Are you worried about a relative's/close friend's drug and/or alcohol use?

The goal of the study is to see if an intervention, called the Five Step Method, is acceptable and helpful to you and others who are affected by the drug and/or alcohol misuse of a relative or close friend. The Five Step Method is a handbook that you can use at home or any place you prefer. Therese Collins, MS, RN, a PhD student at Villanova University, is looking for 24 people who are affected by a close friend or relative’s drug and/or alcohol misuse, to take part in the study.

Summary of the key points:

Prior to joining the study, there is an individual Zoom meeting with the principal investigator, Therese Collins, to assess eligibility and have study related questions answered. This takes about 45 minutes.

If you are eligible and decide to join, the remainder of the study is completed asynchronously. The study is 12 weeks long.

You will answer two surveys, one at the beginning of the study and one at the end of the study.

Each survey will take about 60 minutes to complete and asks you questions about yourself, your household, use of healthcare services, and how you feel about your situation when it comes to coping with a relative with drug and/or alcohol misuse.

In this study, participants will be randomly placed into one of two groups. One group will receive the 5-Step Method self-help handbook, and the other group will not receive the handbook. 

A total of 24 people will be in the study, with 12 receiving the handbook.

The participants who are placed in the 5-Step Method intervention group will spend about 1 hour per week with the handbook, although they may use it as often as they would like.

The participants who are placed in the control group will be able to continue to do whatever they had been doing before the study except to check their email each month for study related emails.

Participants in either group are able to use other currently available services for family members if they want to do so.

You will receive compensation for your participation in the study, which described in the study information page link.

There are risks associated with the study:

Some participants may find they get upset as they think about what is happening in their family.

The use of the handbook may be helpful to participants in the intervention group, but this is not yet known.

There is no direct benefit for participants who are placed in the control group. Having half the participants continue to do what they would normally do may help determine if the intervention handbook is similar, better, or worse than what is currently available in the study area.

Your participation in this research is voluntary. You have the right to withdraw at any point during the study.

The Principal Investigator of this study, Therese Collins, can be contacted at tcolli13@villanova.edu.

This version of the information page was approved by the Villanova University IRB (FY2024-145) on 10/24/2025 that expires 08/04/2026.

This study has a reliance agreement between Villanova University and JMU (FY2026-531) that expires 8/4/2026.

The study link is through Villanova University's Qualtrics page.