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Treating alcohol problems with self-help materials: a population study
John A Cunningham1, Anja Koski-Jännes, T Cameron Wild
1Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Russell Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2S1, Canada. John_Cunningham@camh.net
Objective:
An experimental trial was used to assess the effectiveness of a self-help book and a personalized assessment-feedback intervention, both separately and in combination with each other, in a general population survey.
Method:
Participants (N = 86; 66.3% male) were recruited through a random digit dialing telephone survey conducted by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Respondents were randomly assigned to one of four conditions in a two-by-two factorial design: "no-intervention" control group, "personalized feedback only," "self-help book only" and "both personalized feedback and self-help book." Respondents were followed up in 6 months' time, and differences in drinking status were compared between experimental conditions using a multivariate analysis of covariance with baseline drinking severity as the covariate.
Results:
Support was provided for an interaction hypothesis in which respondents who received both interventions reported significantly improved drinking outcomes at 6-month follow-up, compared with respondents who received just one of the interventions or who received no intervention.
Conclusions:
Because respondents were recruited from a representative sample of the general population into a randomized trial with a no-intervention control group, this research design maximized both external and internal validity in examining the effectiveness of self-help interventions.