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The comparative effectiveness of behavioral couple therapy in the treatment of alcohol usedisorder
Vedel, E.
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Citation for published version (APA):Vedel, E. (2007). The comparative effectiveness of behavioral couple therapy in the treatment of alcohol usedisorder.
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Download date: 18 Aug 2020
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THE COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF BEHAVIORAL COUPLE THERAPY IN THE TREATMENT OF ALCOHOL USE DISORDER
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© Ellen Vedel, 2007. The comparative effectiveness of behavioral couple therapy in the treatment of alcohol use disorder. This research was financially supported by the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Developments (ZonMw). Cover design: R. Lemaire Printed by: Amsterdam University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduces, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any other form or by any other means, including photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author.
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THE COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF BEHAVIORAL
COUPLE THERAPY IN THE TREATMENT OF ALCOHOL USE
DISORDER
ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT
ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor
aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam
op gezag van de Rector Magnificus
prof.dr. D.C. van den Boom
ten overstaan van een door het college voor promoties ingestelde
commissie, in het openbaar te verdedigen in de Agnietenkapel
op donderdag 20 december 2007, te 10.00 uur
door Ellen Vedel
geboren te Kopenhagen, Denemarken
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Promotiecommissie: Promotor: Prof.dr. G.M. Schippers Overige leden: Dr. E. de Haan Prof.dr. A. Lange Prof.dr. C.P.D.R. Schaap Prof.dr. A.H. Schene Prof.dr. W. van den Brink Faculteit der Geneeskunde
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In memoriam
Marieke Vedel‐Gautier
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 General introduction: Behavioral couple therapy in the treatment of
alcohol use disorder: Testing treatment effectiveness in routine care.
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CHAPTER 2
Behavioral couple therapy in the treatment of a female alcohol‐dependent patient with comorbid depression, anxiety, and personality disorders.
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CHAPTER 3 Individual cognitive behavioral therapy and behavioral couple therapy in alcohol use disorder: A comparative evaluation in community‐based addiction treatment centers.
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CHAPTER 4 Cognitive behavior therapy in the treatment of alcohol use disorder: Effects on intimate partner violence.
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CHAPTER 5 A comparison of moderation‐orientated versus abstinence‐orientated patients receiving cognitive behavior therapy for alcohol use disorder.
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CHAPTER 6 Cognitive‐behavioral therapy in alcohol use disorder: Predictors of treatment outcome.
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CHAPTER 7
General discussion
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Summary in Dutch (Nederlandse Samenvatting)
139
Acknowledgements
145
Curriculum Vitae 146
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CHAPTER 1
Behavioral couple therapy in the treatment of alcohol use disorder: Testing treatment effectiveness in routine care
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INTRODUCTION For a long time, clinical practice in substance abuse treatment was guided by whatever one thought to be effective or one just preferred to practice. Currently, the gap between research and practice is a major concern in addiction treatment delivery (Emmelkamp & Vedel, 2006). Several obstacles have been identified hindering the diffusion of science driven, effective treatment interventions into routine clinical practice in addiction treatment settings, including: (1) the competitive allegiances of scientists and practitioners to different treatment models (although this obstacle is more prominent in some countries then others); (2) the evolving of substance abuse treatment facilities in relative isolation from other healthcare centers; (3) the comparatively low level of education and limited knowledge of scientific methodology of staff working in the field of substance abuse treatment; (4) the limited financial resources that are invested in staff training and supervision, monitoring of treatment, and the lack of quality improvement systems; (5) the tendency of researchers to publish sophisticated, statistically complicated articles which are difficult to interpret by clinicians; and (6) in the case of non‐English speaking countries, a language barrier given that most new information and training material is published in English (McGovern, Fox, Xie, & Drake, 2004; McLellan, 2002; Miller, Sorensen, Selzer, & Brigham, 2006; Miller, Zweben, & Johnson, 2005; Morgenstern, 2000; Schippers, Schramade, & Walburg, 2002). The studies presented here aim at contributing to the need to test science driven treatment interventions, by investigating the potentially additional benefit of active partner‐involvement in the treatment of alcohol use disorders in regular practice. ALCOHOL AND RELATIONSHIP FUNCTIONING The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders‐IV‐TR (DSM‐IV‐TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) specifies alcohol use disorders into two disorders: alcohol abuse, the less severe of the two, and alcohol dependence. Alcohol abuse is characterized by a maladaptive pattern of alcohol use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress. Alcohol dependence is characterized by a cluster of cognitive, behavioral, and physiological symptoms indicating that the individual continues to use alcohol despite significant alcohol related problems. Alcohol use disorders have a profound impact on the well‐being of the patient as well as on family life and has found to be highly associated with relationship distress (Halford, Bouma, Kelly, & Young, 1999; Kahler, McCrady, & Epstein, 2003; Marshal,
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2003), poor communication within the relationship (Floyd, Cranford, Daugherty, Fitzgerald, & Zucker, 2006; Halford et al., 1999; Kelly, Halford, & Young, 2002), sexual dysfunction (OʹFarrell, Choquette, & Birchler, 1991; OʹFarrell, Choquette, Cutter, & Birchler, 1997), verbal aggression and intimate partner violence (Klostermann & Fals‐Stewart, 2006; Leadley, Clark, & Caetano, 2000; Power & Estaugh, 1990) and marital/relationship dissolution (Power & Estaugh, 1990). Until recently, spouse‐aided interventions with alcohol dependent patients were regarded as most appropriate for only a specific sub‐set of patients with severe marital or family problems. These patients were presumed to be in an ‘alcoholic relationship’ with a specific pathological marital structure, and in need of distinct treatment interventions. There is, however, little empirical research to support this unique pathological marital structure (Halford et al., 1999). Marital distress is common in couples facing psychological problems, and not getting along with ones spouse not only has found to be significantly related to alcohol use disorders, but also to other psychiatric disorders such as generalized anxiety disorder, major depression, and panic disorder (Whisman, Sheldon, & Goering, 2000). With respect to the typical features of relationship distress, alcoholic couples (an alcoholic patient with a non‐alcoholic partner) and marital distressed couples resemble each other in being more hostile and using more coercion‐attack statements and fewer friendly acts compared to non‐distressed couples (Billings, Kessler, Gomberg, & Weiner, 1979). Alcoholic couples, however, do not differ in struggle for control, wife dominance and responsibility‐avoiding style of communication compared to non‐alcoholic maritally distressed couples and non‐distressed couples (OʹFarrell & Birchler, 1987; Schaap, Schellekens & Schippers, 1991). INFLUENCE OF RELATIONSHIP ON ALCHOL USE AND TREATMENT Although not having a distinctive pathological structure, family members do play an important role in the development and continuation of alcohol use disorder, and relapsing into alcohol use. Longitudinal community sample studies suggest that marital dissatisfaction is predictive of the development of alcohol use disorder (Whisman, Uebelacker, & Bruce, 2006). In treatment‐seeking patients, family dysfunction at pre‐treatment has found to be associated with poorer drinking outcomes (McKay, Longabaugh, Beattie, & Maisto, 1992), and the presence of higher levels of expressed emotion in the relationship predicts poorer response to treatment (OʹFarrell, Hooley, Fals‐Stewart, & Cutter, 1998). Further, low levels of Critical Comments and a high
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score on Warmth of the significant other is associated with lower risk of relapse (Fichter, Glynn, Weyerer, Liberman, & Frick, 1997). A number of studies have found a positive influence of partner involvement on the course and treatment of alcohol use disorder. Partners and family members play an important role in facilitating change, motivating patients to enter treatment programs (Cunningham, Sobell, Sobell, & Gaskin, 1994), enhancing medication compliance (Azrin, Sisson, Meyers, & Godley, 1982; Keane, Foy, Nunn, & Rychtarik, 1984), changing drinking pattern (Cunningham, Sobell, Sobell, Gavin, & Annis, 1995) and decreasing change of relapse (Havassy, Hall, & Wasserman, 1991). An example of this positive influence was demonstrated in the community reinforcement approach and family training (CRAFT). This approach combines counseling to support the family members with behavioral strategies to rearrange the consequences of drinking to increase the user’s experience of negative consequences to motivate the person to change. Thomas & Ager, (1991) reported that more than 60% of drinkers sought treatment or decreased their drinking after the spouse had participated in unilateral family therapy. Miller, Meyers, & Tonigan, (1999) also found that the majority of drinkers (66%) entered treatment after family involvement in CRAFT. BEHAVIORAL COUPLES THERAPY: THEORY, METHOD & EMPIRICAL SUPPORT Behavioral and cognitive behavioral treatment interventions evolved more than three decades ago, predominately in the field of anxiety disorders and depression. In reaction to the demonstrated effectiveness of these interventions, researchers in the field of substance use disorders started to experiment with the principles of classical and operant conditioning, modeling, shaping and cognitive restructuring in the treatment of patients with alcohol or drug abuse (for review of the literature see Emmelkamp, 1986). In these early years, fundamental contributions to the treatment of substance use disorders were made by G.A. Marlatt (relapse prevention model), M.B. Sobell and L.C. Sobell (controlled drinking), N.H. Azrin (community reinforcement approach) and P.M. Monti (coping‐skills training). Parallel to these developments, the additional benefit of involving a significant other in behavioral‐orientated treatment interventions was investigated. Actively involving a spouse or partner in treatment as an adjunctive therapeutic strategy can serve different purposes; a partner can be involved as a coach in the process of behavior change, disorder‐specific relationship
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issues can be addressed (protecting the patient of the negative consequences of his/her problem behavior), or more general relationship functioning can be addressed. Behavioral couple therapy (BCT) in the treatment of alcohol use disorders combines all these elements. BCT assumes that alcohol abuse and relationship functioning are reciprocal. In this view, alcohol abuse has a deteriorating effect on relationship functioning and high levels of relationship distress in combination with attempts by the partner to control alcohol use may cue craving, reinforce drinking or trigger relapse (Epstein & McCrady, 1998). BCT not only focuses on behavioral self‐control and learning new coping skills to facilitate and maintain abstinence, as do regular cognitive behavioral interventions, but also focuses on improving partner’s coping with drinking‐related situations and improving relationship functioning in general. The interventions used to improve partner’s coping and enhance relationship functioning are comparable with those used in behavioral orientated couple therapy in treatment of relationship distress, which have shown to be more effective compared to other interventions in enhancing relationship satisfaction and decreasing relationship discord (Baucom, Mueser, Shoham, Daiuto, & Stickle, 1998). Studies investigating the effectiveness of BCT. In the first randomized trial into BCT for alcohol use disorder, in early years referred to as behavioral marital therapy (BMT), OʹFarrell, Cutter, & Floyd (1985) studied BCT as an adjunct to standard individual alcohol treatment and compared this combined approach with individual alcohol treatment alone and with another type of marital therapy: interactional couples group therapy. BCT consisted of six to eight conjoint pre‐group sessions followed by ten weekly couples group session. Post‐treatment results showed all three treatment conditions to be effective in changing drinking behavior. Adding BCT to standard individual alcohol treatment resulted in significant improvement on marital relationship variables (overall marital adjustment, extent of desired relationship change, marital stability, and positive communication). The no‐marital treatment group did not improve on any of these marital relationship variables. Results provided some support for the superiority of BCT over interactional therapy, BCT doing better on overall marital adjustment. However, following up on the couples OʹFarrell, Cutter, Choquette, Floyd, & Bayog (1992) found the marital relationship findings favoring BCT to diminish over time. At two‐year follow‐up, only the amount of days separated distinguished both forms of marital therapy from the no‐marital treatment, thus suggesting that marital therapy had promoted
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marital stability. All three treatments showed significant improvement on drinking behavior during the two years following treatment compared to the year prior to treatment; a third to a half of the subjects in the three treatment conditions experienced good outcomes over the entire two years after treatment. Problem severity was predictive of treatment result, the most serious relapses occurring in alcoholics with the most severe drinking problems prior to treatment. A second randomized controlled trial on BCT was reported by McCrady, Noel, & Abrams (1986). These investigators compared three types of spouse involvement in stand‐alone outpatient behavioral alcoholism treatment: (1) a Minimal Spouse Involvement condition (MSI); (2) an Alcohol‐Focused Spouse Involvement condition (AFSI); and (3) Alcohol Behavioral Couple Therapy (ABCT). In MSI the spouse was present, but all interventions were directed toward the problem drinker. In AFSI, the couple was thought skills to respond to alcohol related situations, and in the third condition, ABCT, the couple was not only taught skills to respond more effectively to alcohol‐related situations, but also how to modify their marital relationship (e.g. to increase shared recreational activities, and to improve communication). All three treatments consisted of fifteen sessions, with the option of two additional sessions. All three types of interventions were equally effective in decreasing drinking and increasing life satisfaction. There was no difference in post‐treatment brief or extended marital separations across treatment conditions. In all three conditions marital satisfaction decreased from end of treatment through 6‐month follow‐up. Patients in the MSI and AFSI conditions, however, reported a significantly greater decrease in marital satisfaction than those in the ABCT group. At 18‐month follow‐up, McCrady, Stout, Noel, Abrams, & Nelson (1991) found ABCT to remain more effective compared to alcohol‐focused spouse involvement or minimal spouse involvement, both in terms of drinking behavior and marital satisfaction. Further positive results for BCT were reported by Bowers & Al‐Redha (1990). Comparing standard individual outpatient treatment to couple group therapy, Bowers & Al‐Redha (1990) found no difference in drinking outcome at post‐treatment. However, at 6‐month follow‐up, conjointly treated patients had significant lower alcohol consumption compared to individually treated patients; at one‐year follow‐up there was still a trend for significantly less drinking in the conjointly treated alcoholics. Marital adjustment did not differ at post‐treatment, but was significantly higher at 6‐month and 12‐month follow‐up for conjointly treated patients compared to
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individually treated patients. Results, however, are difficult to interpret, given the small sample size (N = 16). In contrast to the above supportive findings, McKay, Longabaugh, Beattie, Maisto, & Noel (1993) did not find any additional benefit of adding conjoint therapy to individual focused alcoholism treatment in better drinking outcome and family functioning. Patients in this study received either twenty sessions of group therapy or ten sessions of group therapy in combination with ten individual conjoint sessions with a significant other (in 92% of the cases this being the partner). Group treatment consisted of cognitive restructuring and learning new alternative responses in drinking‐related situations. During the conjoint couple sessions, significant others were taught to reinforce abstinence, to decrease behaviors that cued drinking and to stop protecting the patient from the negative consequences of drinking. The fact that conjoint interventions had no additional effect at six‐month post‐treatment on drinking outcome and family function may be influenced by the treatment sample, which was characterized by relatively low levels of family dysfunction, high motivation and good drinking outcomes. BCT as relapse prevention strategy. Both OʹFarrell, Choquette, Cutter, Brown, and McCourt (1993) and McCrady, Epstein, & Hirsch (1999) tested the effects of adding conjoint relapse prevention sessions to BCT as maintenance strategies to counter the decline in treatment‐effect during follow‐up. Patients who received fifteen additional conjoint relapse prevention sessions during the twelve months after treatment, reported more abstinent days and maintained improved relationship functioning compared to those couples that did not receive conjoint relapse preventions sessions (OʹFarrell et al., 1993). Couples receiving relapse prevention sessions reported having better drinking outcomes at 18‐month follow‐up (i.e. six months after ending of the relapse prevention sessions), and better relationship adjustment as rated by the partner throughout the 30‐months follow‐up period compared to couples not receiving relapse prevention sessions. In a comparison of adding relapse prevention sessions or Alcoholics Anonymous participation to BCT, McCrady et al. (1999) found no difference in the percentage of abstinent days and heavy drinking days at six month follow‐up between regular BCT or BCT with relapse prevention or encouragement to attend alcoholic anonymous (AA) self‐help meetings.
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INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE Besides having positive impact on drinking behavior and relationship functioning, there are some data that suggest that BCT may have an impact on decreasing intimate partner violence (IPV). Alcohol consumption is associated with an increased risk of intimate partner violence and, although still disputed by some, it is increasingly being accepted that alcohol is not only correlated but also causally related to IPV (Leonard, 2005; OʹLeary & Schumacher, 2003). In some specific populations the co‐occurrence of IPV and elevated alcohol intake is especially alarming. In alcoholic cohabiting men entering substance abuse treatment, between 40‐60 % of the couples report intimate partner violence in the year prior to treatment, a prevalence 4‐6 times higher compared to matched community sample controls. The prevalence of IPV has shown to decrease significantly in the year following individual alcohol treatment (OʹFarrell, Fals‐Stewart, Murphy, & Murphy, 2003) as well as following BCT (OʹFarrell, Murphy, Stephan, Fals‐Stewart, & Murphy, 2004) in treatment seeking alcoholics. Some investigators have found support for the notion that in addition to the reduction of alcohol (or drug) use, increasing relationship functioning may have an additional positive impact on decreasing IPV. In drug‐abusing patients, individual‐based substance abuse treatment was found not to significantly decrease the prevalence of IPV. However, in patients receiving BCT, the prevalence of IPV did decrease significantly. Variables moderating this effect were general relationship adjustment, frequency of drug use, and frequency of heavy drinking (Fals‐Stewart, Kashdan, OʹFarrell, & Birchler, 2002). Implicitly, these findings suggest that a reduction in relationship distress and/or frequency of substance use results in a reduction of IPV. Finally, in a recent study by Fals‐Stewart, Birchler, & Kelley (2006) BCT was found to be superior compared to individual treatment or psycho‐education control in reducing drinking, enhancing dyadic adjustment and reducing IPV. DEVELOPING A RCT: INDIVIDUAL COGNITIVE BEHAVIOR THERAPY VERSUS BCT In 1998 an overview was presented of the current empirical status of different treatment interventions in the treatment of alcohol use disorders by the task force on promotion and dissemination of psychological procedures of the American Psychological Association (Chambless & Hollon, 1998). As was the case for most adult mental disorders, behavioral treatment interventions dominated the list and in the case of alcohol use disorders, cue‐exposure
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therapy, coping skills training, social skills training, community reinforcement approach and BCT were the only treatment modalities meeting the criteria of being possibly efficacious (Baucom et al., 1998; DeRubeis & Crits‐Christoph, 1998). In order to gather more specific information about how these different treatment modalities compare, and in line with previously conducted randomized trials in the treatment of depression (Emanuels‐Zuurveen & Emmelkamp, 1996; Emanuels‐Zuurveen & Emmelkamp, 1997; Jacobson, Fruzzetti, Dobson, Schmaling, & Salusky, 1991; OʹLeary & Beach, 1990), obsessive‐compulsive disorders ((Emmelkamp, de Haan, & Hoogduin, 1990; Emmelkamp & de Lange, 1983) and panic disorder (Arnow, Taylor, Agras, & Telch, 1985; Barlow, OʹBrien, & Last, 1984; Cobb, Mathews, Childs‐Clarke, & Blowers, 1984; Emmelkamp, van Dyck, Bitter, & Heins, 1992; Jannoun, Munby, Catalan, & Gelder, 1980; Oatley & Hodgson, 1987), it was decided to compare the effectiveness of two of these possible efficacious treatments; individual cognitive behavior therapy (a combination of cognitive and behavioral treatment interventions) and BCT. While preparing the RCT, Dutch substance abuse treatment facilities were starting a major national‐wide reorganization referred to as “Resultaten Scoren” (‘To Score Results’ ; GGZ Nederland, 1998). One of the primary goals of this reform was to implement standardized evidence‐based psychosocial behavior‐oriented treatment modalities in combination with a stepped‐care patient‐treatment allocation system (Schippers et al., 2002). In addition to the proposed treatment modalities to be implemented in Dutch addiction centers, we choose to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of behavioral couple therapy. Combining research interests into the effectiveness of behavioral couple therapy with the wish to support the dissemination of evidence‐based treatments in routine clinical practice, some slight changes in the original RCT design were made. First of all, the original individual cognitive behavior therapy condition was dropped in favor of one of the new treatments‐of‐choice produced by ‘To Score Results’: Lifestyle skills training 2 (de Wildt et al., 2000). The behavioral couple treatment protocol was modeled after this Lifestyle skills training 2 protocol (e.g. 10 sessions, comparable basic drinking treatment interventions) and both treatment conditions were delivered by regular addiction treatment counselors. Second, the original plan to randomize patients not only over CBT versus BCT, but also over the prescription of anti‐craving medication or not (2 x 2 design) was dropped in favor of a routine care policy with respect to prescription of medication. Patients were randomized over CBT versus BCT, and if patient and therapist thought medication advisory, the patient was referred to a
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medical doctor for ad‐on medication. Third, in line with Lifestyle skills training 2, patients in both treatment conditions were offered a choice between opting for abstinence or controlled drinking as treatment goal, which makes this the first study of BCT in the treatment of alcohol dependence with moderation as optional treatment goal. Due to these adaptations in the original design of the study, this RCt did not only compare treatment outcome of BCT versus CBT, but also tested the effectiveness of behavioral couple therapy in a routine care setting, conducted by regular counselors, treating regular patients in two community‐based addiction treatment centers. The primary hypothesis of the study remained however the same, that behavioral couple therapy would have a surplus over standard individual therapy in changing drinking and enhancing relationship functioning in alcoholics and their non‐substance abusing partner. PRESENT THESIS The present series of chapters are primarily based on the result of a randomized clinical trial (RCT) testing the effectiveness of behavioral couples therapy in the treatment of alcohol use disorder. BCT was compared with a recently implemented individual cognitive behavioral treatment protocol (CBT). Based on the literature reviewed above, is was hypothesized that patients receiving BCT would have better drinking outcomes compared to patients receiving individual CBT and that couple receiving BCT would report less relationship distress at post‐treatment and follow‐up compared to couples in the CBT condition. In chapter 2 a case report is presented in which a draft version of the BCT‐protocol was used in the treatment of a female patient and her partner. In chapter 3 the outcomes of the RCT are reported at post‐treatment and 6‐month follow‐up. Chapter 4 reports on the occurrence of intimate partner violence in this treatment seeking sample and the reduction in violence during treatment and follow‐up. Chapter 5 addresses the issue of treatment goal: do abstinence‐orientated patients have different drinking outcomes compared to moderation‐orientated patients? In chapter 6 an attempt is made to identify variables that predict treatment dropout and treatment outcome. Chapter 7 summarizes the findings described in the previous chapters and discusses the implications of these findings for clinical practice and future research.
