title: Brief motivational enhancement and coping skills interventions for heavy drinking.
abstract: Two brief (3-session) interventions were evaluated in a community sample of 98 non-dependent heavy drinking adults. Three weeks of intensive daily monitoring of drinking using a hand-held computer were completed before and after a 3-week intervention phase in which participants were randomly assigned to a brief coping skills, brief motivational enhancement, or waiting list condition. Waiting list participants drank more before, during, and after the brief intervention than brief intervention subjects, but all participants demonstrated reductions in drinking amount and frequency. No differences in drinking were found between the two brief interventions. The potential value of intensive daily monitoring as a tool for non-alcohol dependent individuals interested in reducing their drinking was considered.
authors.affiliation: Yale School of Medicine, VA CT Healthcare (151D), 950 Campbell Avenue-Bldg. 35, West Haven, CT 06516, USA. samuel.ball@yale.edu
authors.forename: Samuel A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Ball
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Todd
authors.forename: Howard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tennen
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Armeli
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mohr
authors.forename: Glenn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Affleck
authors.forename: Henry R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Kranzler
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D011614:Psychotherapy, Brief; D012720:Severity of Illness Index