Towards a typology of relapse: a preliminary report

This paper outlines an empirical investigation into alcoholic relapse. The model underlying this work hypothesized that relapse in alcoholics is an interaction between (1) situations seen as dangerous in precipitating relapse, (2) the behaviours available within the individuals' repertoire to cope with these situations, (3) the perceived effectiveness of these "coping" behaviours and (4) the degree of alcohol dependence. The results of a "principal components" analysis indicated that "dangerous situations" or relapse precipitants could be categorized as (1) an unpleasant affect, (2) external events and euphoric feelings, (3) social anxiety and (4) lessened cognitive vigilance. Except for "external events", these relapse precipitants seemed to be associated with certain styles of coping, with varying degrees of effectiveness. The therapeutic implications of these findings are discussed in the context of designing treatment regimes geared towards more effective coping behaviours given specific types of situations.