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CHAPTER 2
Behavioral couple therapy in the treatment of a female alcohol‐dependent patient with comorbid depression, anxiety, and personality disorders
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ABSTRACT Behavioral Couple Therapy (BCT) has shown to be effective in the treatment of alcohol dependence. However, it is still unclear whether this intervention is effective in severe cases with comorbid other conditions. The aim of the present study is to illustrate the assessment, case conceptualization, prioritizing of interventions and treatment in a female ‘treatment resistant’ alcohol‐dependent patient, with comorbid depression, anxiety, personality disorders, and marital problems, using a BCT manual. In total, the treatment consisted of 19 sessions, during a 7‐month period. Results show BCT to be successful in treating alcohol dependence and to some extent increasing marital satisfaction. At post‐treatment the patient did no longer meet criteria for major depressive disorder. At 3‐month follow‐up she had been abstinent for 5½months,with a 2‐day lapse, and her depressive disorder was still in full remission. This case demonstrates ‐even with severe comorbid conditions‐ that targeting the drinking problem is the treatment of choice. However, we stress the importance of a thorough assessment of other Axis I and II disorders. Vedel. E. & Emmelkamp, P.M.G. (2004). Behavioral couple therapy in the treatment of a female alcohol‐dependent patient with comorbid depression, anxiety, and personality disorders. Clinical Case Studies, 3(3), 187‐205.
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THEORETICAL AND RESEARCH BASIS Alcohol dependence is characterized by a maladaptive pattern of alcohol use, leading to clinically significant impairment or distress, as manifested by symptoms such as tolerance, withdrawal, impaired control, neglect of activities, and continued drinking despite recurring problems caused or exacerbated by alcohol use (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). There is relatively high comorbidity between alcohol use disorders on one hand and major depression (Schuckit et al., 1997; Swendsen & Merikangas, 2000), and anxiety disorders (Kushner, Abrams & Brochardt, 2000; Schuckit & Hesselbrock, 1994), on the other hand. These associations are most commonly explained by either a causal relationship or a shared etiological factor underlying both disorders. Depression or anxiety symptoms may be caused by alcohol use disorder–related symptoms (intoxication, withdrawal, and/or lifestyle problems) (Brown et al., 1995; Verheul et al., 2000). Alternatively, patients may start drinking to regulate their mood or anxiety (self‐medication hypothesis). Comorbidity has been associated with elevated drinking rates and alcohol‐related problems, as well as poorer prognosis after treatment. There is some evidence that adding specific Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) treatment sessions directed at the comorbid depression, in addition to regular alcohol treatment, increases overall treatment success rates (Brown, Evans, Miller, Burgess, & Mueller, 1997). However, Bowen, D’Arcy, Keegan, and van Stenhilsel (2000) found no additional benefit of adding CBT‐sessions focusing on comorbid panic disorder, in reducing problem drinking.
Alcohol use disorders and personality disorders also often co‐occur in the same individual (Verheul, 2001). Recent studies have shown that personality pathology is, although associated with pre‐ and post‐treatment problem severity, not a robust predictor of the amount of treatment improvement. Substance abusers with Axis II comorbidity may benefit at least as much from treatment as those without any Axis II disorder (Verheul, van den Brink, Hartgers, & Koeter, 1999).
Traditionally, behavioral models postulated problematic drinking as behavior learned and maintained through classical and operant conditioning. Contemporary cognitive‐behavioral models (incorporating social learning perspectives) have stressed, although acknowledging that alcoholism may have some genetic component, the importance of cognitions and feelings preceding and directing drinking behavior (Carroll, 1999). From a cognitive‐behavioral perspective, alcohol abuse/dependence is defined as a habitual, maladaptive method for attempting to cope with the stresses of
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daily living. This maladaptive way of coping is triggered by internal and external cues and reinforced by positive rewards and/or avoidance of punishment (Monti, Abrams, Kadden, & Cooney, 1989). In the treatment of alcohol use disorders, CBT emphasizes overcoming skill deficits. Different techniques are used to increase the person’s ability to detect and cope with high‐risk situations that commonly precipitate relapse; these include interpersonal difficulties as well as intra‐personal discomfort, such as anger, (social) anxiety, and depression (Kadden et al., 1992). CBT is an empirically supported therapy in the treatment of alcohol use disorders, producing significant reduction in alcohol consumption and alcohol related problems (Chambless & Hollon, 1998; Emmelkamp, 2004; Roth & Fonagy, 1996). Apart from other Axis I and II comorbidity as discussed above, CBT effectiveness might be impeded by relationship problems, although results of these studies are inconclusive (Emmelkamp & Vedel, 2004). In general, alcoholic couples report low marital satisfaction. Moreover, drinking has been associated with other marital issues such as domestic violence (Leadley, Clark, & Caetano, 2000; Leonard & Senchak, 1993) and sexual dysfunction (O’Farrell, Choquette & Birchler, 1991; O’Farrell, Choquette, Cutter, & Birchler, 1997) and has been found to affect communication between partners (Jacob & Leonard, 1988, 1992). It must be noted, however, that many of the above‐cited studies used samples of male alcoholics and their female partners. Little research has been done on the specific characteristics and treatment of the female alcoholic and her male partner (Epstein & McCrady, 1998). There is some evidence that specific behaviors of the spouse can function either as a cue or reinforcer in drinking behavior. Conversely, they also can cue or reinforce abstinence/nondrinking behavior (Epstein & McCrady, 1998). In studies into alcohol abusers’ natural recovery, social support, especially from a spouse, was significantly related to successfully changing the drinking behavior (Sobell, Sobell, & Leo, 2000). Furthermore, overall marital adjustment (e.g., low marital distress) and marital stability were found to be positively related to success of treatment and are hypothesized to be promoted by (behavioral) couple therapy (Baucom, Shoham, Mueser, Daiuto, & Stickle, 1998; O’Farrell, Cutter, Choquette, Floyd & Bayog, 1992; O’Farrell, Cutter,& Floyd, 1985). Finally, as in depression, there is some evidence that restoring marital satisfaction and reducing conflicts reduces the probability of relapse (Beach, Fincham, & Katz, 1998). Behavioral Couple Therapy (BCT) has been shown to be an effective intervention in the treatment of alcohol use disorders (Baucom et al., 1998; Chambless & Hollon, 1998; Epstein & McCrady, 1998). In general, BCT
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focuses not only on behavioral self‐control and coping skills to facilitate and maintain abstinence, as does CBT, but also on improving spouse’s coping with drinking‐related situations, improving relationship functioning in general, and improving functioning within other social systems the couple is currently involved in. The degree of emphasis on each of these domains and the techniques used to target the domains vary across different treatment manuals (e.g., McCrady & Epstein, 1995; Noel & McCrady, 1993; O’Farrell, 1993). The aim of this study is to illustrate the assessment, case conceptualization, prioritizing of interventions and treatment in a female treatment‐resistant alcohol dependent patient with comorbid depression, anxiety, personality disorders, and marital problems. CASE STUDY AND PRESENTING COMPLAINTS Dianne (52 years old, former community nurse, married, no children) was referred to us by a colleague, who had been treating Dianne’s husband Mick. Mick (58 years old, a computer specialist) had been suffering from work‐related stress, and during the course of his treatment he had more than once complained about his wife’s drinking. She increasingly called him at work, sometimes several times a day, complaining of being lonely, and craving for a(nother) drink. Sometimes Mick would stop work and go home to his wife to support her. During the weekends, when together with her husband, Dianne was able to control her drinking. However, Mick’s presence was slowly losing its abstinence reinforcing property. Dianne had now also started drinking during the times Mick was at home, and marital discord was increasing rapidly. Dianne was fearful her husband was going to leave her and thus was willing to try new treatment for her alcohol dependence. Dianne had been drinking excessively for the past 4 years. She had developed the habit of drinking between 12 and 24 units a day (mostly beer and wine), for several days in a row. After a number of days she then would collapse (too sick to drink) for 2 days, after which she would resume drinking. Besides drinking, Dianne complained about feeling depressed, not being able to structure her day, having difficulty sleeping and eating, having sore muscles, being lonely, feeling guilty and worthless, being on edge all the time, not being able to control her worrying, and having occasional panic attacks. HISTORY Until 1994 Dianne worked as a community nurse. She was not much of a drinker then; maybe once or twice a week she and her husband would share
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a bottle of wine when out for dinner. Because of some reorganizations Dianne’s job changed. The workload increased and Dianne describes herself as becoming more and more stressed, making longer hours in an effort to keep up with the work, resulting in a breakdown. Dianne started seeing a therapist for work‐related stress but did not find the treatment very helpful. Dianne stopped working and, in the years to follow, the frequency and the quantity of her drinking increased. She started drinking at home on a daily basis and started using a tranquilizer (Oxazepam). During 1998 Dianne was admitted for detoxification (1‐week hospitalization) and subsequently treated in a day care program at an addiction treatment facility. She was treated for alcohol dependence and, having lost control over her use of Oxazepam, for anxiolytic dependence. Dianne successfully stopped using the anxiolytic; however, a few weeks into the program she was expelled from further treatment because of continued drinking. In 1999 she was prescribed Clomipramine for her depression, but again she was not able to control her drinking. She experienced little or no improvement and stopped using the antidepressant. At the same time she started attending an outpatient group treatment program for alcoholics based on Rational Emotive Therapy, but this was of little avail. She kept on drinking, her depressive and anxiety symptoms only increased, and her relationship with Mick deteriorated. Although eager to start treatment at our facility, Dianne, and to some extent Mick, was pessimistic about possible treatment results and Dianne’s capacity for change.
When we first saw Dianne and Mick in 2000, Dianne had just started using Acamprosate (an anticraving drug) prescribed by her general practitioner. In addition to this prescription, Dianne received a full medical checkup. In the case of heavy drinking, pretreatment medical testing (blood and liver functions) is required. As for Dianne, there were no abnormalities. ASSESSMENT Substance use disorders. We used the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) (DSM‐IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) Axis I Disorders (SCID‐I; First, Spitzer, Gibbon & Williams, 1996) to confirm our diagnoses: 303.90 Alcohol dependence, with physiological dependence, and 304.10Anxiolytic dependence, sustained full remission. In addition, we used the Timeline Followback Method developed by Sobell and Sobell (1996) to establish quantity/frequency measures, as well as overall drinking pattern. To assess Dianne’s confidence to control her drinking (self‐efficacy) we used the
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Situational Confidence Questionnaire (SCQ) (Annis & Graham, 1988). The SCQ revealed that Dianne had little confidence in remaining abstinent in critical emotional situations (feeling sad or lonely). In addition, she was not convinced she would be able to limit her drinking after one or two drinks (loss of control). Comorbidity, Axis I and II. As mentioned before, Dianne was also suffering from depressive symptoms, uncontrollable worrying, and situational panic attacks. She described herself as always having been worrying about work and household chores. On the other hand, she had always been able to control it until now. Indeed, during the period she had difficulty managing her job, she had been feeling depressed too, but nothing like the way she was feeling now. To assess the severity of her depressed mood, Dianne completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck, Ward, Mendelson, Mock & Erbaugh, 1961). Dianne had a score of 31, which is considered rather severe. There was no suicidal ideation. In view of the presence of a possible substance‐related artifact, the hypothesis that part of the observed psychopathology is an artifact of the addictive problems and therefore will (strongly) decline after discontinuation of alcohol misuse (Verheul et al., 2000), we postponed diagnosing major depression and generalized anxiety disorder. Dianne did not meet the criteria for panic disorder. We tried making a timeline, pinpointing the onset of the different symptoms and to discriminate between possible different disorders, but were not very successful in doing so. Dianne had partly started drinking because of feeling anxious and depressed, but her drinking had also made her more anxious and depressed. Using the Questionnaire on Personality Traits (VKP; Duijsens, Eurelings‐Bontekoe & Diekstra, 1997), a self‐report questionnaire, and the International Personality Disorder Examination (IPDE; Loranger, 1999), a semi‐structured diagnostic interview, Dianne was diagnosed as having an avoidant and obsessive‐compulsive personality disorder. Assessment of Dianne’s husband Mick. Mick and Dianne had known each other for 16 years. Working in different cities, they had never actually lived together. During the week they each had their own apartment, during the weekends and holidays Mick stayed at Dianne’s place. Preparing his upcoming retirement, Mick was now going to move in with Dianne. Prior to their relationship, Mick himself had had difficulties controlling his drinking. During the mid‐eighties he had received treatment for his alcohol dependence/abuse, after which he had been able to regulate his drinking. He
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only drank on weekdays, when at his own apartment (maximum of 3 units a day). Using the SCID‐I, Mick did not meet criteria for any Axis I disorders other than 303.90 Alcohol dependence, sustained full remission. According to the VKP, he did meet criteria for a schizoid personality disorder. However, no formal diagnostic interview was conducted. We therefore prefer to be conservative and refer to Mick as having schizoid personality features. Marital adjustment. Using the Maudsley Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire (MMQ; Arrindell, Emmelkamp & Bast, 1983), we found marital satisfaction to be poor for both partners. Mick was clearly more negative about their relationship than was Dianne, for Mick had a score of 42 whereas Dianne had a score of 20 on marital dissatisfaction. In comparison with Dutch norm groups, Mick scored nearly one standard deviation above the mean of maritally distressed couples, whereas the score of Dianne was exactly on the cutoff point differentiating maritally distressed from non–maritally distressed couples (Emmelkamp, Krol, Sanderman & Ruephan, 1987). The Level of Expressed Emotion (LEE; Cole & Kazarian, 1988) showed Mick to experience little emotional support from his wife. Dianne was more positive, finding Mick supportive in some areas. Their marriage was stable, as assessed with the Marital Status Inventory (MSI; Weiss & Cerreto, 1980). There had been no past separations and, contrary to Dianne’s beliefs about Mick’s commitment to their marriage, there were no plans for future separation. To establish if there was any form of violence or fear of violence, and verbal or physical abuse, we used the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS; Straus, 1979) and interviewed both partners. In the past year Dianne had hit her husband twice while being drunk; in one of these instances Mick had hit her back. Both partners agreed these had been isolated incidences and were convinced there would be no future violence. CASE CONCEPTUALIZATION Concerning Dianne there were four major related issues intertwining: her drinking, her depressive mood, her anxious symptoms, and Dianne and Mick’s marital problems. In addition, Dianne met criteria for both avoidant personality disorder and obsessive‐compulsive personality disorder. Prioritization of targets for treatment (see also figure 1). Many of Dianne’s symptoms (e.g., sleeping difficulties, muscle tension, poor concentration, and low self‐esteem) could be accounted for by each of the four problem
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areas discussed above. We decided to focus our attention on Dianne’s drinking as a first step. In general—even with severe comorbid conditions—targeting the drinking problem is the treatment of choice. There is no evidence that if the patient is not able to control his or her alcohol consumption, targeting other pathology in co‐occurrence with alcohol dependence will be effective and should be considered as a first choice for treatment. In the case of Dianne, we hypothesized that if she would stop her alcohol use or start to control her drinking, her depressive symptoms would diminish, as would her worrying and presumably some of the marital problems. Furthermore, we decided to take the personality features of both partners into account in treatment planning and in the therapeutic relationship, if needed. Figure 1. Macro‐analysis
PERSONALITY: Avoidant and obsessive –compulsive
personality disorder
STRESSORS: Low marital satisfaction husband
Depressive disorder
DRINKING
Social isolation
Worrying/anxiety
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Prioritization of treatment strategies. Given our focus on alcohol dependence as the first target, we had to decide whether we would provide individual therapy, group therapy, or spouse‐aided therapy. In view of the fact that she already had had a negative experience with group therapy, this was not a serious option. BCT is as effective as individual CBT not only with alcohol abuse, but also with depression and anxiety disorders (Emmelkamp & Vedel, 2004). Because of Mick’s early retirement and the consequences this was going to have on their relationship, we anticipated this could become a source of stress, especially because he was characterized as a “loner,” who had for the first time elected to live together with his partner. Given this state of affairs and taking into account their overall low marital satisfaction, we decided to offer Dianne and her husband BCT, focusing on the drinking problem as well as their relationship, meanwhile carefully monitoring Dianne’s craving, and depressive and anxiety symptoms. If still needed, the spouse‐aided therapy for alcohol abuse could be supplemented by spouse‐aided therapy for depression or anxiety. Because Dianne had already started using Acamprosate, we agreed that she would continue using the anti‐craving agent during the course of our treatment. COURSE OF TREATMENT AND ASSESSMENT OF PROGRESS Initially, Dianne and Mick’s treatment followed a BCT manual (Koning & Vedel, 1999). This protocol consists of 10, 90‐minute sessions of spouse‐aided therapy. It is a stand‐alone treatment delivered during individual couple sessions. Most of the techniques used are derived from the Counseling Alcoholic Marriages (CALM) protocol developed by O’Farrell and colleagues (e.g., O’Farrell, 1993; O’Farrell & Fals‐Stewart, 1999). Psycho‐education and sobriety trust contract. The first two sessions were used for psycho‐education, explaining the treatment rationale and introducing the sobriety trust contract. Dianne and Mick were asked what their ideas were about drinking and alcohol dependence. The differences between the disease model versus the cognitive‐behavioral approach were discussed, as well as controlled drinking versus total abstinence. Although aware of the fact that her husband was successful in controlling his drinking, Dianne was determined to give up drinking completely. We agreed with Dianne in regarding this to be preferable, especially because the nature of her depressive and anxiety symptoms was still unclear. We introduced the sobriety trust contract; each day at a specific time Dianne was to initiate a
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brief discussion with Mick and reiterate her intention not to drink. Dianne was then to ask Mick if he had any questions or fears about possible drinking that day and answer the questions in an attempt to reassure him. Mick was not to mention past or possible future drinking beyond that day. They were to agree to refrain from any discussing of drinking at any other time, to keep the daily trust discussion very brief, and to end with a positive statement to each other. It took several sessions before Dianne and Mick incorporated this exercise into their daily routine. Behavioral analyses. To obtain more information about Dianne’s drinking pattern, we asked her to keep a diary. Every time she felt the urge to drink she had to write down where she was (situation), what her feelings were (emotions), what she was thinking or seeing (cognitions or images), and any physical sensations she might be experiencing. She was also asked to rate (1‐10) the amount of craving she had experienced, which appeared to be highly related to fluctuations in her depressed mood. The diary was used to identify high‐risk situations and to detect seemingly irrelevant decisions that sometimes cumulated into high‐risk situations (e.g., not getting out of bed in the morning or skipping a planned trip to the supermarket). Using the above‐mentioned daily recordings, we introduced the behavioral analysis as a framework of hypotheses with respect to antecedents and consequences of (drinking) behavior. Important during this first phase was to show Dianne and Mick the loop in which Dianne had caught herself, the consequences of her drinking (e.g., feeling bad about oneself) being also a reason for her to start drinking. During this phase, we also addressed Mick’s part in his wife’s drinking behavior. We wanted to decrease behaviors of Mick that triggered or rewarded drinking and to increase behaviors that triggered or rewarded non‐drinking. For example, it was explained to the couple that although acting out of concern, Mick’s tendency to come home when Dianne complained about feeling lonely increased the frequency of phone calls and her dependency on him (see also figure 2). Increasing positive interaction. From Session 2 onwards we also tried to increase positive interaction between the couple. We wanted to shift Dianne’s and Mick’s attention from recording only one another’s negative behaviors (attentional bias), to also being able to recognize positive behaviors. As a homework assignment we asked both of them to write down pleasant or positive behaviors they had observed in each other (e.g., asking
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Figure 2. Behavioral Analysis
COVERT: What is the use of it all? I’m only a burden to
everyone. I don’t want to feel anything
anymore. There is so much to do and
why don’t I get round to it. I need a time out.
