title: The In-Session and Long-Term Role of a Significant Other in Motivational Enhancement Therapy for Alcohol Use Disorders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine how significant other (SO) language in support of or against client abstinence from alcohol influences clients' in-session speech and drinking behavior over the 9 months post-Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET).
  
  
  METHODS
  Sequential analyses were used to examine the language of Project MATCH clients who invited an SO to participate in an MET session. Hierarchical regressions investigated the predictive relationship between SO language and clients' post-treatment drinking behavior. A cohort analytic design compared the change language of these SO-involved participants against a matched group who chose client-only therapy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  'SO Support Change' language increased the odds of client Change Talk in the next utterance (p<.01). SO Support Change did not significantly predict reduced post-treatment drinking, whereas 'SO Against Change' significantly predicted an increase in average drinks per drinking day (DDD) across months 7-9 post-MET (p=.04). In the matched comparison, the proportion of change-related client language was comparable across the SO-involved and client-only groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Motivational interviewing theory was supported by the sequential association between SO and client language as well as the predictive link between SO Against Change and client drinking intensity. Given the centrality of pro-sobriety language in the literature, it was surprising that SO Support Change did not predict alcohol use outcomes. Findings are discussed in relation to contemporary treatment process research and clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA. Electronic address: emilie_bourke@alumni.brown.edu.
authors.forename: Emilie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bourke
authors.affiliation: Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
authors.forename: Molly
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Magill
authors.affiliation: Children's Mercy Hospital Kansas City, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City, MO, USA.
authors.forename: Timothy R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Apodaca
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D062405:Motivational Interviewing; D018454:Spouses; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States
keywords: Alcohol Treatment; Change Language; Change Talk; Motivational Enhancement Therapy; Motivational Interviewing; Process Research