivered via text-messaging. It explored whether message framing (loss vs. gain) and mindset strategies (growth mindset vs. simple reminder) could improve outcomes for PTSD symptoms and hazardous drinking.
Key results
The trial reported key measurements related to Heavy Episodic Drinking across various intervention groups. For one set of measurements, the mean number of heavy drinking episodes observed were:
- Loss Framing + Growth Mindset: 6.19 (Standard Deviation 3.03)
- Loss Framing + Simple Reminder: 6.00 (Standard Deviation 3.15)
- Gain Framing + Growth Mindset: 5.85 (Standard Deviation 3.20)
- Gain Framing + Simple Reminder: 6.69 (Standard Deviation 3.12)
- No Framing + Growth Mindset: 6.02 (Standard Deviation 3.12)
- No Framing + Simple Reminder: 6.33 (Standard Deviation 3.22)
For another set of measurements for Heavy Episodic Drinking, the mean number of episodes were:
- Loss Framing + Growth Mindset: 3.71 (Standard Deviation 3.40)
- Loss Framing + Simple Reminder: 4.58 (Standard Deviation 3.73)
- Gain Framing + Growth Mindset: 3.63 (Standard Deviation 3.45)
- Gain Framing + Simple Reminder: 4.52 (Standard Deviation 3.47)
- No Framing + Growth Mindset: 3.48 (Standard Deviation 3.43)
- No Framing + Simple Reminder: 4.03 (Standard Deviation 3.44)
What this means
The posted results provide specific mean values for heavy episodic drinking across different combinations of message framing and mindset strategies. While direct comparative analyses or statistical significance values are not provided, the data shows varying mean numbers of heavy drinking episodes across the groups. Notably, the second set of measurements generally shows lower mean values compared to the first, suggesting potential reductions in heavy episodic drinking. The 'No Framing + Growth Mindset' group reported the lowest mean of 3.48 heavy drinking episodes in the second measurement set.
Source
The information regarding these trial results was obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov, a public database of clinical studies. The results for the study NCT05372042, titled 'CBT Texts for PTSD & Hazardous Drinking (Project Better)', were posted on 2025-06-26 on clinicaltrials.gov.