CONDITIONED AVOIDANT RESPONSE:Drinking
CONDITIONED EMOTIONAL RESPONSE (and its physiological responses)
• Feeling sad • Feeling anxious • Craving
DISCRIMINATIVE STIMULI:Being (alone) at home, doing nothing
CONSEQUENCES:Positive short term:
• Being able to sleep • Decrease of negative thoughts and feelings • Being able to relax • Attention from husband
Negative short term: • Not being able to meet other people
Negative long term: • Marital conflict • Decline physical health • Increase in depressive symptoms • Increase in anxiety
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how your day was, getting up to make some coffee). During the next session they were to tell each other what they had written down, starting each sentence with “I liked it when you . . . .” or “It made me feel good when I saw you . . . .” The first time Dianne and Mick tried this homework assignment, they returned the next session without having observed anything positive about their partner. Although the assignment had “failed,” it was of great value. Dianne and Mick were shocked about how much their relationship had changed over the past years. Discussing the difference about there not being any positive behaviors and not being able to detect these behaviors, Dianne and Mick were “suddenly” able to recollect past week positive behaviors of one another. Dianne and Mick were quite motivated to repeat the homework assignment. We intended not only to increase the attention toward positive behaviors, but we also attempted to increase the actual amount of positive behaviors of Dianne and Mick as a couple. Trying to identify possible pleasant activities, we asked the couple to talk about pleasant things they did together during the time they were dating each other. In the case of Dianne and Mick they liked going out for dinner and going to the movies. We asked them to take turns in planning comparable pleasant activities. Identifying high‐risk situations. Using Dianne’s diary, the behavioral analysis, and Mick’s insight into Dianne’s drinking behavior, we identified the most important high‐risk situations. In Dianne’s case these were being home alone and feeling sad or worrying about household chores. Within the context of practicing self‐control we discussed the fact that an urge or craving is a time‐limited phenomenon: rather than increasing steadily and only disappearing after drinking has occurred, it will peak and die down like a wave. We introduced different ways of coping with craving, the three most important being (a) getting involved in some distracting activity, (b) talking about it with someone who can support you, and (c) challenging and changing self‐defeating thoughts. Because of Dianne’s depressed mood she did not pick up on the changing of her cognitions very well. We decided to focus our attention on distracting activities and talking with Mick about how she felt. During these first weeks Dianne was relatively successful in remaining abstinent. Sometimes she would lapse into a 1‐day drinking episode but the next day she would be able to restrain herself from further drinking. Much time was spent re‐labeling these “failures.” Dianne, as well as Mick, had difficulty accepting change to be a slow process. Rather than focusing on failure we tried to shift attention to determining which antecedents had
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made Dianne drink in the first place (adding them to the behavioral analysis) and which thoughts/actions had helped her the next day to restrain herself. Management of depressed mood. During the course of treatment more attention had to be given to Dianne’s depressive symptoms. Counter to our expectations Dianne’s depressed mood did not disappear after a period of abstinence. Although her sleeping and eating improved to some extent, her worrying lessened, and her panic attack disappeared, Dianne kept on feeling sad and low on energy. At this moment the probable diagnosis of General Anxiety Disorder was not confirmed; however, the diagnosis of depressive disorder was reaffirmed. Therefore after seven sessions of alcohol treatment, the manual Spouse‐Aided Therapy with Depressive Disorders (Emanuels‐Zuurveen & Emmelkamp, 1997) was incorporated into Dianne’s and Mick’s treatment program. Inactivity being one of Dianne’s most salient high‐risk situations, we introduced an activity training as an intervention to tackle negative mood as well as her drinking problem. Activation training is a fairly common behavioral technique in treating depression. Derived from Lewinson’s theory on depression, it is assumed that depression is caused by a reduction in response‐contingent positive reinforcement, an increase in aversive experiences, or a combination of both. We encouraged Mick to help his wife in organizing her week: combining basic daily activities (e.g., getting dressed in the morning), taking care of neglected activities (e.g., cleaning up the bedroom), and increasing the amount of pleasant activities (listening to music, going out for a cup of coffee with a friend). Given Dianne’s social anxiety, a gradual approach was used in having her engage in social situations. Communication training. From session 9 onwards communication training was introduced. This training is made up of four basic elements: first, basic listening skills and nonverbal communication; second, talking, expressing your thought and feeling in a non‐accusing way; third, discussing basic themes within the couple’s relationship; and fourth, problem solving, teaching a set of sequential steps for solving problems that minimizes negative emotional undercurrents while maximizing the identification, evaluation, and implementation of the optimal solutions. During the communication training both partners’ personalities became more salient; this may be due to the fact that the drinking and depressive symptoms had lessened. In addition, we addressed assertiveness, not only because of
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Dianne’s social anxiety, but also because both partners found it difficult to express disapproval and make a request. During these sessions it became clear that Mick had great difficulty handling Dianne’s preoccupation with details and her reluctance to delegate tasks unless he submitted to exactly her way of doing things. We had the couple express their expectations about the future and about their (renewed) relationship toward one another. We found it important to address realistic goal setting, especially because Dianne had very high expectations about Mick moving in with her. To enhance her social support network, we encouraged Dianne to start visiting her old friends again, since she had been neglecting these contacts in the past few years. We also encouraged Dianne to start thinking about working again. She enrolled in a volunteer‐working program and started as a hostess in a hospital. Relapse prevention. During the end of the treatment, much time was spent planning for emergencies and coping with future (re)lapses. Dianne and Mick designed their own personal (re)lapse prevention manual using problem‐solving techniques (“Regard it, as taking out a travel‐insurance, the fact you do, does not imply you’re expecting something terrible to happen. On the other hand, it’s a safe feeling knowing you have it at your side in the event of an emergency.”). Different alternatives were discussed, such as Dianne talking about her craving with Mick, Mick being allowed to confront Dianne with high‐risk behaviors (e.g., not getting out of bed in the morning) and expressing his concern about the matter, and reintroducing the sobriety trust contract. Evaluation. In total, the treatment consisted of 19 sessions, during a 7‐month period; the couple was very treatment compliant. At the end of treatment Dianne had been abstinent for 2½months and did no longer meet criteria for major depressive disorder: her BDI score dropped to 10, which is considered to be within the normal range. Dianne’s confidence to control her drinking increased (SCQ). Results show Dianne to be confident about remaining abstinent even when depressed or sad. She was still convinced she would not be able to limit her drinking after one or two drinks. During the course of the treatment Mick’s marital dissatisfaction decreased from 41 to 22 (MMQ). Dianne’s score did not change significantly. At post‐treatment both partners were near the cutoff point differentiating maritally distressed from non–martially distressed couples. The LEE showed Mick to experience more emotional support from his wife compared to that at pretreatment. Dianne
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seemed to find Mick somewhat less supportive, compared to that at pretreatment. COMPLICATING FACTORS During the 2nd month of treatment Dianne’s father died. However, she did not experience much grief. Dianne had never felt very close to her father, and during the months she had been nursing him (2 days a week) she had been detaching herself from him. After 3months into treatment Mick got very ill. Within a few weeks he lost a lot of weight. X‐rays were made and the possibility of lung cancer was mentioned. Dianne held she would not be able to cope and asked her general practitioner for an “emotional backup.” Clomipramine was prescribed. Both stressful episodes were used in therapy as examples of how to cope with stressors other than by drinking. Another complication was that Dianne was an avoidant and obsessive‐compulsive personality and Mick had schizoid personality features. Although we did not focus on the personality disorders as treatment target, the personality makeup of the couple was taken into account in the treatment. Part of Dianne’s social isolation and lack of social support were due to her avoidant personality, but may be also partly due to the schizoid features of her partner. In treatment, attention was given to Dianne’s avoidance/social anxiety, for example by gradually increasing more difficult social interactions as homework assignments, providing assertiveness training in the context of communication skills training, and by increasing her social network. Dianne’s obsessive‐compulsive features interfered in that it imposed limits on what can be achieved in improving relationship functioning. As to the therapeutic relationship, the therapist was keen not to prescribe assignments, but had the patient herself find out the assignments that might be effective. For example, a number of different assignments could be discussed and the patient had to decide which activity she was willing to do. MANAGED CARE CONSIDERATIONS It is still customary to refer complicated cases such as Dianne to an inpatient program. Hospitalization or intensive day treatment, although the latter being more economic than full hospitalization, however, were not considered. Until now there has been no clear support for inpatient treatment programs or day‐treatment programs being superior to outpatient treatment program. Studies assessing the efficacy of treatments for alcohol use disorders have found less expensive treatments such as motivational
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interviewing, coping skills training, and spouse‐aided therapy to be more effective than aversion therapy or insight‐oriented psychotherapy and at least as effective as hospitalization (Emmelkamp, 2004). Given the fact that Dianne had already tried an inpatient and day‐treatment program before without any benefit, we preferred evidence‐based outpatient treatment. Although there were a number of comorbid conditions at intake (i.e., depression, generalized anxiety disorder, avoidant personality disorder, and obsessive‐compulsive personality disorder), we decided to focus on alcohol abuse as first step, and to focus on other targets later on, if still needed. This stepped‐care approach is not only the most cost‐effective, but also in the interest of the patient, avoiding unnecessary and prolonged treatments. Eventually, we had to address the depressive disorder of the patient, but this could easily be incorporated into the BCT manual for alcohol dependence. One could argue that our assessment was rather expensive owing to the use of structured interviews and a large battery of questionnaires. In our view, it would have been penny‐wise but pound‐foolish to skip part of the assessment. If we, for example, had missed the depressive state of the patient, we would not have monitored it closely and changed our treatment protocol when needed. Similarly, if we would have missed the personality disorders/features of the couple, this presumably would have led to unrealistic treatment expectations with respect to marital satisfaction, affected the therapy outcome in a negative way as discussed below, and could even have led to dropping out of treatment. FOLLOW‐UP Dianne and Mick were seen at a 3‐month follow‐up. Dianne was still using her antidepressant, but had stopped using the Acamprosate shortly after finishing treatment. After being abstinent for 5 months, 2 weeks ago she had suffered a 2‐day lapse after returning from a trip to the Caribbean. The lapse had been a disappointment, especially for Mick, but the couple was glad that Dianne had been able to restrain herself after these 2 days, without intervention of a therapist. Dianne’s score on the BDI did not differ significantly from the one at post‐treatment. She was still within the non‐depressive range. She had continued working as a volunteer at the hospital and was now considering applying for a job there. Both Dianne’s and Mick’s scores on the MMQ and the LEE did not differ significantly from that at post‐treatment.
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TREATMENT IMPLICATIONS OF THE CASE This case demonstrates BCT to be effective in reducing drinking behavior and, to some extent, in increasing overall marital adjustment in a female alcoholic with comorbid anxiety, depression, and personality disorders, in which earlier treatment attempts failed. As hypothesized, some of Dianne’s symptoms decreased fairly quickly after discontinuation of drinking (e.g., sleeping and eating difficulties, uncontrollable worrying, panic attacks). Other symptoms though remained stable even after Dianne had stopped drinking. A few weeks into treatment, Dianne’s depressive symptoms were acknowledged as being part of a major depressive episode. Because Dianne started using Clomipramine we do not know if the depression manual we incorporated would have been successful on its own in reducing her symptoms. Nevertheless, we are inclined to believe that this intervention had some effect in decreasing her depressive symptoms and may at least in the future have some effect in reducing the chance of relapse, but, of course, this remains to be seen. Regarding marital satisfaction, Mick’s feelings toward Dianne improved considerably. The reduction in marital dissatisfaction of her husband demonstrates that his dissatisfaction was to a large extent determined by the drinking problem of his wife. Dianne being more positive at intake did not really improve on marital satisfaction at posttest and follow‐up. One should consider the changes that had occurred during treatment: Mick had retired, had sold his apartment, and had moved in with Dianne. At follow‐up, Dianne seemed somewhat disappointed about how little these changes had influenced their relationship. She still felt detached from Mick; moving in with each other had not brought them closer. Given his schizoid personality features, it may not come as a surprise that Mick did not find this a problem. RECOMMENDATIONS TO CLINICIANS With regard to the assessment of alcohol‐related problems clinicians should assess the quantity, frequency, and pattern of alcohol consumption, which need to be confirmed by a family member. Furthermore, a comprehensive assessment should provide the therapist with a clear understanding of the factors that contributed to the development and maintenance of the alcohol and related problems. Therefore, in a case such as Dianne with a history of unsuccessful treatment in the past, a thorough assessment of other Axis I and Axis II disorders, as well as of relationship functioning, is a prerequisite for treatment planning. Furthermore, given the high prevalence of marital violence in alcoholic couples, a thorough assessment of incidences of marital
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violence is mandatory. In alcohol abuse, treatment compliance is often a complicating factor. Therefore, a clear understanding of the treatment rationale for each aspect of the treatment and encouraging an active self‐management approach are essential. In addition, patients should not expect immediate treatment effects and should hold realistic goals of what can be achieved. In addition, in the present case we introduced the sobriety trust contract, to prevent the couple arguing about her drinking behavior throughout the day, which arguments, in our experience, are often antecedents for drinking episodes. Furthermore, even in cases such as Dianne with concurrent depression, anxiety, and personality disorders, it is important to target the substance abuse first in treatment. In establishing a diagnosis of comorbid conditions, it is important to realize that the occurrence of especially anxiety and depressive symptoms may be colored by the alcohol dependent state of the patient. In the present case, we postponed the diagnoses of generalized anxiety disorder and depressive disorder for that very reason. Eventually, although not dealt with in treatment, worrying was no longer a problem, suggesting that the worrying can be considered as a consequence of the alcohol dependence rather than as a separate disorder. On the other hand, the depressive symptoms turned out to be a part of a genuine depressive disorder, deserving treatment on its own. Although the co‐occurrence of a personality disorder might complicate the treatment of substance abuse, there is usually no reason to target the personality disorder as a treatment goal. First, there are hardly any evidence‐based treatment programs for treating personality disorders, apart from the avoidant and the borderline personality disorder (Emmelkamp, 2004). Only when the alcohol abuse is part of a borderline personality disorder, may targeting the personality disorder be justified as the treatment of first choice. It is important to notice that in the field of alcohol treatment, lapsing is the rule rather than the exception. Even so, entering the final stage of treatment, we often find patients (and their partners) reluctant in discussing the matter of possible future (re)lapses, as if by doing so it becomes a self‐fulfilling prophecy. It is however essential to have the patient (and the partner) plan for future emergencies. The emphasis should be on preparing patients for future lapses, so as to prevent relapse.
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Jacob, T., & Leonard, K.E. (1992). Sequential analysis of marital interactions involving alcoholic, depressed and nondistressed men. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 101, 647‐656.
Kadden, R., Carroll, K., Donovan, D., Cooney, N., Monti, P., Abrams, D., et al. (Eds.). (1992). Cognitive behavioral coping skills therapy manual (Project MATCH Monograph Series No. 3). Rockville, MD: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Kushner, M.G., Abrams, K., & Brochardt, C. (2000). The relationship between anxiety disorders and alcohol use disorders: A review of major perspectives and findings. Clinical Psychology Review, 20, 149‐171.
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Leonard, K.E., & Senchak, M. (1993). Alcohol and premarital aggression among newlywed couples. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 54 (Suppl.), 96‐108.
Loranger, A.W. (1999). International Personality Disorder Examination Manual: DSM‐IV module. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.
McCrady, B.S., & Epstein, E.E. (1995).Marital therapy in the treatment of alcoholism. In A. S. Gurman & N. Jacobson (Eds.), Clinical handbook of marital therapy (2nd ed., pp. 369‐393). New York: Guilford.
Monti, P.M., Abrams, D.B., Kadden, R.M.,& Cooney, N. L. (1989). Treating alcohol dependents: A coping skills training guide. New York: Guilford.
Noel, N.E., & McCrady, B.S. (1993). Alcohol‐focused spouse involvement with behavioral marital therapy. In T. J. O’Farrell (Ed.), Treating alcohol problem: marital and family interventions (pp. 210‐235). New York: Guilford.
O’Farrell,T. J. (1993). A behavioral marital therapy couples group program for alcoholics and their spouses. In T.J. O’Farrell (Ed.), Treating alcohol problems: marital and family interventions (pp. 170‐209). New York: Guilford.
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O’Farrell, T.J., Choquette, K.A., Cutter, H.S., & Birchler, G.R. (1997). Sexual satisfaction and dysfunction in marriages of male alcoholics: Comparison with nonalcoholic maritally conflicted and nonalcoholic couples. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 58, 91‐99.
O’Farrell, T.J., Cutter, H.S.G., Choquette, K.A., Floyd, F.J., & Bayog, R.D. (1992). Behavioral marital therapy for male alcoholics: Marital and drinking adjustment during the two years after treatment. Behavior Therapy, 23, 529‐549.
O’Farrell, T.J., Cutter, H.S.G., & Floyd, F.J. (1985). Evaluating behavioral marital therapy for male alcoholics: Effects on marital adjustment and communication from before to after therapy. Behavior Therapy, 16, 147‐167.
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Roth, A., & Fonagy, P. (1996). Alcohol dependence and abuse. In A. Roth & P. Fornagy, What works for whom? A critical review of psychotherapy research (pp. 216‐233). New York: Guilford.
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CHAPTER 3
Individual cognitive‐behavioral therapy and behavioral couple therapy in alcohol use disorder: A comparative evaluation in community‐based addiction treatment centers
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ABSTRACT Alcohol abuse serves as a chronic stressor between partners and has a deleterious effect on relationship functioning. Behavioral Couples Therapy (BCT) for alcohol dependence, studied as an adjunct to individual outpatient counseling, has shown to be effective in decreasing alcohol consumption and enhancing marital functioning but no study has directly tested the comparative effectiveness of stand‐alone BCT versus an individually focused cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) in a clinical community sample. The present study is a randomized clinical trial evaluating the effectiveness of stand‐alone BCT (N=30) compared to individual CBT (N=34) in the treatment of alcohol use disorders in community treatment centers in Dutch male and female alcoholics and their partners. Results show both BCT and CBT to be effective in changing drinking behavior at post‐treatment. BCT was not found to be superior to CBT. Marital satisfaction of the spouse increased significantly in the BCT condition but not in the CBT condition, differences being significant at the posttest. Patients’ self‐efficacy to withstand alcohol related high‐risk situations increased significantly in both treatment conditions, but more so in CBT than in BCT at post‐treatment. Treatment involvement of the spouse did not increase retention. Conclusions of this study are that regular practitioners in community treatment centers can effectively deliver both treatments. Stand‐alone BCT is as effective as CBT in terms of reduced drinking and to some extent more effective in terms of enhancing relationship satisfaction. However, BCT is a more costly intervention, given that treatment sessions lasted almost twice as long as individual CBT sessions. Vedel, E., Emmelkamp, P.M.G., Schippers, G.M. (2007). Individual cognitive‐behavioral therapy and behavioral couple therapy in alcohol use disorder: A comparative evaluation in community‐based addiction treatment centers. Manuscript submitted for publication.
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INTRODUCTION Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) has shown to be effective in the treatment of alcohol use disorders and cognitive behavioral interventions such as coping‐skills training and contingency management are among the most thoroughly tested psychological interventions in the field of substance abuse treatment (Carroll & Onken, 2005; DeRubeis & Crits‐Christoph, 1998; Miller & Wilbourne, 2002). CBT has manifested itself as an empirically supported therapy in the treatment of alcohol use disorders, producing significant reduction in alcohol consumption and alcohol related problems (Chambless & Hollon, 1998; Emmelkamp & Vedel, 2006; Miller & Wilbourne, 2002; Roth, Fonagy, & Parry, 2005). However, although successful in a substantial number of patients, a relative large proportion of alcohol dependent patients who undergo CBT drop out of treatment or relapse during the first few months after treatment (Ilgen & Moos, 2005). In order to increase retention and to enhance treatment effectiveness several treatment adaptations have been proposed in the literature (Gulliver, Longabaugh, Davidson, & Swift, 2005; Mattson & Litten, 2005), in the case of cohabiting or married alcohol dependent patients one of the most promising being behavioral couples therapy (BCT) (Baucom et al., 1998; Epstein & McCrady, 1998; Fals‐Stewart, OʹFarrell, Birchler, Cordova, & Kelley, 2005).
The negative impact of alcohol dependence on marital functioning has been well documented. Heavy alcohol use correlates negatively with marital satisfaction and has a negative effect on marital stability. In couples seeking marital therapy, alcohol abuse or dependence is often prevalent (Halford & Osgarby, 1993) and many alcoholic couples (in which one of both partners abuses alcohol) report low marital satisfaction (Leonard & Jacob, 1997; OʹFarrell & Birchler, 1987) and elevated prevalence of sexual dysfunction and dissatisfaction (OʹFarrell et al., 1997; OʹFarrell, Kleinke, & Cutter, 1998). Further, heavy alcohol consumption is associated with elevated rates of marital verbal aggression (Leonard & Quigley, 1999) and predictive of marital violence (Quigley & Leonard, 2000). Marital relationship of treatment seeking alcoholic patients and their spouse are often characterized by high levels of conflict and the frequency of domestic violence has been found to be between four to six times more prevalent compared to demographically matched nonalcoholic controls (OʹFarrell & Murphy, 1995). In addition, it has been found that stressful marital functioning negatively reinforces alcohol use (Rotunda, West, & OʹFarrell, 2004) and may facilitate relapse (Fals‐Stewart, OʹFarrell, & Hooley, 2001; Maisto, OʹFarrell, McKay, Connors, & Pelcovits, 1988; McCrady, Epstein, &
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Kahler, 2004). Alcoholic patients who perceive their spouse as highly critical, hostile or emotionally over‐involved have shown be more likely to relapse even after correcting for alcohol problem severity (OʹFarrell, Hooley et al., 1998). Finally, treatment retention was found to be higher when the spouse was actively involved in treatment compared to minimal spouse involvement (McCrady et al., 1986) and having a supportive spouse during the course of alcohol treatment was associated with better treatment outcome (Havassy et al., 1991).
The theoretical model of BCT posits that the relationship between alcohol use disorders and relationship distress is reciprocal; drinking behavior influences the quality and nature of the relationship and the relationship similarly impacts upon the alcohol use. Alcohol abuse serves as a chronic stressor and has a deleterious effect on relationship functioning; at the same time continued alcohol use is negatively reinforced because it ‘helps’ to shields the patient from the negative effects of stressful family functioning. The primary aims of behavioral couple therapy is to teach the partner more effective ways do deal with alcohol‐related situations, to encourage the partner to reinforce sobriety and to decrease overall marital distress in both partners. BCT for alcohol use disorder combines (1) standard cognitive behavioral interventions for changing drinking behavior with (2) intervention that address disorder‐specific relationship issues (e.g. enabling behaviors of the spouse), and (3) more general behavioral marital therapy strategies directed at decreasing relationship distress.
BCT for alcohol dependence, studied as an adjunct to individual outpatient counseling, has shown to be effective in decreasing alcohol consumption and enhancing marital functioning (Fals‐Stewart et al., 2006; Fals‐Stewart, Klostermann, Yates, OʹFarrell, & Birchler, 2005; Kelley & Fals‐Stewart, 2002; OʹFarrell & Cutter, 1984; OʹFarrell et al., 1992; OʹFarrell et al., 1985). Few studies have investigated BCT as a stand‐alone treatment (McCrady et al., 1986; McCrady et al., 1991; Walitzer & Dermen, 2004) and only one of these studies has directly tested the compared effectiveness of stand‐alone BCT versus an individually focused cognitive behavioral treatment (McCrady et al., 1986).
