Although many problem drinkers do not seek formal treatment, many are interested in self-help interventions. Because self-help interventions circumvent some of the barriers associated with traditional treatment services, they may help individuals who are not willing to access more intensive treatment reduce the harm associated with their drinking. As well, because self-help materials are relatively inexpensive, they may be distributed widely. As a result, self-help materials could have a significant impact on the harm associated with problem drinking. The major objective of this project is to evaluate the impact of self-help interventions within a general population context. Efficacy trials have demonstrated that two types of interventions may help problem drinkers resolve their drinking concerns without formal treatment: self-help books that guide the problem drinker through the change process and personalized assessment feedback interventions designed to increase the individual's motivation for change. The proposed research will use an experimental trial to assess the effectiveness of self-help books and personalized assessment-feedback interventions, both separately and in combination with each other. Participants will be recruited through a general population survey conducted at the Addiction Research Foundation (N = 132 after attrition) and will be randomly assigned to one of four cells - no intervention control group, personalized feedback only, self-help book only, both personalized feedback and self-help book. The effectiveness of the self-help interventions in helping problem drinkers' resolve their drinking problems will then be examined both independently and in conjunction with each other. Respondents will be followed up in six months time and differences in drinking status will be compared between experimental conditions using Analyses of Covariance with baseline drinking as the covariate. It is hypothesized that respondents receiving either one of the interventions will reduce their drinking significantly more than respondents in the no intervention condition. Further, respondents who receive both interventions should display greater drinking reductions as compared to respondents who receive just one intervention. Because respondents will be recruited from a representative sample of the general population into a randomized trial with a no-intervention control group, this research design will maximize both external and internal validity in examining the effectiveness of self-help interventions.
| Cunningham, John A; Wild, T Cameron; Cordingley, Joanne (2004) Using collaterals to validate self-reports of problem drinkers: any impact on client attrition and quantity of drinking reported? Addict Behav 29:615-21 |
| Cunningham, John A; Koski-Jannes, Anja; Wild, T Cameron et al. (2002) Treating alcohol problems with self-help materials: a population study. J Stud Alcohol 63:649-54 |
