Resolving alcohol-related problems with and without treatment: the effects of different problem criteria

Prior research indicates that the majority of people who resolve an alcohol problem do so without treatment. Further, a substantial proportion return to moderate drinking. One of the concerns with these findings, however, is that the definition of prior alcohol problems may reflect a less severe problem criterion. Thus, it could be argued that the majority of people "recover" from alcohol problems without treatment because a substantial proportion of these individuals did not actually have a severe alcohol problem.

This article systematically replicates earlier findings regarding the predominance of alcohol recoveries without treatment, using data from the 1994 Canadian Alcohol and Drug Survey. Further, variations in estimates of the proportion of resolutions from alcohol problems both with and without treatment, and to abstinence and moderate drinking, were assessed when different definitions of prior alcohol problems were employed.

Of 9,892 adult lifetime drinkers, 2,177 had experienced at least one problem related to their alcohol consumption and, of these, 885 (57.2% male) had experienced no problems in the last year. Estimates of the prevalence of nontreatment recoveries ranged from 87.5% to 53.7% depending on the stringency of the definition of prior alcohol problems employed.

Although a significant proportion of individuals recover from alcohol problems without treatment, such recoveries appear less common among individuals with more severe alcohol problems.