In 1999 Dutch substance abuse treatment facilities started a major national‐wide reorganization referred to as “Resultaten Scoren” (‘To Score Results’; GGZ Nederland, 1998). One of the primary goals of this reform was to implement standardized evidence‐based psychosocial behavior‐oriented treatment modalities in combination with a stepped‐care patient‐treatment allocation system (Schippers et al., 2002). It was decided to compare one of
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these then newly developed treatment module, Lifestyle skills training 2 with a comparable brief stand‐alone BCT module. Until now, behavioral couple therapy has mainly been delivered in treatment centers participating in scientific research and almost no community‐based substance abuse treatment centers have incorporated BCT into their regular treatment program (Fals‐Stewart & Birchler, 2001), so there is a clear need of a study evaluating the effects of BCT in routine clinical care.
The present randomized clinical trial evaluates the effectiveness of brief stand‐alone BCT compared to individual CBT (currently considered care‐as‐usual in the Netherlands) in the treatment of male and female alcoholics and their partner. Rather than conducting this study in an academic setting, the study was conducted at two community‐based addiction treatment centers. Treatments were delivered by addiction counselors, who were not highly experienced behavioral (marital) therapists, and exclusion criteria for participating in the study were reduced to a minimum. It was hypothesized that (1) both treatments would be effective in reducing drinking, favoring couples therapy over individual therapy at post‐treatment, (2) couples therapy would be more effective in enhancing marital satisfaction compared to individual therapy, and (3) treatment retention would be higher in the couples condition compared to the individual condition. METHOD PARTICIPANTS Participants (N=64) for this study were 55 male and 9 female alcohol dependent patients (mean age 45.5 years (SD11.34)) seeking treatment at one of two community‐based addiction treatment centers. To be eligible to participate patients had to meet the following inclusion criteria: (1) diagnosis of alcohol abuse (N=2) or alcohol dependence (N=62) according to DSM‐IV, (2) married or cohabiting for at least one year, (3) partner willing and able to participate in treatment. Participants were excluded from participation in the case of: (1) drug dependence, (2) signs of severe mental disorders (psychotic disorder) or organic brain syndrome/neurological problems, and (3) current alcohol abuse/dependence of the spouse. In total 84 couples were referred to the study of which 20 were excluded or decided not to participate. Reasons for exclusion or non‐participation were: difficulty mastering the Dutch language and thus unable to fill out the questionnaires (N=4), refusing meeting research requirements (N=4), spouse refusing to participate in treatment (N=2), patient refusing any treatment (N=2), couple breaking up between referral and research assessment (N=1), severe marital violence
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(N=2), severe mental problems spouse (N=1), current alcohol abuse by the spouse (N=4). Of the 64 patients who started treatment; 30 entered the behavioral couple condition and 34 entered the individual condition. Seven patients underwent detoxification before starting treatment (four in the individual condition and three in the couple condition). During the first few weeks of treatment, three patients were referred to a more intensive day hospital/clinical program because of a deteriorating physical and/or mental condition. Eight patients dropped‐out of treatment prematurely and refused participating in further research requirements. In total 53 patients completed treatment of whom ten initially did not meet post‐treatment research requirements. Eventually of five of these patients basic drinking scores and couple’s marital functioning scores could be obtained through telephone interviewing. At follow‐up, five couples refused meeting research requirements, and from six couples only drinking‐scores and relationship satisfaction measurements could be obtained through telephone interviewing. MEASURES Drinking behavior. The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM‐IV Axis I Disorders (SCID‐I) (First, Spitzer, Gibbon, & Williams, 1996) was used to confirm diagnosis of alcohol abuse or dependence. The alcohol section of the European version of de Addiction Severity Index (Europ‐ASI), a structured clinical interview, was used as an indication of alcoholism problem severity (range: 0‐9) (Kokkevi & Hartgers, 1995). To assess alcohol consumption the AUDIT alcohol consumption questions that cover frequency and quantity of drinking was used (Emmen, Schippers, Wollersheim, & Bleijenberg, 2005). Quantity and frequency measures were multiplied to estimate average units of alcohol consumed per week (U/week). At pre‐treatment the questions were asked for average working and weekend days during the past year as well as for during the previous month. At post‐treatment the questions were asked for average working days and weekend days during treatment as well as during the previous month. At 6‐month follow‐up questions were asked for average working days and weekend days during the past 6 months as well as during the previous month. The original third AUDIT alcohol consumption item, “How often did you have 6 or more drinks on one occasion during the past…”, was used as indication of binge drinking (in treatment‐terms referred to as a severe lapse). In addition, the Situational Confidence Questionnaire (SCQ), a 39‐item questionnaire was used to measure the confidence of the patient to refrain from drinking in specific potentially high‐risk situations (Annis & Graham, 1988).
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Marital functioning. The severity of marital problems was assessed by couples scores on (1) the marital satisfaction scale of the Maudsley Marital Questionnaire (MMQ; Arrindell, Emmelkamp, & Bast, 1983), a 20‐item questionnaire with a eight‐point scale measuring Marital, Sexual and General Life Adjustment, and (2) the Dutch version of the Level of Expressed Emotion questionnaire (LEE; Cole & Kazarian, 1988), measuring Lack of Emotional Support, Intrusiveness, Irritability and Criticism. The Dutch version of the LEE developed by Gerlsma, van der Lubbe, & van Nieuwenhuizen (1992), consists of 38 items with a four‐point Likert scale ranging from ‘not true’ to ‘true’. DESIGN Procedure. Couples were recruited during the intake‐phase at two regional community based addiction treatment centers (the Jellinek Stichting and the Brijder Verslavingszorg) at three different locations in the Northern and Western part of the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Hilversum and Alkmaar respectively). These centers use fairly the same standardized patient‐treatment allocation procedures at intake, as well as the same treatments programs (and treatment manuals) at their outpatient treatment units. Alcoholic patients who were married or cohabiting and who ‐according to patient‐treatment allocation guidelines ‐ were going to be referred to the outpatient treatment unit to receive ten sessions of individual CBT were asked to participate. By participating, patients had a 50 % change of receiving BCT instead of individual CBT treatment (‘treatment‐as‐usual’). If interested in participating in the study, both partners were invited for one or two conjoint sessions consisting of (1) giving information about the project, (2) signing of informed consent, (3) assessment (clinical interviews and filling out questionnaires) and (4) randomization, which was done in the presence of the couple. After treatment both partners were invited for conjoint post‐treatment assessment (one session) and a 6‐month follow‐up (one session). The first author and a research assistant hosted these sessions. Couples were in no way compensated for participating in the study and, as in the case of treatment‐as‐usual in the Netherlands, treatment was free of charge.
Treatment Conditions. Both treatments were derived from cognitive behavioral model on alcohol use disorders, defining alcohol abuse as a habitual, maladaptive method for attempting to cope with the stresses of daily living. This maladaptive way of coping is triggered by internal and
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external cues and reinforced by positive rewards and/or avoidance of punishment (Monti, Abrams, Kadden, & Cooney, 1989). CBT therapy emphasizes overcoming skill deficits and aims to increase the person’s ability to detect and cope with high‐risk situations that commonly precipitate relapse, these include external cues such as walking along a bar or being offered a drink, as well as internal cues such as anger, (social) anxiety, and depressed mood. Both treatments consisted of ten sessions (45‐60 minutes per session in the individual condition; 90 minutes per session in the conjoint couples condition), conducted over a 5‐ to 6‐month period. Both treatments were semi‐directive regarding treatment goal setting; patients were offered a free choice between abstinence or controlled drinking. In case of controlled drinking, specific guidelines were imposed: Controlled drinking was defined as (1) a maximum of 12 standard units of alcohol a week (2) at least 3 alcohol abstinent days a week, (3) no more then 3 units per drinking day, and (4) no drinking in personal relevant high‐risk situations. If, within two to three sessions, patients were unable to control their drinking, they were encouraged to refrain from alcohol for the period of the treatment. A care‐as‐usual policy was adopted regarding the prescription of anti‐craving medication or disulfiram: If therapist and patient were of the opinion that medication was in order, the patient was referred to one of the clinic’s medical doctors
The treatment protocol in the individual condition was based on the Cognitive Behavioral Coping Skills Therapy manual and the Motivational Enhancement Therapy manual used in project MATCH (Kadden et al., 1992; Miller et al., 1995) and included making a balance sheet of the pro and con’s of change, self‐monitoring of drinking and drinking urges, functional analyses, stimulus control and consequence control procedures, and relapse prevention planning. Marital issues were not explicitly discussed in this protocol; when directly related to craving or lapses, however, patient and therapist discussed coping strategies to deal with marital distress without the partner present.
The interventions used in the behavioral couple therapy protocol were based on those used in the Behavioral Marital Therapy group program in the Counseling for Alcoholic’s Marriages (CALM) project by OʹFarrell (1993). However, some fundamental changes were made. First, the BCT protocol was not developed to be an adjunct to individual treatment, as was the case in the CALM project, but rather to be delivered in a stand‐alone treatment format. In order to enhance effectiveness, additional ingredients often used in individual behavioral alcohol treatment modules were
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incorporated in the treatment protocol. Further, instead of combining individual couples sessions with group BCT sessions, this BCT protocol was abbreviated into 10 sessions and consisted only of individual couple sessions. These adaptations resulted in the treatment format of the BCT protocol to bare close resemblance with the one used by McCrady et al. (1986; 1991).
Therapists. Experienced addictions counselors, working at the participating outpatient treatment units, delivered treatments. The counselors received extensive training in both protocols using detailed treatment manuals. In order to insure treatment integrity, therapists audiotaped their treatment sessions and were regularly supervised by the first and second author. Outcome variables. The major outcome measures were alcohol consumption and marital functioning as assessed with the MMQ and LEE. Alcohol was recorded as units/day (1 U=10 g of ethanol). Change in alcohol consumption was operationalized in U/week from baseline to post‐treatment and to 6‐month follow‐up. Severe lapse into alcohol use during treatment and during follow‐up period is operationalized as drinking 6 or more units on one occasion. Non‐response to treatment and relapse at follow‐up was operationalized as meeting DSM‐IV criteria for alcohol dependence during the last month (SCID‐I) and/or drinking 6 units or more during most days of the week. RESULTS SUBJECT CHARACTERISTICS On the alcohol use scale of the Europ‐ASI, the problem severity ratings were within the range that would be expected based on the addiction treatment centers’ patient‐treatment allocation guidelines (average between 4‐6) The severity rating on the family/social support scale and the psychiatric status scale were elevated (both averaging between 2‐3). The severity rating on medical status, employment and support status, legal status, and pathological gambling were relatively low (averaging between 0‐2), as was the case in the severity rating of drug use (average between 0‐1). T‐tests revealed no significant differences between treatment conditions on any of the Europ‐ASI severity ratings.
With respect to drinking history, twenty‐nine patients (45.3%) reported to have been drinking problematic for more then five years, 24 patients (37.5%) reported problematic drinking between two and five years,
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and 11 (17.2%) patients reported problematic drinking between one and two years. In the year prior to treatment 57 participants (89.1%) had been drinking on a daily or nearly daily basis, 7 participants (10.9%) indicated having been drinking up to three times a week for the past year. 50 Participants (78.1%) indicated having been drinking 7 or more drinks on average per drinking occasion. 42 Participants (65.1%) indicated having been drinking 44 units or more on an average week during the past year (see Table 1).
There were no significant differences on pre‐treatment drinking scores, marital adjustment or co‐morbidity between couples that completed treatment and met research requirements, versus couples that did not. Regarding setting treatment goal, in the individual condition 8 out of 27 of the completers (29.6%) choose controlled drinking versus 5 out of 21 completers (23.8%) in the BCT condition. Nine participants (14.1%) underwent some form of medically supervised detoxification prior to entering treatment and 22 participants (34.4%) started using medication during the course of treatment, 6 started using disulfiram, 13 started using acamprosaat and 3 started using naltrexon. Ten patients in the BCT (33.3%) and 12 patients in the CBT condition (35.3%) received anti‐craving medication or disulfiram.
DRINKING Post‐treatment. A time‐effect in the amount of alcohol drinking was tested with paired t ‐tests for each treatment condition. The between group effect at posttest and follow‐up was tested with ANCOVA’s using the pretest scores as co‐variate. Results at posttest are presented in Table 2. In the CBT condition (N=27), the average U/week in the month prior to treatment compared to average U/week in the last month of treatment decreased significantly (t=13.004, df=26, p<0.001, one tailed), from an average of 45 units per week to an average of 4 units per week. These significant reductions were also observed in the BCT condition (N=21; t=12.262, df=20, p< 0.001, one tailed), patients reduced their drinking from an average of 41 units per week to and average of 1 unit per week. BCT was found to be no more effective in decreasing drinking compared to CBT (see table 2). However, all three non‐responders, who kept on drinking large amount during treatment (average of 32 units per week), were from the individual condition. During last month of treatment 28 patients (58%) reported abstinence, seventeen participants (63%) in the individual treatment and eleven in the couple treatment condition (52.4%). Chi‐square testing revealed no significant difference between treatment conditions. At post‐test, twenty
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Table 1. Sample Characteristics
patients (41.7%) reported having had no severe lapse (6 or more units of alcohol per occasion) during the course of treatment, 15 (55.6%) in the CBT condition and 5 (23.8%) in the BCT condition. This difference between treatment conditions was significant (X= 4.898, df=1, p=.025, two tailed). Eighteen patients (37.5%) reported having had relapses less then once a month, 6 (22.2%) in the CBT condition and 12 (57.1%) in the BCT condition. Eight patients (16.7%) indicated having had regular relapses (a few times a month) during the course of treatment, 6 patients (22.2%) in the CBT condition and 3 (14.3%) in the BCT condition. Three patients were classified as non‐responders: they were still drinking large amount of alcohol on a regular basis and met still criteria for alcohol dependence at post‐treatment. Two of these patients did not provide follow‐up data.
Overall (N=64) CBT (N=34) BCT (N=30)
Sex male 55 (85.9%) 29 (85.3%) 26 (86.7%)
Age 45.5 (SD 11.34) 45.6 (SD 10.56) 45.4 (SD 12.34)
Diagnose alcohol dependence
62 (96.9%) 32 (92.1%) 30 (100%)
ASI index rating alcohol
5.5 (SD 0.93) 5.6 (SD 1.02) 5.4 (SD 0.81)
Problematic drinking for more then 5 years
29 (45.3%) 17 (50.0%) 12 (40.0%)
Problematic drinking between 2 and 5 years
24 (37.5%) 11 (32.4%) 13 (43.3%)
Daily or near daily drinking in year prior to treatment
57 (89.1%) 32 (94.1%) 25 (83.3%)
When drinking, drinking 7 units or more
50 (78.1%) 27 (79.4%) 23 (76.7%)
Underwent medically supervised detoxification
9 (14.0%) 5 (14.7%) 4 (13.3%)
Started medication during treatment
22 (34.4%) 12 (35.3%) 10 (33.3%)
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Table 2. Pre‐treatment to post‐treatment drinking scores.
Note: Units of alcohol consumed per week (U/week) in month prior to treatment (pre‐treatment) compared to last month of treatment. Follow‐up. Tabel 3 presents the follow‐up results. Significant deteriorating drinking‐scores in U/week scores in the last month prior to follow‐up compared to U/week during last month of treatment were observed in the CBT condition (t=‐1.863, df=23, p<0.05, one‐tailed) as well as in the BCT condition (t=‐2.579, df=18, p<0.01, one‐tailed). In the CBT condition (N=24), drinking increased from an average of three units per week post‐treatment to an average of eight units per week at follow‐up. In the BCT condition, drinking increased from an average of one unit per week post‐treatment to an average of five units per week at follow‐up. After adjusting for pre‐treatment drinking scores, there was no significant effect between conditions (F(1.40)=.0365, p=.549). At follow‐up, 18 patients (41.9%) reported having had no severe lapse (6 units or more per drinking occasion) during the past 6 months, 25 patients (58.1%) reported at least one severe lapse during this period, of whom 8 (18.6%) reported having had several severe lapses during the past 6 months. Five patients (11.6%) were classified as having fully relapsed into alcohol abuse, drinking large amounts of alcohol (6 units or more) several times a week during the last month of follow‐up and meeting current criteria for alcohol dependence. Chi‐square analyses revealed no significant difference between treatment conditions on any of these drinking measures. Table 3. Post‐treatment to follow‐up drinking score
Pre‐treatment
Post‐treatment
Paired t‐test ANCOVA
M SD M SD t df p< F df P
CBT 44.54 10.05 4.09 11.82 13.004 26 .000** U/wk BCT 40.93 14.77 0.99 2.78 12.262 20 .000**
1.430 1.45 .238
Post‐treatment
Follow‐up Paired t‐test ANCOVA
M SD M SD t df p =< F df p CBT 2.91 11.45 7.68 16.59 1.863 23 .05* U/wk BCT
1.10
2.91
5.43
8.85
2.579
18
.01*
.0365 1.40 .549
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RELATIONSHIP ADJUSTMENT Post‐treatment. Results on marital measures are presented in Table 4. There was a significant difference observed between conditions in partners score on the MMQ‐marital satisfaction at pre‐test (t=2.407, df=46, p=.02, two tailed). Partners in the BCT condition were more dissatisfied with their relationship compared to partners in the individual treatment condition. After adjusting for pre‐test scores, there was a significant condition effect on the MMQ as rated by the partner (F(1,45)=4.49, p<.05), BCT being more effective compared to CBT in decreasing marital dissatisfaction. Patients did not change in their scores on the MMQ. On the LEE, neither treatment did result in significant changes in the patients. Partners in the BCT condition, however, reported a significant change in perceived irritability compared to partners in the individual condition (F(1.40)=6.88, p<.01). Table 4. Pre‐treatment to post‐treatment relationship functioning
Note: LEE‐I¹ = irritability scale of the LEE Follow‐up. As shown in Table 5, patients did not show any significant change on MMQ‐marital satisfaction from post‐test to follow‐up: CBT condition t=1.104, df=23, p=.281; BCT condition t=.872, df=18, p=.395. After adjusting for pre‐treatment scores, there were no differences between treatment conditions (F(1.40) = .034, p=.854). As to marital satisfaction of the partner, neither in the CBT condition (t=1.112, df=23, p=.278), nor in the BCT condition (t=.357, df=18, p=.725) was there a significant change between post‐
Pre‐treatment
Post‐treatment
Paired t‐test ANCOVA
M SD M SD t df p F df p CBT
17.37 12.52 17.26 9.64 .064 26 .949 Patient MMQ
BCT
17.14 9.87 15.57 8.45 1.045 20 .308
.673 1.45 .416
CBT 22.33 12.92 23.74 11.66 .829 26 .415 Partner MMQ
BCT 31.71 13.99 25.24 13.52 3.387 20 .003*
4.49 1.45 <.05*
CBT 15.89 3.86 17.24 3.27 1.617 24 .119 Partner LEE‐I¹
BCT 16.38 4.71 14.72 3.68 1.839 17 .083
6.88 1.40 <.01*
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test and follow‐up. After adjusting for pre‐treatment scores, there were no differences observed at follow‐up between treatment conditions F(1.40)=.317, p=.577). Further, there were no significant time‐effects between post‐treatment and follow‐up on LEE for patients or partners. After adjusting for pre‐treatment scores, there were no significant differences at follow‐up between CBT and BCT on LEE as perceived by patients or partners.
Table 5 Post‐treatment to follow‐up scores on relationship functioning
Self‐confidence. The reported self‐confidence of patients to withstand potential high risk‐situations increased significantly in the CBT (t=3.242, df=24, p< .0025, one‐tailed) and in the BCT condition (t=2.042, df=18, p< .005). After adjusting for pre‐test scores, there was a trend that patients’ self‐confidence increased more in the CBT condition compared to the BCT condition (F(1.40)=3.659, p=.06). The SCQ scores remained stable in‐between posttest and follow‐up for both conditions. The trend of a difference between treatment conditions at post‐treatment on SCQ scores disappeared at follow‐up. Post‐treatment and follow‐up SCQ‐scores did not correlate (near zero) with drinking at post‐treatment and follow‐up. DISCUSSION This is the first RCT in which BCT as stand‐alone treatment is investigated in community treatment settings. Ten sessions of either individual cognitive behavioral treatment or stand‐alone couples therapy conducted in a routine practice in a community setting by regular counselors were effective in stopping alcohol use or reducing drinking to non‐harmful levels for most patients. In contrast to expectations, BCT was not found to be more effective than individual CBT in reducing drinking. Further, involving the partner in
Post‐treatment
Follow‐up Paired t‐test ANCOVA
M SD M SD t df p F df p CBT
16.13 8.99 15.00 9.22 1.104 23 .281 Patient MMQ BCT
15.84 8.63 15.22 7.15 .072 18 .395
.034 1.40 .854
CBT 23.04 12.17 21.83 9.44 1.112 23 .278 Partner MMQ
BCT 24.21 13.69 23.79 10.75 .357 18 .725
.317 1.40 .577
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treatment had no additional effects on treatment retention. If one takes the treatment dropouts into account, results at post‐treatment remain relatively positive. Following a worse case scenario, in which not only patients who did not benefit sufficiently from treatment (n=3), but also dropouts (n=8), refusals (n=5) and referrals to more intensive treatment (n=3) are considered treatment failures, this still would mean that 70% of the patient who entered treatment, improved during the course of either CBT or BCT. For those patients who provided follow‐up data, both CBT and BCT were effective in reducing drinking, although there was a small but significant increase of drinking at follow‐up compared to post‐treatment in both conditions.
