Emotion Regulation Program for Substance Use Disorders

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

Emotion Regulation Program: Eight 50-minute group sessions delivered twice weekly over approximately four weeks. Session 1: understanding emotions and following the body's signals. Session 2: emotion regulation strategies I (grounding oneself through the senses when shaken). Session 3: emotion regulation strategies II (practicing choice rather than being swept away by emotion). Session 4: building a personal emotion-response scenario for moments of crisis. Session 5: facing the self-critical voice. Session 6: protecting oneself with warmth in difficult moments. Session 7: noticing and savoring positive moments. Session 8: organizing a personal emotion-regulation routine to sustain going forward. Core techniques are motivational interviewing, acceptance and commitment therapy, and group therapy, incorporating emotion-regulation and self-compassion skills.

Study summary

This study examines whether a newly developed eight-session psychosocial treatment program, called the Emotion Regulation Program, can be delivered in real-world hospital settings to people receiving inpatient care for substance use disorders in Korea, and whether it shows early signs of benefit. The program combines motivational interviewing, acceptance and commitment therapy, and group activities, and is delivered twice a week over about four weeks (eight 50-minute sessions). About 20 adults will take part at two psychiatric hospitals.

Participants complete brief questionnaires and a short interview about their craving, motivation to change, difficulties in emotion regulation, self-compassion, depression, and drug use history before the program, immediately before and after each session, within one week after the program ends, and again at 1 month and 3 months after completion. After the program, some participants also join a small group discussion (focus group interview) to share their experience of the program.

Because this is a small, single-group preliminary (pilot) study without a comparison group, its primary purpose is to assess feasibility, that is, whether the program and the assessment approach work well enough, and to obtain preliminary effect and variability estimates to inform the design of a future large-scale randomized controlled trial.

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• Feasibility: Program Completion (Retention) Rate — From enrollment through the end of the 8-session intervention (approximately 4 weeks)
  Proportion of enrolled participants who complete all eight sessions of the Emotion Regulation Program. Feasibility is further characterized by recruitment rate, session attendance, and assessment completion rates.
• Change in Craving (VAS-C) — Immediately before and immediately after each of the 8 sessions (over approximately 4 weeks); baseline (within 1 week before the program); within 1 week post-intervention; 1 month and 3 months after completion
  Craving measured by the Visual Analog Scale for Craving (VAS-C), ranging from 0 to 100 mm (0 = no craving, 100 = constant craving); higher scores indicate greater craving (worse outcome). Change from baseline is assessed at post-intervention and follow-up.

Trial sites (2)

More The Catholic University of Korea trials in South Korea

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