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. 2013 Mar;27(1):52-61.
doi: 10.1037/a0028170. Epub 2012 May 21.

Prospective changes in alcohol use among hazardous drinkers in the absence of treatment

Ronda L Dearing  1 , Katie Witkiewitz, Gerard J Connors, Kimberly S Walitzer
Affiliations

Prospective changes in alcohol use among hazardous drinkers in the absence of treatment

Ronda L Dearing et al. Psychol Addict Behav. 2013 Mar.

Abstract

Gaining a better understanding of the natural course of hazardous alcohol consumption could inform the development of brief interventions to encourage self-change. In the current study, hazardous drinkers (based on Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test score) were recruited using advertisements to participate in a 2-year multiwave prospective study. Participants (n = 206) provided self-reports every six months during the study, including reports of daily alcohol consumption. The current investigation focuses on self-initiated change in participants' frequency of heavy drinking days (i.e., ≥ 5/4 drinks per day for men/women), as predicted by a number of demographic (e.g., age) and psychosocial (e.g., guilt-proneness) variables. Latent growth curve models of the change in percent heavy drinking days over the 2-year period provided an excellent fit to the observed data and indicated a significant decline in percent heavy drinking days over time. Reductions in heavy drinking frequency were predicted by younger age and higher guilt-proneness. The identification of these predictors of reductions in heavy drinking frequency provides information to guide future work investigating self-change among hazardous drinkers.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Figure 1a. Change in percent heavy drinking days by age groups (“older” age = at least one standard deviation above the mean on age, n = 37; “younger” = one standard deviation below the mean or younger on age, n =45). Figure 1b. Change in percent heavy drinking days by guilt groups (“high guilt” = at least one standard deviation above the mean on the TOSCA Guilt scale, n = 54; “low guilt” = one standard deviation below the mean or lower on TOSCA Guilt scale, n =37).
Figure 1
Figure 1
Figure 1a. Change in percent heavy drinking days by age groups (“older” age = at least one standard deviation above the mean on age, n = 37; “younger” = one standard deviation below the mean or younger on age, n =45). Figure 1b. Change in percent heavy drinking days by guilt groups (“high guilt” = at least one standard deviation above the mean on the TOSCA Guilt scale, n = 54; “low guilt” = one standard deviation below the mean or lower on TOSCA Guilt scale, n =37).
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