Alcohol Dependence
Conditions
Keywords
Network Support, AA, Contingency Management
Brief summary
Relapse is the most serious problem in alcoholism treatment. The overall aim of the present study was to determine if a treatment directed at changing the patient's social network, from one that reinforces drinking behavior to one that reinforces sobriety, can create the conditions necessary for long-term treatment success. In addition, we intended to determine if explicit reinforcement for this change of social network (Contingency Management or ContM) would be more effective than the same network support intervention without contingent reinforcement for change.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALNetwork Support
12 Weekly sessions intended to help patients change their social networks to be more supportive of abstinence
Sponsors
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
UConn Health
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* meet DSM-IV criteria for Alcohol Dependence * at least 18 years old * Willing to accept random assignment to treatment conditions
Exclusion criteria
* acute medical or psychiatric problems that require inpatient treatment * reading ability below the fifth grade level * lack of reliable transportation to the treatment site * excessive commuting distance to site * current dependence on drugs (except marijuana)
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Proportion Days Abstinent | Every 3 months out to 2 years |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Network Support for Abstinence | every 6 months out to 2 years |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed