Can Motivational Interviewing in Emergency Care Reduce Alcohol Consumption in Young People? A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Abstract

MI appears at least as effective and may possibly be more effective than other brief interventions in emergency care to reduce alcohol consumption in young people.

A pilot randomized trial of Motivational Interviewing compared to Psycho-Education for reducing and preventing underage drinking in American Indian adolescents

“…These findings are consistent with studies in non-AI teens that have demonstrated that brief interventions are generally effective in reducing alcohol and drug use and behavioral problems (Tanner-Smith & Lipsey, 2015; Winters, 2016). These findings also support previous studies employing MI in non-AI teens and young adults that have demonstrated significant improvement in substance use outcomes (Barnett et al, 2012; Brown et al, 2015; Jensen et al, 2011; Kohler & Hofmann, 2015; Macgowan & Engle, 2010; Stein et al, 2011). Additionally, these studies are consistent with the review of the literature by Tevyaw and Monti (2004) who found better evidence for the effectiveness of MI in reducing alcohol-related problems than in modifying drinking.…”

“…In adults, MI has had the highest effect sizes of all treatments for alcohol use disorders (Miller, 1996, 2000). MI has also been demonstrated to be effective in reducing substance use and use-related behaviors in adolescents and young adults (Barnett, Sussman, Smith, Rohrbach, & Spruijt-Metz, 2012; Brown et al, 2015; Grenard, Ames, Pentz, & Sussman, 2006; Kohler & Hofmann, 2015; Li, Zhu, Tse, Tse, & Wong, 2016; Macgowan & Engle, 2010; P. M. Monti et al, 1999; Peter M. Monti, Suzanne M. Colby, & Tracy A. O’Leary, 2001; Spirito et al, 2004; Tevyaw & Monti, 2004; Vasilaki, Hosier, & Cox, 2006), although not in all analyses (Foxcroft et al, 2016; Li et al, 2016).…”

Binge drinking: Health impact, prevalence, correlates and interventions

“…Although both meta-analyses found some evidence of the efficacy of motivational interviewing and BI in reducing binge drinking among those who presented to emergency departments, the effects found to date remain small-sized. The authors argue that this is largely due to the high heterogeneity of intervention characteristics (length, number of sessions, boosters, single vs. multiple components), comparison groups (treatment as usual, information, feedback), and outcomes (timeframe, alcohol measure) included in the single studies (Kohler & Hofmann, 2015;Schmidt et al, 2016). This assumption is in line with the results of two other reviews among young binge drinkers in emergency departments.…”

“…Several studies found a preventive effect on binge drinking (Wurdak, Wolstein, & Kuntsche, 2016), others mixed evidence regarding different cultures (Cherpitel, Ye, Moskalewicz, & Swiatkiewicz, 2015), while others still found no effects (Clarke, Field, & Rose, 2015). Based exclusively on US American trials, a systematic review and meta-analysis (Kohler & Hofmann, 2015) found that motivational interviewing was more effective in reducing binge frequencies among those under the age of 19 (d = 0.21, 95% CI [0.34, 0.07]) than any other intervention (e.g. standard care, written information, a contact list, phone follow-up and personalised normative feedback).…”

Health behaviour: Current issues and challenges

“…However, these interventions have typically (Kohler & Hofmann, 2015). Similarly, providing college students with gender-neutral (d = 0.29) and gender-specific (d = 0.28) personalised normative feedback has also been found to have a small sized effect on alcohol consumption (Dotson, Dunn, & Bowers, 2015).…”