Alcoholism treatment matching research: methodological and clinical issues

Client-treatment matching is an area receiving increased attention both in clinical practice and research with alcoholism. While the notion of potentially improving treatment outcomes by matching has been suggested for some time, there are a number of methodological and practical barriers that have impeded progress in the development of theoretically and clinically relevant matching models. This article provides an overview of the potential benefits of matching, the methodological factors that increase the complexity of research in this area, and some of the clinical barriers that make implementation more difficult. This overview also serves to introduce this special issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol, which examines in more detail each of the methodological issues involved in clinical research on treatment matching. While these methodological issues present unique challenges to the clinical researcher, the potential benefits of matching appear promising and should serve to motivate clinicians and researchers to pursue continued work in this area.