At post‐treatment, BCT was more effective in decreasing marital dissatisfaction in partners compared to CBT, thus supporting our hypothesis. At follow‐up, however, the superiority of BCT over CBT in terms of marital satisfaction disappeared. Interestingly, patients reported substantially less marital distress compared to the partners. In fact, mean patients’ scores of marital satisfaction on the MMQ (M=17.29) at pre‐treatment were within the normal range, whereas scores of their partners were in the clinical range (M=26.43). In a large Dutch study, means on the MMQ‐marital satisfaction scale were 32,8 (SD=13,1) for martially distressed and 12,1 (SD=9,9) for non‐distressed couples (Emmelkamp, Krol, Sanderman, & Ruphan, 1987). In a comparison of marital relationships of alcoholics, distressed and non‐distressed couples, O’Farrell and Birchler (1987) observed to some extent, a similar bias in the alcoholic patients’ perception of their marital relationship. Although within the range of marital distress, alcoholic patients reported substantially less distress compared to their partners. This difference in perception was not observed in non‐alcoholic maritally distressed couples. A possible explanation of this difference in perception could be that alcohol is used to shield oneself from the full realization of the extent of the problems in the relationship.
Contrary to the couples in our study, studies that have reported BCT to be effective in enhancing relationship function have enrolled couples that on average were maritally distressed, partners tending to be more maritally distressed compared to patients (McCrady et al., 1991; OʹFarrell, Choquette, & Cutter, 1998; OʹFarrell et al., 1992).
The level of perceived expressed emotion of patients did not change during treatment. This may be due to the fact that the levels of expressed emotion were not within clinical range and comparable with those observed in healthy controls (Gerlsma & Hale, 1997). BCT was superior compared to
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CBT in decreasing partners’ perceived irritability of the patient. However, at follow‐up this difference between treatment conditions disappeared.
On one measure CBT was superior to BCT. At post‐test, self‐efficacy as assessed with the SCQ increased significantly more in CBT patients as compared to BCT patients. However, difference in self‐efficacy disappeared at follow‐up and self‐efficacy was not related to treatment outcome. The difference in impact of the treatments on self‐confidence to withstand high‐risk‐situations was contrary to our expectations. Both treatment protocols strive to increase patients’ coping skills to handle high‐risk situation. Presumably, the slightly better results on self‐confidence in the individual CBT condition may be attributed to the fact that in the CBT condition more time is spent in exploring all kinds of high‐risk‐situations, whereas in BCT most of the time is spent on exploring relationship‐related high‐risk situations.
What implications do these results have for clinical practice and implementation of BCT in community‐based addiction treatment centers? BCT is an effective treatment in decreasing problematic alcohol use in married or cohabiting patients and their non‐alcoholic partners. BCT was equally effective as a standard CBT protocol. Although BCT effectively decreased marital dissatisfaction in the partner, it was not effective in decreasing it to a non‐distressed level. It may be that ten sessions of stand‐alone BCT, directed at decreasing drinking, increasing drinking coping skills, and targeting marital distress is a too ambitious treatment goal for such a relatively brief treatment. Further, from a cost‐effectiveness perspective it should be acknowledged that BCT was a more costly intervention, given that treatment sessions lasted almost twice as long as individual CBT sessions (90 min. versus 45‐60 minutes). Limitations of our study were the relative large dropout and non‐compliance to meet post‐treatment and follow‐up research requirements. However, this patient attrition from treatment for alcohol use disorders is common in clinical practice as well as in research studies (Epstein, McCrady, Miller, & Steinberg, 1994)
Further, it should be noted that the effectiveness of BCT as stand alone treatment has only been demonstrated in alcoholics. Although BCT has show to be effective in the treatment of male drug dependent patients (Fals‐Stewart, Birchler, & OʹFarrell, 1996; Fals‐Stewart, OʹFarrell, & Birchler, 2001) as well as female drug dependent patients (Winters, Fals‐Stewart, OʹFarrell, Birchler, & Kelley, 2002), BCT in these studies was investigated as an adjunct to regular addiction treatment and not as stand‐alone treatment.
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Further research is needed to investigate whether brief BCT is also effective in a stand‐alone format in drug‐dependent patients, before this should be implemented in regular community care.
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patients: Effects on substance use and relationship adjustment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 70(2), 344‐355.
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CHAPTER 4
Cognitive behavior therapy in the treatment of alcohol use disorder: Effects on intimate partner violence
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ABSTRACT There is a high correlation between alcohol abuse and intimate partner violence (IPV). In regular community addiction treatment facilities little attention is given to the assessment of IPV and subsequently its prevalence in treatment seeking alcoholic patients is unclear. The aim of this study was to assess the occurrence and severity of IPV in a Dutch treatment‐seeking sample of male and female alcohol abusing patients (N=64) and to test the effect of treatment on IPV. The present study draws its data from a randomized clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of stand‐alone Behavioral Couples Therapy compared to individual Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Over 61 % of the patients reported having been violent toward their partner with an average of 4.7 violent behaviors during the year prior to treatment. Treatment directed at changing alcohol use was significantly associated with a decrease in IPV at 6‐month follow‐up. No significant differences in the decrease of IPV could be observed between treatment conditions. Vedel, E., Emmelkamp, P.M.G., Schippers, G.M. (2007). Cognitive behavior therapy in the treatment of alcohol use disorder: Effects on intimate partner violence. Manuscript submitted for publication.
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INTRODUCTION Large U.S. and Canadian community sample surveys have shown the year prevalence of male‐to‐female intimate partner violence (IPV) to range between 8 % and 14 %, with lifetime prevalence between 25% and 30 % (Jones et al., 1999) A comparable prevalence has been observed in the Dutch community (Römkens, 1997; van Dijk, Flight, Oppenhuis, & Duesmann, 1998). The health consequences of IPV is profound, both physical (injuries and chronic pain) as well as psychological (depression and post‐traumatic stress disorder) (Campbell, 2002). Contrary to popular thinking, women do also engage in IPV in proportions that equal men (Archer, 2000). The physical/health consequences of male‐to‐female IPV, however, seem to be more severe compared to aggression by female perpetrators (Cascardi, Langhinrichsen, & Vivian, 1992).
Alcohol use and IPV are clearly related. In the National Crime Victims Survey (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1998), over half of the victims of IPV reported that the perpetrator had been drinking prior or during the IPV incident. This association between alcohol use and violence has been found for male as well as female perpetrators. The relationship between alcohol use and IPV is demonstrated further within specific populations. For example, in alcoholic cohabiting men entering substance abuse treatment, between 40‐60 % report intimate partner violence in the year prior to treatment, a prevalence between 4‐6 times higher compared to matched community sample controls (OʹFarrell et al., 2003; OʹFarrell & Murphy, 1995). Similarly, the majority of perpetrators entering batterer treatment programs have alcohol problems (Barnett & Fagan, 1993; Julian & McKenry, 1993; Stuart, 2005).
Besides that alcohol intake and IPV often co‐occur, it is increasingly recognized that alcohol is not only correlated but may also be causally related to IPV (Leonard, 2005; OʹLeary & Schumacher, 2003; Stuart et al., 2006). For example, in a study in which treatment‐seeking alcoholic men and their partner were interviewed about the quantity of alcohol consumption prior to violent versus non‐violent conflicts, alcohol was found to be a proximal risk factor for partner violence in alcoholic men. The estimated number of drinks consumed by the husband in the previous 12 hours prior to violent conflicts was significantly higher compared to the number of drinks consumed prior to nonviolent conflicts (Murphy, Winters, Fals‐Stewart, OʹFarrell, & Murphy, 2005). Changing drinking behavior therefore may have a positive impact on IPV and treatment for alcohol dependence may successfully decrease IPV if patients are able to refrain from alcohol.
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OʹFarrell et al. (2003) found that individual based alcohol abuse treatment reduced the prevalence of IPV significantly from 57% in the year prior to treatment to 25 % in the year after treatment. In patients who relapsed in the year after treatment, the prevalence of IPV was 32 %, which is still twice as high compared to a community sample. In remitted alcohol dependent patients, the prevalence of IPV dropped to 15%, which is nearly identical to that of a demographically matched nonalcoholic sample (14%). Replicating a previous studie into the effects of behavioral couples therapy (BCT) on IPV (OʹFarrell & Murphy, 1995) with a larger sample, OʹFarrell et al. (2004) found BCT to be associated with a strong decline in IPV in the 2 years after treatment, with a clinically significant reduction in those patients who were remitted after BCT. The prevalence of overall violence in the year prior treatment was 60%, compared to 12% in the non‐alcoholic comparison sample. In the first year after treatment, the prevalence of violence dropped to 24%, and in remitted alcoholics the prevalence even dropped to 12%, which is comparable to the non‐alcoholic comparison sample.
Some investigators support the notion that not only changing substance use, but also increasing relationship functioning has an additional positive impact on decreasing IPV. In a study by Fals‐Stewart et al. (2002) in drug‐abusing patients, individual‐based substance abuse treatment was found not to significantly decrease the prevalence of IPV. However, in patients receiving behavioral couples therapy, the prevalence of IPV did decrease significantly. Variables mediating this effect were found to be general relationship adjustment, frequency of drug use and frequency of heavy drinking. Implicitly, these findings suggest that a reduction in relationship distress or frequency of substance use may result in a reduction of IPV, which was supported by findings from Fals‐Stewart et al. (2006). In their study BCT was found to be superior compared to individual treatment or psycho‐education control not only in reducing drinking, but also in enhancing dyadic adjustment and reducing IPV.
The aim of this study was to assess the rate of occurrence and severity of IPV in a Dutch treatment‐seeking sample of male and female alcohol abusing patients and to test the effect of treatment on IPV in the context of a randomized‐controlled trial comparing two variants of cognitive behavioral treatment: individual cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) versus behavioral couple therapy (BCT). Results of this study revealed that both formats were equally effective on drinking measures (see Chapter 3).
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METHOD PARTICIPANTS Participants (N=64) for this study were fifty‐five male and nine female alcohol dependent patients, mean age 45.5 years (SD 11.34). To be eligible to participate patients had to meet the following inclusion criteria: (1) diagnosis of alcohol abuse (N=2) or alcohol dependence (N=62) according to DSM‐IV, (2) married or cohabiting for at least one year, and (3) partner willing and able to participate in treatment. Participants were excluded from participation in the case of: (1) drug dependence, (2) signs of severe mental disorders (psychosis, schizophrenia) or organic brain syndrome/neurological problems, or (3) current alcohol abuse/dependence of the spouse. In total 84 couples were referred to the study of which 20 were excluded or decided not to participate. Reasons for exclusion or non‐participation have been reported elsewhere (Chapter 3). Of the 64 patients that started treatment, 30 entered the behavioral couple condition and 34 entered the individual condition. Seven patients underwent detoxification before starting treatment (4 in the individual condition and 3 in the couple condition). During the first few weeks of treatment, three patients were referred to a more intensive day hospital/clinical program because of a deteriorating physical and/or mental condition. Eight patients dropped‐out of treatment prematurely and refused meeting future research requirements. In total 53 patients completed treatment of whom ten initially did not meet post‐treatment research requirements (interviews and filling out questionnaires). Eventually, of 5 of these patients basic drinking scores and couple’s marital functioning scores could be obtained through telephone interviewing. At follow‐up, 5 couples refused meeting research requirements, and of 6 couples only drinking‐scores and relationship satisfaction scores could be obtained through telephone interviewing. MEASURES Partner aggression and violence. The Dutch version of the Conflict Tactics Scale (Straus, 1979) was used to measure the prevalence and frequency of (1) verbal aggression, (2) overall physical violence, and (3) severe physical violence. The CTS verbal aggression scale has six items: (1) yelled, insulted, or swore at my partner; (2) sulked or refused to talk about the issue; (3) stomped out of the room or house or yard; (4) did or said something to spite my partner; (5) threatened to hit or throw something at my partner; and (6) threw something (not at my partner), smashed, hit, or kicked some object. The CTS overall physical violence scale has eight items: (1) threw something at my partner; (2) pushed, grabbed or shoved; (3) slapped; (4) kicked, bit or hit
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with a fist; (5) hit or tried to hit with something; (6) beat up; (7) threatened with a knife or gun; and (8) used a knife or gun. The severe violence subscale consists of the physical violence items 4 thru 8. The Dutch CST is adapted to a 6‐point scale (contrary to the original 7‐point scale). The frequency of verbal and psychical aggression was assessed using the answers‐categories: ‘never’, ‘once’, ‘twice’, ‘between 3‐5 times’, ‘between 6‐10 times’ and ‘more then 10 times’. The recommended recoding of the response categories was used, middling the frequency ranges: never=0; once=1; twice=2; 3‐5 times=4; 6‐10=8; over 10 times=12. At pre‐treatment, both partners had to rate IPV of themselves and of their partner for the one year prior to treatment; at post‐treatment and at 6 month follow‐up couples had to rate IPV for the past 6 months. In order to prevent underreporting, a commonly used method was used in which the higher of the patient and partner report on each item is used in the statistical analysis (OʹFarrell & Murphy, 1995). Because the CTS at pre‐treatment was assessed over a one‐year period, and post‐treatment scores and follow‐up scores both were assessed over a six month period, post treatment and follow‐up scores were added to be comparable with pre‐treatment scores. Drinking outcomes. To measure alcohol consumption a modified version of the AUDIT alcohol consumption questions that covers frequency and quantity of drinking was used (Emmen et al., 2005). Quantity and frequency measures were multiplied to generate average units of alcohol consumed per week (U/week). At pre‐treatment the questions were asked for average working and weekend days during the past year as well as during the previous month. At post‐treatment the questions were asked for average working days and weekend days during treatment as well as during the previous month. At 6‐month follow‐up questions were asked for average working days and weekend days during the past 6 months as well as during the previous month. PROCEDURE Couples were recruited during the intake‐phase at two regional community‐based large addiction treatment centers, the Jellinek Stichting and the Brijder Verslavingszorg, at three different locations (Amsterdam, Hilversum and Alkmaar respectively). Patients were randomized and received either 10 sessions of individual cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) or 10 sessions of behavioral couple therapy (BCT). If patients reported violence at pre‐treatment, this was briefed to the therapist. In the behavioral couple condition there were clear instructions how to address this issue and how to help the couples come up with an IPV prevention plan. The individual CBT
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protocol did not have such clear instructions, addressing IPV and intervening was left to the therapist his or her own judgment. The first author and research assistants conducted assessment of dinking and IPV at pre‐treatment, post‐treatment and 6‐month follow‐up. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS The difference in prevalence of violence (nominal data) between groups was analyzed using Chi‐square tests. The differences in frequency of overall violence and severe violence, drinking severity, and relationship functioning were analyzed using independent sample t‐test. Change in prevalence of violence within the sample was measured using McNemar test of change. Change in frequency of violence within the sample was tested using Wilcoxon signed ranks test (for individual items) and paired sample t‐test for overall violence and severe violence. Male and female patients were pooled in most analyses based on recent finding that there are minimal differences between male and female perpetrators in the conceptual framework of domestic violence (Stuart et al., 2006). RESULTS As shown in Table 1, there was a slight difference in prevalence of overall violence in the year prior to treatment in male (64%) versus female patients (44%), but none in severe violence (both ca 33%). At 6‐month follow‐up CTS‐scores could be obtained from thirty‐seven couples. There were no significant differences in baseline prevalence and frequency of overall and Table 1. Prevalence of violence in treatment‐seeking male and female alcoholic patients in the year prior to treatment. Male patients
(N=55) Female patients
(N=9) Overall (N=64)
Threw something at the partner 19 (34.5%) 2 (22.2%) 21 (32.8%) Pushed, grabbed or shoved 28 (50.9%) 4 (44.4%) 32 (50.0%) Slapped 25 (45.5%) 3 (33.3%) 28 (43.8%) Kicked, bit or hit 14 (25.5%) 2 (22.2%) 16 (25.0%) Hit, or tried to hit with something 16 (29.1%) 3 (33.3%) 19 (29.7%) Beat up 6 (10.9%) 2 (22.2%) 8 (12.5%) Threatened with knife or gun 5 (9.1%) 1 (11.1%) 6 (9.4%) Used a knife or gun 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0.0%) Overall violence (items 1‐8) 35 (63.6%) 4 (44.4%) 39 (60.9%) Severe violence (items 4‐8) 19 (34.5%) 3 (33.3%) 22 (34.4%)
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severe violence, drinking severity, and relationship functioning between those patients of whom follow‐up data could be obtained and those who dropped out of treatment and/or refused meeting full research requirement at post‐treatment or follow‐up (see Table 2). Table 2. Prevalence of violence of dropouts and completers in the year prior to entering treatment.
CHANGE IN VIOLENCE Within the group of which follow‐up data are available, most couples (91.9.1%) reported some form of verbal aggression during the year prior to treatment. The number of couples that reported verbal aggression in the year prior to entering treatment, compared to the year after entering treatment, did not decrease significantly. However, the frequency of verbal aggression in these couples did decrease significantly (t=2.945, df=36, p=.003, one‐tailed).
The prevalence of violence in the year prior to treatment was compared to the summed prevalence scores of violence during treatment and the 6‐month follow‐up period using McNemar’s test of change on each individual item on the CTS violence scale and on the presence of overall violence and severe violence. Table 3 summarizes the results of these analyses. The number of couples (N=37) that reported violence the year preceding treatment (56.7%) compared to the year after entering treatment (24.3%) decreased significantly, as did the prevalence of severe violence, which decreased from 32.4% to 13.5%.
Regarding change in frequency of violence, significant differences were observed on the CTS violence scale (z=2.483, N‐ties= 23, p=.007, one tailed), as well as on the CTS severe violence subscale (z=2.742, N‐ties=14,
Total sample (N=64)
Dropout and non‐compliance (N=27)
Completers (N=37)
Threw something at the partner 21 (32.8%) 10 (37.0%) 11 (29.7%) Pushed, grabbed or shoved 32 (50.0%) 15 (55.6%) 17 (45.9%) Slapped 28 (43.8%) 13 (48.1%) 15 (40.5%) Kicked, bit or hit 16 (25.0%) 7 (25.9 %) 9 (24.3%) Hit, or tried to hit with something 19 (29.7%) 10 (37.0%) 9 (24.3%) Beat up 8 (12.5%) 4 (14.8%) 4 (10.8%) Threatened with knife or gun 6 (9.4%) 3 (11.1%) 3 (8.1%) Used a knife or gun 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0%) Overall violence (items 1‐8) 39 (60.9%) 18 (66.7%) 21 (56.7%) Severe violence (items 4‐8) 22 (34.4%) 10 (37.0%) 12 (32.4%)
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Table 3. Change in prevalence of violence of in the year prior to treatment and in the year during treatment and follow‐up.
¹ In order to test change in prevalence using McNemar, the prevalence of violence on these items was transformed into 1 (2.7%). p=.003, one tailed). The frequency of violent behaviors dropped from an average of 4.70 (SD=9,30) during the year prior to entering treatment to 1.51 (SD=3.45) during the year after entering treatment. The frequency of severe violent behaviors dropped from an average of 1.91 (SD=3.76) during the year prior to entering treatment to 0.32 (SD=0.88) during the year after entering treatment. DRINKING AND VIOLENCE In the total sample, there were no differences at pretest between patients who reported having been violent in the year prior to entering treatment (N=39) versus non‐violent patients (N=25) in quantity of drinking (t=‐.114, df=62, p=.910, two tailed). Further, quantity of drinking at intake was not different for patients having reported severe violence (N=22) as compared to patients having reported no severe violence during the past year (N=42) (t=1.33, df=62, p=.262, two tailed). In the group of which follow‐up data are available drinking decreased significantly from pretest to post test and follow‐up, as did the prevalence and frequency of overall violence and severe violence. Quantity of drinking at follow‐up was not related to having engaged in IPV, nor severe IPV, during the 6 months after treatment (t=‐.129, df=36, p=.898; t=.741, df=36, p=.463). Further, Chi‐square test showed that
Year prior to treatment (N=37)
Year after entering treatment
Exact p, one tailed
Threw something at the partner
11 (29.7%) 6 (16.2%) .151
Pushed, grabbed or shoved 17 (45.9%) 7 (18.9%) .011* Slapped 15 (40.5%) 8 (21.6%) .046* Kicked, bit or hit 9 (24.3%) 5 (13.5%) .172 Hit, or tried to hit with something
9 (24.3%) 2 (5.4%) .008**
Beat up 4 (10.8%) 0 (0%)¹ .187 Threatened with knife or gun
3 (8.1%) 0 (0%)¹ .250
Used a knife or gun 0 (0%) 0 (0%) ‐ Overall violence (items 1‐8) 21 (56.7%) 9 (24.3%) .007** Severe violence (items 4‐8) 12 (32.4%) 5 (13.5%) .033*
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patient who had engaged in binge dinking during follow‐up (drinking 6 units or more per occasion), were not more likely to be violent toward their partner, compared to patients who reported no binges. TREATMENT CONDITIONS AND VIOLENCE In the group of which follow‐up data are available, there were no differences observed between treatment conditions (individual versus couple therapy) regarding change in frequency of verbal aggression. A near significant decrease (p<.06 in both treatment conditions) in the prevalence of violent behaviors between the year prior to entering treatment compared to the year after entering treatment was found (see table 4). There was no significant difference in prevalence of violence between treatment conditions at 6‐month follow‐up. Further, there were no significant differences between conditions in frequency of overall violence and severe violence in the year prior to treatment or in the year after treatment. Table 4. Change in prevalence of violence in the year before and the year after entering treatment, within treatment condition using McNemar
Note: p¹ = p‐value one tailed.
