Use of treatment strategies in a moderated drinking program for women

Abstract

Little is known about the extent to which individuals participating in drinking reduction interventions use the drinking reduction strategies presented during treatment. In consideration of this issue, we advanced hypotheses about the impact of baseline drinking patterns on strategy use and the relationship of strategy use to drinking patterns over time. One hundred forty-four women who participated in a 10-week drinking reduction program were monitored over an 18-month posttreatment follow-up period. Results indicated that the frequency of baseline heavy drinking days and the frequency of baseline abstinent/light drinking days negatively predicted drinking reduction strategy use during treatment. Over follow-up, strategy use decreased; however, participants who received booster sessions had higher strategy use during the initial phase of follow-up. Although cross-lagged panel analysis revealed that strategy use during treatment predicted abstinent/light days at the 6-month follow-up assessment, this effect was moderated by baseline drinking patterns. These data indicated that the use of drinking reduction strategies is predictive of subsequent reduced drinking only in the early posttreatment period and only for baseline heavier drinkers. Future research is needed to further specify the interplay of strategy use and drinking outcomes and to develop interventions designed to encourage the continued use of strategies over extended periods of time.

Using e-mail boosters to maintain change after brief alcohol interventions for mandated college students: A randomized controlled trial.

“…“Boosters” (i.e., additional exposure to key intervention content) are a promising approach to maintaining the impact of a brief intervention. The addition of booster sessions has been shown to enhance outcomes of alcohol treatment for heavy drinkers in the community (Connors & Walitzer, 2001; Longabaugh et al, 2001; Mendoza, Walitzer, & Connors, 2012). Yet relatively few studies have evaluated the added effect of boosters for the brief interventions typically delivered to non-treatment-seeking college drinkers.…”

Profiles of confidence and commitment to change as predictors of moderated drinking: A person-centered approach.

“…Despite having success rates with moderation on par with abstinence-based treatments, many problem drinkers maintain or return to problematic drinking (e.g., Ilgen, Wilbourne, Moos, & Moos, 2008; Mendoza, Walitzer, & Connors, 2012; Mertens, Kline-Simon, Delucchi, Moore, & Weisner, 2012; Morgenstern et al, 2007; Morgenstern, Kuerbis, Amrhein, et al, 2012; Morgenstern, Kuerbis, Chen, et al, 2012). Therefore identifying who, among problem drinkers, is best suited for moderation and has the greatest likelihood to control drinking has important public health implications.…”

Examining the added value of harm reduction strategies to emailed boosters to extend the effects of online interventions for college drinkers.

“…Boosters have the potential to reinforce key program components when their effects are starting to decay. Boosters have been successfully implemented to enhance alcohol outcomes, yielding long-term effects in treatment seeking (e.g., Mendoza et al, 2012; Meshesha et al, 2020; Walitzer & Connors, 2007) and community-based nontreatment-seeking (Field et al, 2014; Longabaugh et al, 2001; Mello et al, 2005; Monti et al, 2007; Wurdak et al, 2016) samples. Although boosters appear to show promise with these samples, their application to enhance the impact of brief alcohol interventions with college students has been limited.…”