Testing if causal attribution is a moderator or mediator of brief treatment for problem drinkers

Alcohol is the most commonly used drug in the United States. Recognizing that problem drinkers compose a much larger group than those who are alcohol dependent and pose a serious and financially crippling public health threat than alcoholics is not always reflected in treatment options (Institute of...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Carty, Kathleen A
Format:	Dissertation
Language:	English
Published:	ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-2004
Subjects:	Clinical psychology Psychotherapy Social work
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	Alcohol is the most commonly used drug in the United States. Recognizing that problem drinkers compose a much larger group than those who are alcohol dependent and pose a serious and financially crippling public health threat than alcoholics is not always reflected in treatment options (Institute of Medicine, 1990). Problem drinkers, those who engage in harmful or hazardous drinking, comprise approximately 20% of the population in the United States and utilize hospital services for injuries at about four times the rate of non-problem drinkers. There is an emphasis being placed on detecting and treating problem drinkers as a movement toward early intervention for this population. Brief interventions (BI) have been developed as effective and low-cost methods to ameliorate this widespread problem. There has been a growing body of research that finds early, brief intervention to be effective in achieving secondary and tertiary prevention goals. However, little attention has been paid to the mechanisms of efficacious brief treatments. The goal of this study is to test whether dispositional causal attribution is a mediator of brief treatment interventions and a moderator of future negative consequences. This study is a post-hoc analysis of data that was collected during the Rhode Island Early Intervention Study (REIS). REIS, a prospective, randomized, controlled trial studying the efficacy of brief treatment with problem drinkers, was conducted in a Level 1 trauma ED from 1996 to 1998. A subset of 252 participants, whose demographic data reflects the population who utilize this emergency department, were included in this study.
ISBN:	0542036657 9780542036651