Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 27, 2026
The Motivation for Alcohol Reward: Predictors of Progressive-Ratio Intravenous Alcohol Self-Administration in Humans
Published on: April 28, 2022
An intervention to increase alcohol treatment engagement: a pilot trial
Tracy Stecker1, Mark P McGovern, Beverly Herr
1Psychiatric Research Center, Dartmouth Medical School, Lebanon, NH 03766, USA. tracy.stecker@dartmouth.edu
Objectives:
Previous research has documented the difficulty individuals with alcohol use disorders have initiating alcohol treatment. This study assessed the feasibility of a brief, cognitive-behavioral intervention designed to increase treatment initiation among individuals with alcohol use disorders.
Methods:
This randomized controlled trial included 196 participants who screened positive for a possible alcohol use disorder on the alcohol use disorders identification test. Randomly assigned intervention participants were administered a brief cognitive-behaviorally-based intervention by telephone designed to modify beliefs that may interfere with treatment-seeking behavior. Beliefs about treatment and treatment-seeking behavior were assessed postintervention.
Results:
Participants receiving the intervention had significantly improved their attitudes toward addiction treatment (p < .002) and increased their reported intention-to-seek treatment (p < .000) postintervention. Further, intervention participants were almost three times more likely to attend treatment within a 3-month period (odds ratio = 2.60, p < .025) than participants in the control group.
Conclusions:
A brief, cognitive-behavioral intervention delivered by telephone and focused on modifying treatment-interfering beliefs holds promise for increasing alcohol treatment seeking among individuals in need.
