This research project is designed as a direct test of the patient-treatment matching hypothesis in alcoholism treatment. The central question addressed is whether male alcoholics differing in severity of alcohol dependence will differentially respond to treatment and aftercare interventions that vary in intensity. It is hypothesized overall that patients scoring high on alcohol dependence will respond better to a high intensity treatment or aftercare intervention, and that patients scoring low on alcohol dependence will respond better to a less intensive treatment or aftercare intervention. Patients scoring high on alcohol dependence will be randomly matched to the high intensity treatment or mismatched to the less intensive treatment, and patients scoring low on alcohol dependence will be randomly matched to the low intensity treatment or mismatched to the high intensity treatment. Following the three-week treatments, subjects identified pretreatment as high in alcohol dependence will be randomly matched to the high intensity aftercare or mismatched to the low intensity aftercare, and low alcohol dependence subjects will be randomly matched to the low intensity aftercare or mismatched to the high intensity aftercare. Subjects will be prospectively followed for 12 months after the end of these six-month aftercare periods. In addition, variables or clusters of variables that may mediate the matching of patients on the basis of severity of alcohol dependence to treatment and/or aftercare will be identified. Taken together, these data will provide needed information on the utility of the matching process, and ideally contribute to a better tailoring of treatments to patient needs. Importantly, this research will be conducted in a methodologically rigorous manner, and meets the basic criteria set forth by Annis as crucial to the conduct of competent patient-treatment matching research: use of a reliable patient predictor variable on which at least two patient types are identifiable; inclusion of at least two differentiated treatments; random assignment of each patient type to each treatment condition; adequate power; adequate follow-up length; and objective measures of treatment outcome.
| Connors, G J; Tonigan, J S; Miller, W R et al. (2001) A longitudinal model of intake symptomatology, AA participation and outcome: retrospective study of the project MATCH outpatient and aftercare samples. J Stud Alcohol 62:817-25 |
| Mattson, M E; Del Boca, F K; Carroll, K M et al. (1998) Compliance with treatment and follow-up protocols in project MATCH: predictors and relationship to outcome. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 22:1328-39 |
| (1993) Project MATCH (Matching Alcoholism Treatment to Client Heterogeneity): rationale and methods for a multisite clinical trial matching patients to alcoholism treatment. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 17:1130-45 |