CBT (N=21) BCT (N=16) Prior
entering treatment
After entering treatment
p¹ Prior entering treatment
After entering treatment
p¹
Threw something at the partner
6(28.6%) 4 (19.0%) .364 5 (31.3%) 2 (12.5%) .227
Pushed, grabbed or shoved
8 (38.1%) 4 (19.0%) .110 9 (56.3%) 3 (18.8%) .055
Slapped 9 (42.9%) 5 (23.8%) .110 6 (37.5%) 3 (18.8%) .227 Kicked, bit or hit 6 (28.6%) 3 (14.3%) .188 3 (18.8%) 2 (12.5%) 1.00 Hit, or tried to hit with something
4 (19.0%) 2 (9.5%) .250 5 (31.3%) 0 (0%) ‐
Beat up 2 (9.5%) 0 (0%) ‐ 2 (12.5%) 0 (0%) ‐ Threatened with knife or gun
2 (9.5%) 0 (0%) ‐ 1 (6.3%) 0 (0%) ‐
Used a knife or gun 0 (0%) 0 (0%) ‐ 0 (0%) 0 (0%) ‐ Overall violence (items 1‐8)
11 (52.4%)
6 (28.6%) .063 9 (56.3%) 3 (18.8%) .055
Severe violence (items 4‐8)
7 (33.3%) 3 (14.3%) .063 5 (31.3%) 2 (12.5%) .227
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DISCUSSION The frequency and severity of intimate partner violence found in this Dutch sample of treatment seeking alcoholic patients was high and comparable to those observed in other BCT treatment outcome studies conducted in the US (OʹFarrell et al., 2003; OʹFarrell et al., 2004). As expected, the prevalence of violent acts perpetrated by male patients was slightly higher compared to the prevalence found in female patients. The prevalence of IPV reported by the Dutch female patients (44.4%) corresponds with prevalence rates of alcoholic females found in epidemiological research (Caetano, Cunradi, Clark, & Schafer, 2000; Caetano, Nelson, & Cunradi, 2001; Schafer, Caetano, & Clark, 1998) and in treatment‐seeking female alcoholics (Chase, OʹFarrell, Murphy, Fals‐Stewart, & Murphy, 2003; Drapkin, McCrady, Swingle, & Epstein, 2005; Fals‐Stewart et al., 2006), and is between 2‐3 times higher than in females without alcohol problems. Thus, the results of the present study underscore the growing body of evidence that IPV is highly prevalent in patients seeking treatment in community addiction treatment facilities.
Treatment for alcohol use disorder was associated with a significant reduction in prevalence and frequency of overall intimate partner violence at 6‐month follow‐up. The magnitude of reduction in IPV was comparable to the results of OʹFarrell et al. (2003) and O’Farrel et al. (2004). However, contrary to previous findings of Fals‐Stewart et al. (2002) and Fals‐Stewart et al. (2006), we did not find significant differences in reduction in IPV between individual and couples therapy. A possible explanation could be that, contrary to our finding, BCT in the studies by (Fals‐Stewart et al., 2006; Fals‐Stewart et al., 2002) produced a significant long‐term increase in relationship satisfaction, which may have mediated the decrease in IPV. In our study neither BCT nor CBT resulted in a significant increase in relationship satisfaction at 6‐months follow‐up, presumably due to the fact that patients scored already within the normal range at base‐line (see Chapter 3). Contrary to O’Farrell et al. (2003; 2004), we found no relationship between alcohol consumption and binge drinking during follow‐up on the one hand and having engaged in IPV on the other. This discrepancy with other findings is probably due to methodological issues such as differences in assessment of drinking and IPV, small sample size involved in the studies, and low post‐treatment and follow‐up frequency of IPV.
Limitations of this study are the relatively large drop‐out and non‐compliance in meeting research requirements. Although this is common in this population, this resulted in a relatively small sample size and associated lack of statistical power. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the differences
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of reduction in IPV between the two treatment conditions were so small and clinically insignificant, that even with much larger samples the difference would not have reached acceptable levels of statistical significance. Further, some caution should be exercised when interpreting the findings of this study, as the results may be somewhat sample‐specific; Patients were treatment‐seeking alcoholics with a partner who was willing to cooperate in the study.
Given that results of the present study showed that treatment directed at the reduction of alcohol use leads to a reduction of IPV, should we conclude that as long as patients receive treatment for alcohol abuse, IPV is adequately dealt with? Unfortunately, the answer is not affirmative. Presumably, treatment directed at alcohol abuse is not equally effective in reducing IPV to clinically significant levels across all subtypes of substance abusing patients with IPV. Some authors have suggested that domestic violence perpetrators should be differentiated in various subtypes. Holtzworth‐Munroe & Stuart (1994) proposed differentiating these batterers in three distinctive subtypes: family only batterers, borderline/dysphoric batterers and generally violent/antisocial batterers. According to Holtzworth‐Munroe and Stuart (1994) the family only batterers commit the least severe partner violence and are unlikely to generalize their violence. In contrast, the generally violent/antisocial batterers are characterized by antisocial personality features and substance abuse, and commit more generalized violence as well as more severe relationship violence than other domestically violent batterers. The borderline/dysphoric batterers are in‐between the other two groups. Presumably, batterer treatment in substance‐abusing patients would be more efficacious if it were subtype‐specific. For example, is has been shown that anti‐social personality disorder moderates the relationship between the occurrence of IPV and alcohol use (Murphy, OʹFarrell, Fals‐Stewart, & Feehan, 2001) and that in patients meeting criteria for anti‐social personality disorder, alcohol consumption does not increase IPV.
In sum, although for a number of alcohol abusing patients the occurrence of IPV may substantially decrease after successful treatment of alcohol abuse irrespective whether the partner is involved in treatment or not, presumably this does not hold for all subtypes of batterers. Community‐based addiction treatment centers should become more effective in screening for IPV and in referring to IPV treatment programs (Schumacher, Fals‐Stewart, & Leonard, 2003). Further research into effective interventions for
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substance‐abusing patients with IPV, taking into account the various subtypes proposed by Holtzworth‐Munroe & Stuart (1994) is clearly needed.
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Holtzworth‐Munroe, A., & Stuart, G. L. (1994). Typologies of male batterers: Three subtypes and the differences among them. Psychological Bulletin, 116(3), 476‐497.
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Leonard, K. E. (2005). Alcohol and intimate partner violence: when can we say that heavy drinking is a contributing cause of violence? Addiction, 100(4), 422‐425.
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Murphy, C. M., Winters, J., Fals‐Stewart, W., OʹFarrell, T. J., & Murphy, M. (2005). Alcohol consumption and intimate partner violence by alcoholic men: Comparing violent and nonviolent conflicts. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 19(1), 35‐42.
OʹFarrell, T. J., Fals‐Stewart, W., Murphy, M., & Murphy, C. M. (2003). Partner violence before and after individually based alcoholism treatment for male alcoholic patients. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 71(1), 92‐102.
OʹFarrell, T. J., & Murphy, C. M. (1995). Marital violence before and after alcoholism treatment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63(2), 256‐262.
OʹFarrell, T. J., Murphy, C. M., Stephan, S. H., Fals‐Stewart, W., & Murphy, M. (2004). Partner violence before and after couples‐based alcoholism treatment for male alcoholic patients: the role of treatment involvement and abstinence. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72(2), 202‐217.
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Römkens, R. (1997). Prevalence of wife abuse in the Netherlands: combining quantitative and qualitative methods in survey research. Journal of interpersonal violence, 12(1), 99.
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CHAPTER 5 A comparison of moderation‐orientated versus abstinence‐orientated patients receiving cognitive behavior therapy for alcohol use disorder
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ABSTRACT Controlled drinking is a controversial issue in alcohol dependence. This study compares the effects of cognitive behavior therapy with moderation or abstinence as treatment goal. The present study was conducted in the context of a randomized clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of two types of cognitive behavior therapy (N=64) in the treatment of alcohol dependence. Patients were free to choose either abstinence or moderation as treatment goal. At pretreatment, abstinence‐orientated patients drank significantly more compared to moderation‐orientated patients, but self‐reported craving did not significantly differ between both groups of patients. Results show treatment to be effective in changing drinking behavior; after adjusting for pre‐test scores, there were no significant differences in quantity/frequency measures at follow‐up between abstinence‐orientated patients and moderation‐orientated patients. However, abstinence‐orientated patients reported fewer binges (6 or more units per drinking occasion) and less craving at follow‐up compared to moderation‐orientated patients. This study demonstrates that moderation can be a realistic treatment goal in the treatment of alcohol dependence, but reduction in drinking behavior is associated with more lapses compared to when patients strive for abstinence. Vedel, E., Schippers, G.M. & Emmelkamp, P.G.M. (2007). A comparison of moderation‐oriented versus abstinence‐orientated patients receiving cognitive behavior therapy for alcohol use disorder. Manuscript submitted for publication.
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INTRODUCTION Traditionally, total abstinence was held to be the only viable treatment goal for alcohol dependent patients, viewing alcoholism as a more or less irreversible disease characterized by impaired control and illustrated by the Alcoholics Anonymous insistence that its members are but ʺone drink away from a drunkʺ. With the introduction, however, of behavioral and cognitive behavioral treatment models in the field of substance use disorders, the basic presupposition of abstinence being the only feasible treatment goal was repeatedly challenged. Especially in the US, a country where addiction treatment is primarily dominated by the Minnesota model/12‐step philosophy, the new treatment goal of controlled drinking became a controversial issue, even leading to unjustified accusations by abstinence‐oriented researchers (Pendery, Maltzman, & West, 1982) of unscientific conduct by Sobell & Sobell (1984), pioneers in controlled‐drinking treatment research.
With regard to the irreversibility of alcohol dependence, however, there is now a growing body of epidemiological data suggesting that a relatively large proportion of people that abuse or are dependent on alcohol at one point in time, can gain substantial control over their alcohol use at a later point in time, in many incidences no longer meeting criteria for alcohol abuse or dependence (Dawson et al., 2005; de Bruijn, van den Brink, de Graaf, & Vollebergh, 2006; Sobell, Cunninghamm, & Sobell, 1996). In research on treatment outcome, problem drinkers have been shown to drink in a controlled fashion without associated problems, even when treatment focused on total abstinence. Most controlled‐drinking orientated patients achieved moderation of alcohol use, while most abstinence‐orientated patients failed to abstain from alcohol but nonetheless moderated their drinking (Marlatt, Larimer, Baer, & Quigley, 1993; Miller, Leckman, Delaney, & Tinkcom, 1992; Walters, 2000). In a meta‐analysis on self‐control, Walters (2000) found no support for the claims that abstinence orientated programs, versus controlled‐drinking programs, achieve superior results in alcohol dependent subjects compared to problem drinkers. In reaction to these findings, the proponents of the abstinence‐orientated approach have argued that the favorable outcomes of controlled drinking were influenced by the fact that most of these studies were conducted in academic settings and included only a specific sub‐set of alcohol abusing patients, compared to the very heterogenic alcohol abusing population seen in clinical practice. Monitoring the effects of controlled substance use as a goal for treatment in a regular community‐based outpatient treatment unit, Schippers & Nelissen (2006) found that controlled
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use was opted for in 27% of the cases. Striving for controlled use, compared to abstinence, was associated with higher treatment retention, but with less treatment outcome.
Besides the need of investigating whether moderation‐oriented treatment is feasible in community‐based treatment centers, there is also a need to investigate for which patients abstinence‐orientated programs are better suited than controlled‐drinking programs and vice versa. Studies in the UK and US found that clinicians held severity of dependence, and drinking history important in establishing whether moderation was feasible as treatment goal (Heather & Dawe, 2005; Rosenberg & Davis, 1994; Rosenberg, Melville, Levell, & Hodge, 1992). Unfortunately, few studies have investigated the predictive validity of these variables for treatment outcome of moderation‐orientated approaches.
One specific feature of problematic alcohol use, which may be related to the feasibility of moderation versus abstinence, is the level of craving experienced by the patient. Craving, defined as recurrent and persistent thoughts about and drive to use alcohol (Anton, 1999), is considered to be central in the development and recovery of alcohol use disorder. Little is known about the relationship between level of craving and abstinence or controlled drinking as goal for treatment.
Cognitive behavior therapy has been shown to be effective in the treatment of alcohol use disorders; cognitive behavioral interventions such as coping‐skills training and contingency management are among the most thoroughly tested psychological interventions in the field of substance abuse treatment, producing significant reduction in alcohol consumption and alcohol related problems (for review see Emmelkamp & Vedel, 2006). The present study, conducted at two community‐based addiction treatment centers, evaluates the treatment outcome of moderation‐orientated patients versus abstinence‐orientated patients in the context of a randomized‐controlled trial comparing two variants of cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT): individual versus couple therapy. Patients in both treatment conditions were free to opt for either abstinence or moderation as treatment goal. Results of the comparison of individual cognitive behavior therapy versus brief behavioral couple therapy revealed that both treatment formats were equally effective in decreasing drinking (Chapter 3). It was hypothesized that (1) abstinent‐orientated patients would reduce their drinking more than moderation‐orientated patients, and (2) high levels of craving would be associated with less favorable treatment‐outcome, especially in moderation‐orientated patients.
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METHOD PARTICIPANTS Participants (N=64) for this study were fifty‐five male and nine female patients with alcohol use disorder (mean age 45.5 years (SD11.34)) participating in a RCT comparing two variants of CBT: individual and couple therapy. To be eligible to participate patients had to meet the following inclusion criteria: (1) diagnosis of alcohol abuse (N=2) or alcohol dependence (N=62) according to DSM‐IV, (2) married or cohabiting for at least one year, (3) partner willing and able to participate in treatment. Participants were excluded from participation in the case of: (1) drug dependence, (2) signs of severe mental disorders (psychosis, schizophrenia) or organic brain syndrome/neurological problems, and (3) current alcohol abuse/dependence of the partner/spouse. In total eighty‐four couples were referred to the study of which twenty were excluded or decided not to participate. Reasons for exclusion or non‐participation were: difficulty mastering the Dutch language and thus unable to fill out the questionnaires (N=4), refusing meeting research requirements (N=4), spouse refusing to participate in treatment (N=2), patient refusing any treatment (N=2), couple breaking up between referral and research assessment (N=1), severe marital violence (N=2), severe mental problems spouse (N=1), current alcohol abuse by the spouse (N=4). Of the patients that started treatment (N=64), thirty entered the behavioral couple condition and thirty‐four entered the individual condition. Seven patients underwent detoxification before starting treatment (four in the individual condition and three in the couple condition). During the first few weeks of treatment, three patients were referred to a more intensive day hospital/clinical program because of a deteriorating physical and/or mental condition. Eight patients dropped‐out of treatment prematurely and refused participating in further research requirements. In total fifty‐three patients completed treatment, of whom ten initially did not meet post‐treatment research requirements. Eventually, of five of these patients drinking scores could be obtained through telephone interviewing. At follow‐up, five couples refused meeting research requirements, and of six couples only drinking‐scores could be obtained through telephone interviewing. MEASURES Drinking behavior. The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM‐IV Axis I Disorders (SCID‐I) (First, Spitzer, Gibbon & Williams, 1996) was used to confirm diagnosis of alcohol abuse or dependence. The alcohol section of the
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Dutch version of theAddiction Severity Index (Europ‐ASI), a structured clinical interview, was used as an indication of alcoholism problem severity (Kokkevi & Hartgers, 1995). To measure alcohol consumption a modified version of the AUDIT alcohol consumption questions that cover frequency and quantity of drinking was used (Emmen et al., 2005). Quantity and frequency measures were multiplied to estimate average units of alcohol consumed per week (U/week). At pre‐treatment the questions were asked for average working and weekend days during the past year as well as the previous month. At post‐treatment the questions were asked for average working days and weekend days during treatment as well as the previous month. At six‐month follow‐up questions were asked for average working days and weekend days during the past six months as well as the previous month. The original third AUDIT alcohol consumption item, “How often did you have six or more drinks on one occasion during the past…”, was used as indication of binge drinking (in treatment terminology referred to as a severe lapse). Craving. Patients completed the Obsessive‐Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS; Anton, Moak, & Latham, 1995), a standardized self‐report measure of cognitive and behavioral aspects of craving. Patients had to rate 14 items regarding thoughts and behaviors related to drinking on a 5–6 point Likert‐type scale. Along with a total score, the instrument yields two subscale scores, which measure obsessive thoughts about alcohol and compulsive drinking urges and behaviors respectively. Because of the rather high correlation between both sub‐scales (r = .87), only the total score was used in analyses. DESIGN Procedure. Couples were recruited during the intake‐phase at two large addiction treatment centers, the Jellinek Stichting and the Brijder Verslavingszorg at three different locations (Amsterdam, Hilversum and Alkmaar respectively). These centers use fairly the same standardized patient‐treatment allocation procedures at intake, as well as the same treatments programs (and treatment manuals) at their outpatient treatment units. Alcoholic patients who were married or cohabiting and who, according to patient‐treatment allocation guidelines, were going to be referred to the outpatient treatment unit to receive a treatment module of ten sessions of individual cognitive behavioral therapy were asked to participate. If interested in participating in the study, both partners were invited for one or two conjoint sessions consisting of (1) giving information
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about the project, (2) signing of informed consent, (3) assessment (clinical interviews and filling out questionnaires), and (4) randomization. Half of the patients received behavioral couple therapy instead of individual CBT treatment (‘treatment‐as‐usual’). In accordance with patient‐treatment allocation procedures, some patients were detoxified on a clinical or outpatient basis before being referred to the outpatient treatment units. After treatment both partners were invited for conjoint post‐treatment assessment (one session) and a six‐month follow‐up (one session). The first author and a research assistant hosted these sessions. Couples were in no way compensated for participating in the study and, as in the case of treatment‐as‐usual in the Netherlands, treatment was free of charge. Treatment Conditions. Both treatments were derived from the cognitive behavioral model on alcohol use disorders, defining alcohol abuse as a habitual, maladaptive method for attempting to cope with the stresses of daily living. This maladaptive way of coping is triggered by internal and external cues and reinforced by positive rewards and/or avoidance of punishment (Monti et al., 1989). Both treatments consisted of ten sessions (45‐60 minutes per session in the individual condition; 90 minutes per session in the conjoint couples condition), conducted over a five to six month period. In the individual treatment condition, the treatment protocol was based on the Cognitive Behavioral Coping Skills Therapy manual and Motivational Enhancement Therapy manual used in project MATCH (Kadden, Carroll, Donovan, & al., 1992; Miller et al., 1995) and included self‐monitoring of drinking and drinking urges, functional analyses, stimulus control and consequence control procedures, and relapse prevention planning. Marital issues were not explicitly discussed in this protocol. However, when directly related to craving or lapses, patient and therapist discussed coping strategies to deal with marital distress without the partner present. In the behavioral couple therapy protocol the main behavioral couple treatment interventions used in the Counseling Alcoholic Marriages project (CALM project; OʹFarrell, 1993) were added to the standard treatment interventions used in the individual cognitive behavior treatment protocol. During the ten treatment sessions, both spouses were present.
Both treatments were semi‐directive regarding treatment goal setting; patients were offered a free choice between abstinence or controlled drinking. If patients opted for controlled drinking, specific guidelines were imposed: Controlled drinking was defined upon as (1) a maximum of twelve units a week, (2) at least three alcohol abstinent days a week, (3) no more
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then three units per drinking day, and (4) no drinking in personal relevant high‐risk situations. If, within two to three treatment sessions, patients were unable to control their drinking, they were encouraged to refrain from alcohol for the period of the treatment. A care‐as‐usual policy was adopted regarding the prescription of anti‐craving medication or aversion medication (disulfiram): If therapist and patient were of the opinion that medication was in order, the patient was referred to one of the clinic’s medical doctors. Therapists. Experienced addictions counselors, working at the participating outpatient treatment units, delivered treatments. The counselors received training in the BCT treatment protocol and used detailed CBT and BCT treatment manuals. In order to insure treatment integrity, therapists (audio) taped their treatment sessions and were regularly supervised by the first and third author. RESULTS SUBJECT CHARACTERISTICS
Regarding setting treatment goal, of treatment completers thirteen patients (27%) choose controlled drinking; in the individual condition eight out of twenty‐seven (29.6%) and five out of twenty‐one (23.8%) in the BCT condition. Nine participants (14.1%) underwent some form of medically supervised detoxification prior to entering treatment and twenty‐one participants (43.8%) started using medication during the course of treatment, six started using disulfiram, twelve started using acamprosate and three started using naltrexon. Two patients in the controlled drinking condition (15.4%) and nineteen patients in the abstinence‐oriented condition (54.3%) received anti‐craving medication or disulfiram. The descriptives of patients drinking history in relation to treatment goal are presented in Table 1. On the alcohol use scale of the Europ‐ASI, the problem severity ratings were within the range that would be expected based on the addiction treatment centers’ patient‐treatment allocation guidelines (average between 4‐6) The severity rating on the family/social support scale and the psychiatric status scale were elevated (both averaging between 2‐3). The severity rating on medical status, employment and support status, legal status, and pathological gambling were relatively low (averaging between 0‐2), as was the case in the severity rating of drug use (average between 0‐1). T‐tests revealed no significant differences between treatment conditions on any of the Europ‐ASI severity ratings. Overall, twenty‐nine patients (45.3%) indicated to have been drinking problematic for more then five years, twenty‐four patients (37.5%) indicated problematic drinking between two
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Table 1. A comparison of drinking variables between moderation‐oriented and abstinence‐oriented patients at pre‐treatment.
and five years, and eleven (17.2%) patients indicated problematic drinking between one and two years. In the year prior to treatment fifty‐seven patients (89.1%) had been drinking on a daily or nearly daily basis, seven patients (10.9%) indicated having been drinking up to three times a week for the past year. Fifty patients (78.1%) indicated having been drinking six or more drinks on average per drinking occasion. Forty‐two patients (65.1%) indicated having been drinking forty‐four units or more on an average week during the past year.
