title: Change talk and relatedness in group motivational interviewing: a pilot study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Change talk (CT), or client speech in favor of change, is a hypothesized mechanism of action in motivational interviewing (MI) for substance use disorders. Although group-based treatment is the primary treatment modality for the majority of clients seeking substance use treatment, limited research has examined group motivational interviewing (GMI) among this population, and no study has examined CT within GMI. Therefore, in the current study we examined both standard CT (e.g., desire, ability, reason, need) and a novel phenomenon involving CT which we termed 'relatedness,' or the synergistic exchange of CT between and among group members.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were utilized from an ongoing randomized controlled trial (RCT) examining the effectiveness of GMI relative to a treatment control condition (TCC) among U.S. veteran outpatients with a primary alcohol use disorder at a Veterans Affairs hospital. A subsample of participants (n = 52) from the RCT were randomly assigned to receive GMI or TCC. The majority of participants in the subsample had co-existing psychiatric (88%) and dual diagnosis drug use disorders (38%). Two of four treatment sessions were coded by trained raters for CT and relatedness.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Analyses demonstrated that CT and relatedness occurred with greater frequency in GMI compared to TCC, with effect sizes in the large range for each difference. Results held after controlling for number of group members in treatment sessions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings suggest that GMI is associated with more frequent CT and relatedness than TCC, consistent with the broader literature demonstrating the influence of MI on CT.
authors.affiliation: Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA. Electronic address: shorey@ohio.edu.
authors.forename: Ryan C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Shorey
authors.affiliation: Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Martino
authors.affiliation: Ralph H. Johnson VAMC, Charleston, SC, USA.
authors.forename: Kayla E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Lamb
authors.affiliation: Ralph H. Johnson VAMC, Charleston, SC, USA; Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
authors.forename: Steven D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: LaRowe
authors.affiliation: Ralph H. Johnson VAMC, Charleston, SC, USA; Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Santa Ana
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D017831:Diagnosis, Dual (Psychiatry); D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D062405:Motivational Interviewing / Q000379:methods*; D010045:Outpatients; D010865:Pilot Projects; D014481:United States; D014728:Veterans
keywords: Change talk; Group motivational interviewing; Motivational interviewing; Relatedness; Substance use