Lifestyle modification with heavy alcohol drinkers: effects of aerobic exercise and meditation

To assess the effects of exercise and meditation on alcohol consumption in social drinkers, 60 male students, between the ages of 21 and 30, all classified as heavy social drinkers, were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: exercise (running), meditation, and a no-treatment control group. The study consisted of three distinct phases: pretreatment baseline (2 weeks), treatment intervention (8 weeks), and a follow-up period (6 weeks). Subjects in the running and meditation conditions met as a group during the treatment intervention phase, and all subjects self-monitored their daily consumption of alcohol throughout the study. The results showed that subjects in the exercise condition significantly reduced their alcohol consumption compared to the no-treatment control condition. The implications of these findings for treatment intervention, and the importance of subject compliance are discussed.