At pre‐treatment there was a significant difference in average U/week in the month prior to treatment between moderation‐orientated patients and abstinence‐orientated patients (t=2.391, df=46, p=0.021). Patients who choose abstinence as treatment goal drank significantly more compared to patients who chose moderation as treatment goal (an average of 42 units per week and 36 units per week, respectively). DRINKING AT POST‐TREATMENT The time effect was tested with paired t‐tests for each individual condition. The between group effect at posttest and follow‐up was tested with ANCOVA’s using the pretest scores as covariate. Results are presented in Table 2. In moderation‐oriented patients, the average U/week in the month prior to treatment compared to average U/week in the last month of treatment decreased significantly (t=5.195, df=12, p= .00025, one tailed), from an average of 36 units per week (SD=14.05) to an average of 9 units per week (SD=15.99). If one patient, who had a full relapse, was removed from the analysis, the average U/week in the month prior to treatment decreased
Treatment goal Abstinence (N=35)
Controlled drinking (N=13)
Problem drinking > 5 yrs
19 (54.3%)
5 (38.5%)
Problem drinking > 2 yrs < 5 yrs 10 (28.6%) 8 (61.5%) Problem drinking > 1 yrs <2 yrs 3 (8.6%) 0 (0%) Problem drinking < 1 yr 3 (8.6%) 0 (0%) Drinking > 6 units per occasion on nearly daily basis
31 (88.6%) 8 (61.5%)
Drinking > 9 units per drinking occasion
19 (54.3%) 3 (23.1%)
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significantly from an average of 36 units per week (SD=14.47) to an average of 5 units per week (SD=7.79) post‐treatment (t=6.837, df=11, p=.00025, one tailed). Significant reductions were also observed in abstinence‐oriented patients: Average U/week consumption dropped from an average of 45 units prior to treatment (SD=10.83) to less then one unit during last month of treatment (SD=2.09) (t=24.604, df=34, p<.00025, one tailed). After adjusting for pre‐treatment scores, abstinence‐orientated patients drank significant less U/week compared to moderation orientated patients (F(1.44)=8.980, p<0.004), even when the patient who relapsed in the moderation‐orientated sample was not included in the analysis.
As to abstinence, during the last month of treatment, overall twenty‐eight patients (48%) reported abstinence, twenty‐seven abstinence‐orientated participants (77.1%) and one moderation‐orientated patient (7.7%). During the course of treatment, overall twenty patients (41.7%) reported having had no binge, seventeen of the abstinence‐orientated patients (48.6%) and three of the moderation‐orientated patients (23.1%). Nineteen patients (39.6%) indicated having had binges less then once a month, twelve of the abstinence‐orientated participants (34.3%) and seven of the moderation‐orientated patients (53.8%). Eight patients (16.7%) indicated having had regular binges (“a few times a month”) during the course of treatment, six of the abstinence‐orientated patients (17.1%) and two of the moderation‐orientated patients (15.4%). At post‐treatment, three patients were classified as non‐responders (6.3%), one of the abstinence‐orientated patient (2.9%) and two of the moderation‐orientated (15.4%). Two of the non‐responders did not provide follow‐up data. DRINKING AT FOLLOW‐UP At six‐months follow‐up, significant increasing drinking‐scores in U/week in the last month prior to follow‐up compared to U/week during last month of treatment were observed in the abstinence‐oriented patients (t=‐2.167, df=32, p=0.038). In moderation‐oriented patients a trend in the same direction was observed (t=‐2.069, df= 10, p=0.065). After adjusting for pre‐treatment scores, there was no significant effect at follow‐up drinking scores between abstinence‐orientated and moderation‐orientated patients (F(1.40)=2.578, p=0.116). At follow‐up, eighteen patients (41.9%) reported having had no binges (6 units or more per drinking occasion) during the past six months, fifteen abstinence‐orientated patients (46.9%) and three moderation‐orientated patients (27.3%). Twenty‐five patients (58.1%) reported at least one binge during this period, of which eight patients (32%) reported having
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Table 2. Post‐treatment and follow‐up drinking
Overall N=48
Abstinence N=35
Moderation
N=13
Abstinent during treatment 14 (29.2%) 13 (37.1%) 1 (7.7%) No binge during treatment* 20 (41.7%) 17 (48.6%) 3 (23.1%) Binge less then once a month during treatment
19 (39.6%) 12 (34.3%) 7 (53.8%)
Monthly binges during treatment 8 (16.7%) 6 (17.1%) 2 (15.4%) Weekly, near daily or daily binges during treatment
1 (2.1%) 0 1 (7.7%)
Abstinent last month of treatment 28 (58,3%) 27 (77.1%) 1 (7.7%) No binges during last month of treatment
36 (75%) 28 (80%) 8 (61.1%)
One binge during last month of treatment
9 (18.8%) 6 (17.1%) 3 (23.1%)
Post‐treatment
More then on binge during last month of treatment
3 (6.3%) 1 (2.9%) 2 (15.4%)
Overall N=44
Abstinence N=33
Moderation
N=11
Abstinent during follow‐up 16 (36.4%) 16 (48.5%) 0 No binge during follow‐up 18 (41%) 15 (46.9%) 3 (27.3%) Binges less then once a month during follow‐up
15 (34.1%) 11 (33.3%) 4 (36.4%)
Monthly binges during follow‐up 8 (18.2%) 5 (15.2%) 3 (27.3%) Weekly, near daily or daily binges during follow‐up
2 (4.5%) 1 (3.0%) 1 (9.1%)
Abstinent last month of follow‐up 18 (40.9) 15 (45.5%) 3 (27.3%) No binges during last month of follow‐up
25 (56.8%) 18 (54.5%) 7 (63.6%)
One binge during last month of follow‐up
11 (25%) 9 (27.3%) 2 (18.2%)
6‐month follow‐up
More then one binge during last month of follow‐up
7(15.9%) 5 (15.2%) 2 (18.2%)
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had several binges during the past six months, five (15.6%) abstinence‐orientated patients and three (27.3%) moderation‐orientated patients. Five patients (11.6%) were classified as having fully relapsed into alcohol abuse, drinking large amounts of alcohol (six units or more) several times a week during the last month of follow‐up, of those three were abstinence‐orientated patients (9.4%) and two were moderation‐orientated patients (18.2%). Chi‐square analyses revealed no significant difference between treatment conditions on any of these drinking measures. CRAVING Both abstinence‐orientated patients as well as patients choosing controlled drinking reported high levels of craving at pre‐treatment. There were no differences in level of craving observed between patients groups prior to treatment, nor was level of craving associated with prescription of disulfiram of anti‐craving medication. Results at post‐test and follow‐up are presented in Table 3 and 4. In patients striving for abstinence, self‐reported craving dropped significantly from pre‐treatment to post‐treatment (t=6.989, df=31, p=0.000, two tailed). Comparable results were observed in patients having a controlled drinking treatment goal (t=3.162, df=10, p=.010, two tailed). After adjusting for pre‐test scores, there were no significant post‐treatment differences between moderation‐orientated patients and abstinence‐orientated patients.
At 6‐month follow‐up the significant difference in level of craving compared to pre‐treatment was sustained for abstinence‐orientated patients (t = 4.988, df = 27, p=0.000, two tailed). In moderation‐orientated patients the reduction in level of craving compared to pre‐treatment scores was no longer statistically significant, probably due to small sample size (N= 8). After adjusting for pre‐test scores, the abstinence‐orientated patients reported less craving compared to moderation‐orientated patients (F(1,33) = 4.036, p=0.053).
Table 3. Changes on Obsessive Compulsive Drinking scale pre‐test to post‐test
Treatment‐goal Pre‐test
Post‐test Paired t‐test ANCOVA
M SD M SD t df p F p Abstinence 36.06
(N=35) 10.87 23.31
(N=32) 4.75 6.99 31 .000 F (1.40)
3.169 .083
Controlled drinking
33.08 (N=13)
6.42 27.00 (N=11)
6.37 3.162 10 .010
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Table 4. Changes on Obsessive Compulsive Drinking scale pre‐test to follow‐up
DISCUSSION In the present study quantity of drinking was found to be related to preferred treatment goal; patients who choose abstinence as treatment goal drank more at pre‐treatment compared to patients who opted for moderation. These results are in line with findings that problem severity is a criterion in the decision to opt for controlled drinking versus choosing abstinence as treatment goal (Rosenberg & Davis, 1994; Rosenberg & Melville, 2005; Rosenberg et al., 1992). The distribution between those patients who opted for abstinence (63%) and those opting for moderation (27%) was comparable with distributions observed in other studies in which setting treatment goal was an option (Hodgins et al 1997; Schippers & Nelissen, 2006).
Overall, both moderation‐oriented and abstinence‐oriented patients were effective in stopping alcohol use or reducing drinking to non‐harmful levels at post‐treatment and follow‐up. Patients who choose abstinence as drinking goal reduced their drinking from an average of forty‐two units per week to less then one units per week; patients who choose moderation as treatment goal reduced their drinking from an average of thirty‐six units per week to between five and nine units per week. When controlled for initial differences in drinking rate, neither at post‐test nor at follow‐up significant differences were found between moderation‐orientated and abstinence orientated patients in terms of reduction in unit per weeks. However, abstinence‐orientated patients experienced fewer binges (severe lapse) during treatment and follow‐up compared to moderation‐orientated
Treatment‐goal
Follow‐up
Paired t‐test ANCOVA
M SD t df p F p Abstinence (N=28)
25.57
7.95 4.99
27 .000 F (1,33) 4.036
0.053
Controlled drinking (N=8)
26.50
7.58 2.136
7 .070
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patients. Nearly half of the patients experienced at least one severe lapse into alcohol during the 6‐month period after treatment. There were no differences in number of binges between patients striving for abstinence versus patients wanting to control their use. A relatively small proportion of these patients experienced a full relapse into alcohol abuse and were diagnosed with current alcohol dependence at follow‐up (N=5).
Although the present data support the notion that patients who want to control their drinking have to a large extent similar drinking outcomes compared to patients who strive for abstinence, this does not suggest that in all cases controlled drinking is a feasible treatment goal. First of all, most patients allocated to the study were dependent on alcohol but regarded treatable on an outpatient basis, so the most severely dependent, treatment resistant patients were excluded from the study. Further, an important aspect of our treatment program was that therapists were rather directive in the operational definition of controlled drinking, giving patients clear instruction on the quantities and frequency of drinking and, if gaining control over drinking remained ‘fragile’ during the first weeks of treatment, instructed the patient to shift treatment goal and to strive for abstinence for the duration of the treatment.
Contrary to our expectations, the level of craving at pre‐treatment was not associated with treatment goal. Patients choosing abstinence did not report higher levels of craving compared to patients choosing controlled drinking prior to treatment. At post‐treatment, levels of craving significantly decreased in both patient groups with no statistical difference between groups. However, at follow‐up a relatively small difference was observed between both groups, showing abstinence‐orientated patients to report slightly less craving compared to moderation‐orientated patients. This finding is difficult to interpret, however, because of the relatively small sample size of the moderation‐orientated patients.
In a study into treatment goal selection and treatment outcome, Adamson & Sellman (2001) found the extent in which patient were able to remain abstinent or stay within promoted drinking guidelines was not associated with the level of self‐reported craving. The lack of a relationship between self‐reported craving and treatment goal and treatment outcome, may be the result of the recently demonstrated moderate correlation between craving and cue‐reactivity. In a study by Ooteman, Koeter, Verheul, Schippers, & van den Brink (2006), a substantial number of patients who had high cue‐reactivity (on psycho‐physiological markers such as skin conductance and hart‐rate) reported low levels of subjectively experienced
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craving. In other words, patients were not very effective in registering their own bodily reactions in response to alcohol‐related cues. These findings suggest that future research into the relationship of treatment‐goal and craving, should include physiological indicators of cue‐reactivity in addition to subjective self‐report of craving.
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outcome in outpatients with mild –moderate alcohol dependence. Drug and Alcohol Review, 20, 351‐359.
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de Bruijn, C., van den Brink, W., de Graaf, R., & Vollebergh, W. A. M. (2006). The three year course of alcohol use disorders in the general population: DSM‐IV, ICD‐10 and the Craving Withdrawal Model. Addiction, 101(3), 385‐392.
Emmelkamp, P. M. G., & Vedel, E. (2006). Evidence‐based treatment for alcohol and drug abuse. New York: Routledge/ Taylor & Francis Group.
Emmen, M. J., Schippers, G. M., Wollersheim, H., & Bleijenberg, G. (2005). Adding psychologistʹs intervention to physiciansʹ advice to problem drinkers in the outpatient clinic. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 40(3), 219‐226.
Heather, N., & Dawe, S. (2005). Level of impaired control predicts outcome of moderation‐oriented treatment for alcohol problems. Addiction, 100(7), 945‐952.
Hendriks, V. M., Kaplan, C. D., Vanlimbeek, J., & Geerlings, P. (1989). The Addiction Severity Index ‐ Reliability and Validity in a Dutch Addict Population. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 6(2), 133‐141.
Kadden, R. M., Carroll, K. M., Donovan, D. M., & al., e. (1992). Cognitive behavioral coping skills therapy manual. Rockville, MD: National Institute on Alchol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Marlatt, G. A., Larimer, M. E., Baer, J. S., & Quigley, L. A. (1993). Harm reduction for alcohol problems: Moving beyond the controlled drinking controversy. Behavior Therapy, 24(4), 461‐503.
Miller, W. R., Leckman, A. L., Delaney, H. D., & Tinkcom, M. (1992). Long‐term follow‐up of behavioral self‐control training. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 53(3), 249‐261.
Miller, W. R., Zweben, A., DiClemente, C. C., & Rychtarik, R. G. (1995). Motivational enhancement therapy manual: a clinical research guide for
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therapists treating individuals with alcohol abuse and dependence (repr. ed.). Washington, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health.
Monti, P. M., Abrams, D. B., Kadden, R. M., & Cooney, N. L. (1989). Treating Alcohol Dependence: A Coping Skills Training Guide. London: Cassell.
OʹFarrell, T. J. (1993). A behavioral marital therapy couples group program for alcoholics and their spouses. In T. J. OʹFarrell (Ed.), Treating alcohol problems: marital and family interventions (pp. 170‐219). New York: Guilford Press.
Ooteman, W., Koeter, M. W. J., Verheul, R., Schippers, G. M., & van den Brink, W. (2006). Measuring craving: An attempt to connect subjective craving with cue reactivity. Alcoholism‐Clinical and Experimental Research, 30(1), 57‐69.
Pendery, M. L., Maltzman, I. M., & West, L. J. (1982). Controlled drinking by alcoholics? New findings and a reevaluation of a major affirmative study. Science, 217(4555), 169‐175.
Rosenberg, H., & Davis, L. A. (1994). Acceptance of moderate drinking by alcohol treatment services in the United States. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 55(2), 167‐172.
Rosenberg, H., & Melville, J. (2005). Controlled drinking and controlled drug use as outcome goals in British treatment services. Addiction Research & Theory, 13(1), 85‐92.
Rosenberg, H., Melville, J., Levell, D., & Hodge, J. E. (1992). A 10‐yr follow‐up survey of acceptability of controlled drinking in Britain. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 53(5), 441‐446.
Schippers, G. M., & Nelissen, H. (2006). Working with controlled use as a goal in regular substance use outpatient treatment in Amsterdam. Addiction Research and Theory, 14(1), 51‐58.
Sobell, L. C., Cunninghamm, J. A., & Sobell, M. B. (1996). Recovery from alcohol problems with and without treatment: Prevalence in two population surveys. American Journal of Public Health, 86(7), 966‐972.
Sobell, M. B., & Sobell, L. C. (1984). The aftermath of heresy: A response to Pendery et al.ʹs (1982) critique of ʺIndividualized Behavior Therapy for Alcoholics.ʺ Behaviour Research and Therapy, 22(4), 413‐440.
Walters, G. D. (2000). Behavioral self‐control training for problem drinkers: A meta‐analysis of randomized control studies. Behavior Therapy, 31(1), 135‐149.
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CHAPTER 6 Cognitive‐behavioral therapy in alcohol use disorder: Predictors of treatment outcome
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ABSTRACT Objective: The identifications of variables that predict treatment response in alcoholic patients may contribute to enhancing treatment adherence and treatment efficacy. The present study investigated the predictive power of relationship satisfaction, level of expressed emotion, drinking severity and treatment goal on the outcome of cognitive behavior therapy in treatment of married or co‐habiting alcoholic patients. Method: 64 patients were randomized over two treatment conditions, receiving either individual cognitive behavior therapy or behavioral couple therapy. Prior to treatment, predictive variables were assessed. No significant differences in treatment outcome on drinking variables and marital satisfaction were observed between treatment conditions at post‐treatment and 6‐month follow‐up. Patients who dropped out of treatment or did not meet post‐treatment research requirements did not differ from completers in baseline demographics, drinking severity or relationship functioning. Results: Post‐treatment drinking scores were predicted by goal of treatment, gender and patient’s perceived lack of support by the partner, explaining 36 % of the variance. Six‐month follow‐up drinking scores were predicted by post‐treatment drinking scores and sex, explaining 55% of the variance. Conclusion: Being female, choosing moderation as treatment goal, and perceived lack of support by the partner were found to be related to higher levels of drinking at post‐treatment. The findings of this study give some support to the notion that the level of expressed emotion in couples is related to treatment outcome of alcohol use disorders.
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INTRODUCTION Treatment of alcohol use disorders is characterized by high dropout and high relapse rates following treatment (Emmelkamp & Vedel, 2006). The identification of variables that predict treatment response would enable adjustment of treatment strategy for at risk patients. For example, in patients at risk for dropout, additional motivational interviewing or implementing token economy strategies could be introduced. In patients with elevated risk for post‐treatment relapse adding booster sessions could enhance long‐term treatment outcome. The literature has identified several variables that predict treatment retention, treatment outcome and long‐term follow‐up, one of the most robust variables being drinking problem severity. For example, severity of alcohol problems at treatment entrance has been found to be predictive of dropping out of treatment (Jackson, Booth, McGuire & Salmon, 2006); treatment compliance has found to be predictive of treatment outcome (MATCH, 1998, Bottlender & Soyka, 2005); and severity of drinking at intake has found to be predictive of drinking during treatment, as well as during follow‐up (McLellan et al, 1994; Krampe et al 2006). Further, drinking outcomes at post‐treatment and one‐year follow‐up have found to be predictive of long‐term functioning. Patients with short‐term sustained post‐treatment abstinence have better long‐term drinking outcomes than patients who have experienced (re)lapses (Maisto et al 1998). However, with regard to short‐term sustained moderate drinking (a treatment goal growing in popularity) the impact on long‐term drinking outcomes is still unclear. In a recent study, the effect of short‐term sustained abstinence and short‐term sustained moderate drinking on long‐term drinking outcome was investigated (Maisto et al 2006). Results revealed that abstainers at one‐year follow‐up had a higher percentage of abstinent days and fewer drinks per drinking day at three‐years follow‐up compared to moderate drinkers. Relationship status has been found predictive of treatment outcome. In general, patients who have a partner, have a more favorable clinical profile and have better treatment outcome compared to single patients (Walton, Blow, Bingham & Chermack, 2003), although this has not been found in all studies (e.g. Tracy, Kelly & Moos, 2005). Within the population of cohabiting or married patient, patients who have a partner who abuses alcohol have less favorably treatment outcome compared to patients who have a partner without an alcohol use disorder (McAweeney et al. 2005) Further, in alcoholic patients and their non‐substance abusing partner quality of relationship functioning has been found predictive of treatment outcome. First of all, higher levels of marital satisfaction at pre‐treatment
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and of marital happiness post‐treatment are related to the ability to remain abstinent and the intensity of drinking at 6‐month follow‐up (McCrady, et al., 2002). Severe marital problems have been found predictive of worse drinking outcomes up till two years after treatment (OʹFarrell et al., 1992). With respect to family climate and expressed emotion, Fichter et al. (1997) found low numbers of critical comments and high score on warmth to be predictive of a lower risk of relapse. Contrary to expectations, high levels of emotional over‐involvement were associated with more abstinence. In another study, patient’s perceived criticism of the partner has been identified as predictive for relapse (Fals‐Stewart, OʹFarrell, & Hooley, 2001). In addition, relationship stability was found predictive of treatment outcome. Relationships that remained intact during the first year post‐treatment were characterized at intake by more positive partners behaviors and fewer negative partner behaviors. Patients who ended their relationship during the first year post‐treatment had worse outcomes than couples that stayed together (Tracy, Kelly, & Moos, 2005).
