Second year treatment outcome of alcoholics treated by individualized behavior therapy: Results

Second year treatment outcome results are reported for 69 of 70 male alcoholics who, while hospitalized at Patton State Hospital, served as subjects in an experiment evaluating ‘Individualized Behavior Therapy (IBT)’ techniques. Subjects were initially assigned to either a controlled drinking or non-drinking (abstinence) treatment goal. and were then randomly assigned to either an experimental group receiving IBT or a control group receiving conventional state hospital treatment oriented towards abstinence. Previously reported results found that IBT subjects functioned significantly better than control subjects throughout the first year of follow-up. Second year follow-up results found that IBT subjects treated with a controlled drinking goal functioned significantly better than their respective control subjects on a variety of measures, including drinking behavior. Differences between IBT subjects treated with a non-drinking goal and their control subjects did not retain statistical significance during the second year of follow-up. Individual drinking profiles are presented for all subjects. Only subjects treated by IBT with a goal of controlled drinking engaged in a substantial amount of limited, non-problem drinking during the second year interval, and those subjects also had more abstinent days than subjects in any other group. The nature of adequate follow-up procedures and measures is discussed. Implications of these findings for alcoholism treatment are considered.