EFFECTIVENESS OF AN ALCOHOL RELAPSE PREVENTION PROGRAM
Abstract
This study investigated the effectiveness of a Relapse Prevention Program (RPP) and its subunits in preventing relapse among recovering alcoholics. Research on the major theories of alcoholism and related treatments were presented to establish a rationale for the utilization of RPP as a viable counseling approach. Structured interviews were developed to provide information on relapse rates, intensity of treatment, the effectiveness of counseling techniques, and the impact of counselor beliefs on outcome. The 69 subjects who participated in the study were divided into five treatment groups. In addition to the facility's standard treatment, each group received either the RPP, one of its components (social skill training, cognitive reframing, meditation training), or additional standard treatment sessions. The last group served as the control group. Subjects were contacted at the 3-month and 6-month posttreatment periods. A statistical analysis of the responses to the structured interviews revealed that at the 3-month follow-up period, only the cognitive reframing group had significantly fewer relapses than the control group. In addition, there were no significant differences among the groups in terms of their severity of relapse. At the 6-month follow-up there were no significant differences among any of the groups in terms of their number or severity of relapses. However, an analysis of variance statistical procedure revealed that all groups, regardless of the treatment provided, significantly reduced their average daily consumption of alcohol. An analysis of the subjects' utilization of counseling techniques learned during treatment indicated that there were no significant differences among groups in terms of their use of techniques to avoid relapse. The implications that these findings have for relapse prevention theory and counseling programs were discussed.
Subject Area
Academic guidance counseling
Recommended Citation
O'CONNELL, JAMES MICHAEL, "EFFECTIVENESS OF AN ALCOHOL RELAPSE PREVENTION PROGRAM" (1987). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI8725685.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI8725685