The present study was conducted in the context of a randomized clinical trial evaluating the effectiveness of behavioral couples therapy (BCT) compared to individual cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in the treatment of alcohol use disorder. Within these treatment conditions, patients were free to opt for either abstinence as a treatment goal or controlled drinking. Three categories of variables were investigated as potentially predictive of dropout or non‐compliance and treatment outcome: drinking related variables (problem severity at baseline and treatment goal, relationship functioning (marital satisfaction, level of expressed emotion) and demographic characteristics (gender and age). METHOD PARTICIPANTS Participants (N=64) for this study were fifty‐five male and nine female patients with alcohol use disorder, mean age 45.5 years (11.34), who participated in a RCT comparing two variants of CBT: individual and couple therapy. To be eligible to participate, patients had to meet the following inclusion criteria: (1) diagnosis of alcohol abuse (N=2) or alcohol dependence (N=62) according to DSM‐IV, (2) married or cohabiting for at least one year, (3) partner willing and able to participate in treatment. Participants were excluded from participation in the case of: (1) drug dependence, (2) signs of severe mental disorders (psychosis, schizophrenia) or organic brain syndrome/neurological problems, and (3) current alcohol use disorder of the
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partner. In total eighty‐four couples were referred to the study of which twenty were excluded or decided not to participate. Detailed reasons for exclusion or non‐participation are described elsewhere (see chapter 3). In total fifty‐three patients completed treatment, of which ten initially did not meet post‐treatment research requirements (e.g. being interviewed, filling out questionnaires). Eventually, of five of these patients basic drinking scores and couple’s marital satisfaction scores could be obtained through telephone interviewing. At follow‐up, five couples refused meeting research requirements, and of six couples only drinking‐scores and marital satisfaction scores could be obtained through telephone interviewing. PROCEDURE Couples were recruited during the intake‐phase at two large addiction treatment centers, the Jellinek Stichting and the Brijder Verslavingszorg at three different locations (Amsterdam, Hilversum and Alkmaar respectively). These centers use fairly the same standardized patient‐treatment allocation procedures at intake, as well as the same treatments programs (and treatment manuals) at their outpatient treatment units. Alcoholic patients who were married or cohabiting and who, according to patient‐treatment allocation guidelines, were going to be referred to the outpatient treatment unit to receive ten sessions of individual cognitive behavioral therapy were asked to participate. If interested in participating in the study, both partners were invited for one or two conjoint sessions consisting of (1) giving information about the project (2) signing of informed consent, (3) assessment (clinical interviews and filling out questionnaires) and (4) randomization. In accordance with patient‐treatment allocation procedures, some patients were detoxified on a clinical or outpatient basis before being referred to the outpatient treatment units. After treatment both partners were invited for conjoint post‐treatment assessment (one session) and a six‐month follow‐up (one session). The first author and a research assistant hosted these sessions. TREATMENT CONDITIONS Both treatments were derived from the cognitive behavioral model on alcohol use disorders, defining alcohol abuse as a habitual, maladaptive method for attempting to cope with the stresses of daily living. This maladaptive way of coping is triggered by internal and external cues and reinforced by positive rewards and/or avoidance of punishment (Monti, Abrams, Kadden & Cooney, 1989). Both treatments consisted of ten sessions (45‐60 minutes per session in the individual condition; 90 minutes per session in the conjoint couples condition), conducted over a five to six month
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period. Treatments were semi‐directive regarding treatment goal setting; patients were offered a choice between abstinence or controlled drinking. In case of controlled drinking, specific guidelines were imposed (see chapter 3).
In the individual treatment condition, the treatment protocol was based on the Cognitive Behavioral Coping Skills Therapy manual and the Motivational Enhancement Therapy manual used in project MATCH (Kadden, Carroll et al.,1992; Miller et al., 1995) and included self‐monitoring of drinking and drinking urges; functional analyses; stimulus control and consequence control procedures; and relapse prevention planning. Marital issues are not explicitly discussed in this protocol; however, when directly related to craving or lapses patient and therapist discuss coping strategies to deal with marital distress without the partner present.
The behavioral couple therapy protocol used consisted of the standard treatment interventions used in the individual cognitive behavior treatment protocol, and adding to it the main behavioral couple treatment interventions used in the Counseling Alcoholic Marriages project (CALM project; O’Farrell, 1993). During the 10 treatment sessions, both partners were present. THERAPISTS Experienced addictions counselors, working at the participating outpatient treatment units, delivered treatments. The counselors received training in the treatment protocols using detailed treatment manuals. In order to insure treatment integrity, therapists (audio) taped their treatment sessions and were regularly supervised by the first and second author. CRITERION VARIABLE Treatment outcome was assessed with a modified version of the AUDIT alcohol consumption questions that cover frequency and quantity of drinking (Emmen, Schippers et al. 2005). Quantity and frequency measures were multiplied to estimate average units of alcohol consumed per week (U/week) during the last month of treatment and during the last month of the 6‐month follow‐up. PREDICTORS In addition to demographic characteristics (gender and age) and treatment goals the following variables were investigated as predictors. Baseline drinking severity: Quantity and frequency measures, obtained with the AUDIT, were multiplied to estimate average units of alcohol consumed per week (U/week) in the month prior to treatment.
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Marital satisfaction: The severity of marital problems was assessed by couples scores on the marital satisfaction scale of the Maudsley Marital Questionnaire (MMQ; Arrindell, Emmelkamp & Bast, 1983), a 20‐item questionnaire measuring Marital, Sexual and General Life Adjustment. Level of expressed emotion: The Level of Expressed Emotion (LEE) questionnaire (Cole and Kazarian 1988), is a 38‐item questionnaire measuring Lack of Emotional Support, Intrusiveness, Irritability and Criticism. The original LEE scale is a 60‐item questionnaire with dichotomous (‘true’ and ‘false’) scoring. The Dutch version of the LEE developed by Gerslma and colleages (1992), consists of 38 items with a four‐point Likert scale ranging from ‘not true’ to ‘true’. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS Independent T‐tests and Chi‐square tests were used to test for possible differences between patients who dropped out or refused meeting post‐treatment requirements and those patients who completed treatment. To assess differential response to treatment condition, two separate linear regression analyses were conducted with treatment condition as predictor and post‐treatment and follow‐up drinking scores, respectively, as dependent variables. A stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was performed with U/week during the last month of treatment and during last month of follow‐up as dependent variable, and with baseline drinking severity and patient’s and partner’s marital satisfaction and level of expressed emotion as predictors. RESULTS DROPOUTS AND NON‐COMPLIANCE VERSUS COMPLETERS There were no significant differences observed between sex, age, drinking severity at baseline, craving, and relationship functioning between those patients who completed treatment on the one hand and those who dropped out of treatment or did not meet treatment requirements on the other. TREATMENT OUTCOME The two linear regression analyses with post‐treatment drinking and drinking scores at follow‐up as criterion variables revealed that treatment condition was not a significant predictor of treatment outcome (see also Chapter 3). Therefore, the stepwise multiple linear regression was conducted combining the data of both treatment conditions. In Table 1 the correlation matrix of relationship variables as potential predictors of post‐treatment drinking and drinking at follow‐up are shown.
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Based on a significant relationship between drinking post‐treatment and patient’s perceived lack of support by the partner, this scale was included in the regression analyses. The stepwise multiple regression analysis for post‐treatment drinking revealed treatment goal, gender and level of experienced support to be significant predictors, together explaining 36% of the variance (adjusted R square =. 355, F(2.45)=9.444, p=.000). Patients that choose controlled drinking as goal for treatment drank more than patients opting for abstinence. Female patients drank more on a weekly basis during the last month of treatment compared to male patients. Patients that perceived less support from their partner drank more at post‐treatment compared to patients who perceived more support from their partner (see Table 2).
With respect to the predictive value of treatment goal, it was expected that higher levels of drinking would be associated with patients that were opting for controlled drinking. Therefore, post‐treatment U/week drinking scores for moderation‐orientated patients were adjusted by subtracting the allowed maximum of 12 units (treatment‐congruent drinking, see chapter 3). A second stepwise multiple regression analysis showed gender to remain predictive of post‐treatment drinking, explaining 20% of the variance, adjusted R square= .203, F(1.46)=13.167 p=.001. However, treatment goal and perceived lack of support were no longer significantly contributing to the model.
For drinking at follow‐up, stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed post‐treatment drinking and sex to be significant predictors, together explaining 55% of the variance (adjusted R square =. 553, F(1.40) = 28.739, p=.000). Higher levels of drinking during the last month of treatment and being female, was predictive of higher levels of drinking during the last month of follow‐up. Perceived lack of support at baseline, and treatment goal were excluded from the model because of non‐significant contribution.
DISCUSSION Contrary to finding by other researchers studying behavioral couple therapy, patient’s age and pre‐treatment drinking problem severity (O’Farrell et al 1993; Epstein et al 1994; Walitzer et al 2004) were not found to be associated with dropout or non‐compliance with meeting treatment requirements.
Being female, choosing controlled drinking as treatment goal, and lack of support were predictive of post‐treatment drinking. After adjusting
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Table 1. Correlation matrix drinking scores and relationship functioning
LEE‐l¹ = level of support scale, LEE‐in² = intrusiveness scale, LEE‐ir³ = irritability scale, LEE‐c⁴ = criticism scale.
Patient Partner
Drinking
Follow‐up
MMQ LEE‐l LEE‐in LEE‐ir LEE‐c MMQ LEE‐l LEE‐in LEE‐ir LEE‐c
Drinking
Post‐treatment
.647** .163 .348* ‐.056 .094 ‐.006 ‐.169 .014 .090 ‐.040 .041 Patient
Drinking
Follow‐up
.083 .344* ‐.080 ‐.064 ‐.035 ‐.303 ‐.060 ‐.125 ‐.071 ‐.116
MMQ .713** .281* .374** .745** .457** .502** .107 .037 .670**
LEE‐l¹ .244 395** 695** .239 .487* .006 ‐.030 .405*
LEE‐in² .516** .387** .065 .169 .018 .049 .242
LEE‐ir³ .560** .148 .302* .0159 .178 .475**
Patient
LEE‐c⁴ .429** .561** .184 .203 .683**
MMQ .580** .137 .273* .705**
LEE‐l ‐.061 .291* .705*
LEE‐in .338** .134
LEE‐ir .431**
Partner
LEE‐c
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Table 2. Predictor variables post‐treatment
post‐treatment drinking scores for ‘treatment congruent drinking’ in patients opting for controlled drinking (12 or less units per week), only being female was found to be predictive of post‐treatment drinking. Contrary to previous findings (McCrady et al 2002), higher drinking severity, frequency of drinking at baseline and marital dissatisfaction did not predict worse treatment outcome. This result may be explained by the fact that allocation to this RTC was preceded by a regular intake allocation system, in other words, patient with mild drinking problems or more severe drinking problems were allocated to, respectively, brief motivational interviewing or a more intensive residential treatment program.
Level of drinking at follow‐up was predicted by level of drinking at post‐treatment, thus supporting previous findings from studies of Maisto et al. (1998; 2006). Gender also predicted drinking at follow‐up. Bottlender and Soyka (2005) found a similar result, female patients having an increased risk for relapse compared to male patients. The effect of gender in Bottlender and Soyka’s study (2005) was to some extent mediated by treatment retention; female patients dropped out more frequently compared to male patients and dropout was associated with an increased risk for relapse. However, although not significant, in our study we found female patients to be more compliant with treatment and meeting research requirements compared to their male counterparts; of the nine females that entered the study, only one dropped out (11%), while of the fifty‐five male patients 15 dropped out (27%). The interpretation of the relevance of gender with respect to treatment outcome is difficult, previous findings in this area being inconclusive. In a recent review on substance abuse in woman, gender was not found to be a significant predictor of treatment retention, completion and outcome (Greenfield et al 2007).
Patients perceived lack of support by the partner was predictive for post‐treatment drinking outcome, which underscores the growing body of evidence that, besides being predictive of relapse in other disorders like schizophrenia (Butzlaff & Hooley, 1998) and depression (Uehara, Yokoyarna, Goto, & Ihda, 1996), the level of expressed emotion is also
Predictor variable Beta P Treatment goal .306 .025 Gender .295 .025 Lack of support .260 .046
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related to relapse in alcohol use disorders (Fals‐stewart et al 2001). Although not supported by the data in this RCT (see Chapter 3), its prompts the notion that addressing attention to relationship functioning in the context of treatment directed and changing drinking behaviors may enhance treatment outcome.
A limitation of this study was the relatively small sample size. Therefore, it was impossible to differentiate between predictors associated with treatment outcome in BCT and CBT respectively. In addition, of a substantial number of patients post‐treatment and follow‐up data could not be obtained.
In sum, being female, choosing moderation as treatment goal, and perceived lack of support of the partner are associated with drinking outcome after patients had received cognitive behavioral treatment interventions. Further studies are needed to investigate whether these finding are specifically related to the cognitive behavioral interventions investigated here or whether these variables are also predictive of outcome after patients have received other types of interventions.
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Cole, J. D., & Kazarian, S. S. (1988). The Level of Expressed Emotion scale: A new measure of expressed emotion. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 44, 392‐397.
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Epstein, E. E., McCrady, B. S., Miller, K. J., & Steinberg, M. (1994). Attrition from conjoint alcoholism treatment: Do dropouts differ from completers? Journal of Substance Abuse (Vol. 6, pp. 249‐265). Us.
Fals‐Stewart, W., OʹFarrell, T. J., & Hooley, J. M. (2001). Relapse among married or cohabiting substance‐abusing patients: The role of perceived criticism. Behavior Therapy, 32(4), 787‐801.
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Gerlsma, C., van der Lubbe, P. M., & van Nieuwenhuizen, C. (1992). Factor analysis of the level of expressed emotion scale, a questionnaire intended to measure ʹperceived expressed emotionʹ. Britisch Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 385.
Greenfield, S. F., Brooks, A. J., Gordon, S. M., Green, C. A., Kropp, F., McHugh, R. K., et al. (2007). Substance abuse treatment entry, retention, and outcome in women: A review of the literature. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 86(1), 1‐21.
Jackson, K.R., Booth, P.G., McGuire, J. & Salmon, P. (2006). Predictors of starting and remaining in treatment at a specialist alcohol clinic. Journal of Substance Use, 11(2), 89‐100.
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Kadden, R., Carroll, K. M., Donovan, D., Cooney, N., Monti, P., Abrams, D., et al. (1992). Cognitive‐behavioral coping skills therapy manual: A clinical research guide for therapists treating individuals with alcohol abuse and dependence. NIAAA Project MATCH Monograph Series, 3.
Krampe, H., Wagner, T., Stawicki, S., Bartels, C., Aust, C., Kroener‐Herwig, B., et al. (2006). Personality disorder and chronicity of addiction as independent outcome predictors in alcoholism treatment. Psychiatric Services, 57(5), 708‐712.
Maisto, S. A., Clifford, P. R., Stout, R. L., & Davis, C. M. (2006). Drinking in the year after treatment as a predictor of three‐year drinking outcomes. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67(6), 823‐832.
Maisto, S. A., McKay, J. R., & OʹFarrell, T. J. (1998). Twelve‐month abstinence from alcohol and long‐term drinking and marital outcomes in men with severe alcohol problems. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 59(5), 591‐598.
McAweeney, M. J., Zucker, R. A., Fitzgerald, H. E., Puttler, L. I., & Wong, M. M. (2005). Individual and partner predictors of recovery from alcohol‐use disorder over a nine‐year interval: Findings from a community sample of alcoholic married men. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 66(2), 220‐228.
McCrady, B. S., Hayaki, J., Epstein, E. E., & Hirsch, L. S. (2002). Testing hypothesized predictors of change in conjoint behavioral alcoholism treatment for men. Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research, 26(4), 463‐470.
McLellan A.T., Alterman, A.I., Metzger, D.S., Grissom, G.R., Woody, G. E., Luborsky, L. & OʹBrien, C.P. (1994) Similarity of outcome predictors across opiate, cocaine, and alcohol treatments: role of treatment services. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62(6), 1141‐58.
Miller, W. R., Zweben, A., DiClemente, C. C., & Rychtarik, R. G. (1995). Motivational enhancement therapy manual: a clinical research guide for therapists treating individuals with alcohol abuse and dependence (repr. ed.). Washington, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health.
Monti, P. M., Abrams, D. B., Kadden, R. M., & Cooney, N. L. (1989). Treating Alcohol Dependence: A Coping Skills Training Guide. London: Cassell.
OʹFarrell, T. J. (1993). A behavioral marital therapy couples group program for alcoholics and their spouses. In T. J. OʹFarrell (Ed.), Treating
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alcohol problems: marital and family interventions (pp. 170‐219). New York: Guilford Press.
OʹFarrell, T. J., Choquette, K. A., Cutter, H. S. G., Brown, E. D., & McCourt, W. F. (1993). Behavioral marital therapy with and without additional couples relapse prevention sessions for alcoholics and their wives. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 54(6), 652‐666.
OʹFarrell, T. J., Cutter, H. S. G., Choquette, K. A., Floyd, F. J., & Bayog, R. D. (1992). Behavioral marital therapy for male alcoholics: Marital and drinking adjustment during the two years after treatment. Behavior Therapy, 23(4), 529‐549.
Project MATCH Research Group. (1998). Matching alcoholism treatments to client heterogeneity: Treatment main effects and matching effects on drinking during treatment. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 59(6), 631‐639.
Uehara, T., Yokoyarna, T., Goto, M., & Ihda, S. (1996). Expressed emotion and short‐term treatment outcome of outpatients with major depression. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 37(4), 299‐304.
Tracy, S. W., Kelly, J. E., & Moos, R. H. (2005). The influence of partner status, relationship quality and relationship stability on outcomes following intensive substance‐use disorder treatment. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 66(4), 497‐505.
Walitzer, K. S., & Dermen, K. H. (2004). Alcohol‐focused spouse involvement and behavioral couples therapy: Evaluation of enhancements to drinking reduction treatment for male problem drinkers. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72(6), 944‐955.
Walton, M. A., Blow, F. C., Bingham, C. R., & Chermack, S. T. (2003). Individual and social/environmental predictors of alcohol and drug use 2 years following substance abuse treatment. Addictive Behaviors, 28(4), 627‐642.
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CHAPTER 7
General discussion
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INTRODUCTION This thesis reports on the results of a randomized clinical trial testing the effectiveness of two types of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in the treatment of alcohol use disorders: individual therapy versus couple therapy. CBT interventions have shown to be effective in the treatment for alcohol use disorder (DeRubeis & Crits‐Christoph, 1998; Miller et al., 2005). The literature shows that besides standard cognitive behavioral interventions, another type of treatment, behavioral couple therapy (BCT), can be effective not only in changing drinking behavior, but in enhancing relationship functioning as well (Baucom et al., 1998). In line with previously conducted randomized trials in the treatment of depression (Emanuels‐Zuurveen & Emmelkamp, 1996, 1997; Jacobson et al., 1991; OʹLeary & Beach, 1990), obsessive‐compulsive disorders ((Emmelkamp, de Haan & Hoogduin, 1990; Emmelkamp & de Lange, 1983), and panic disorder (Arnow et al., 1985; Barlow et al., 1984; Cobb et al., 1984; Emmelkamp et al., 1992; Jannoun et al., 1980; Oatley & Hodgson, 1987), a study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of individual CBT versus BCT. The study was conducted within routine clinical care, delivered by regular addiction treatment counselors. In contrast to most BCT studies into the treatment of substance use disorders, BCT was evaluated in a stand‐alone format, rather than as an adjunct to individual treatment. MAIN RESULTS Treatment outcome. Results of this study showed that both treatments were effective in stopping alcohol use or reducing drinking to non‐harmful levels for most patients. Contrary to our expectation, BCT was not found to be more effective than standard individual CBT in reducing drinking. With regard to enhancing relationship functioning, BCT was found to be more effective in decreasing relationship dissatisfaction in partners and decreasing partner’s perceived irritability of the patient, compared to individual therapy. However, both these post‐treatment results disappeared during the 6‐month follow‐up (see chapter 3). Dropout was substantial, but comparable to dropout observed in clinical practice and outpatient community mental health centers (Stark, 1992). Treatment retention was found not to be associated with pre‐treatment patient and couple characteristics; couples that dropped out of treatment or refused meeting post‐treatment research requirements did not differ from those who completed treatment and met research requirements. In using a worst case scenario by assuming that all patients who did not provide follow‐up data had relapsed into drinking and adding to that figure the patients who were diagnosed with current alcohol
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dependence at post‐treatment and follow up, and those patients who were ‘lost” during treatment (drop‐outs), still 38 patients (59.4%) of the original 64 patients who entered treatment improved substantially. Moderation treatment goal. Until now, all studies into BCT have been abstinence‐orientated. In our treatment outcome study, however, patients were free to choose their treatment‐drinking‐goal; patients could either opt for abstinence or controlled drinking. The extent in which controlled drinking is a realistic treatment goal for alcohol abusing and alcohol dependent patients has led to fierce debate in the literature (Coldwell & Heather, 2006). In our RCT, patients who were likely to opt for controlled drinking (27%) had shorter problematic drinking histories and drank less during the last month prior to entering treatment compared to patients opting for abstinence. With respect to treatment outcome, both abstinent orientated as well as controlled drinking orientated patients decreased their alcohol intake significantly. When controlled for initial differences in drinking rate, neither at posttest nor at follow‐up significant differences were found between moderation‐orientated and abstinence orientated patients in terms of reduction in units of alcoholic beverages per weeks. However abstinence‐orientated patients experienced less heavy drinking (6 or more units per week) during treatment and follow‐up compared to moderation‐orientated patients. Intimate partner violence. Alcohol abuse and intimate partner violence (IPV) often co‐occur and a growing body of evidence suggests that alcohol is not only correlated but also causally related to IPV (Leonard, 2005). The frequency and severity of intimate partner violence found in our sample of treatment‐seeking alcoholic patients was high and comparable to frequency and severity observed in studies conducted in the US (OʹFarrell et al., 2003; OʹFarrell et al., 2004). Treatment for alcohol use disorder was associated with a significant reduction in prevalence and frequency of overall intimate partner violence at 6‐month follow‐up. The magnitude of reduction in IPV was comparable to the results of OʹFarrell et al. (2003) and OʹFarrell et al. (2004). However, contrary to previous findings (Fals‐Stewart et al., 2006), we observed no significant differences in outcomes between individual and couples therapy. Prediction. Contrary to finding by other researchers into behavioral couple therapy, patient’s age and pre‐treatment drinking problem severity ((Epstein
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et al., 1994; O’Farrell et al., 1993; Walitzer & Dermen, 2004) were not found to be associated with dropout or non‐compliance with meeting treatment requirements. Being female, choosing controlled drinking as treatment goal, and higher levels of lack of support were predictive of post‐treatment drinking. After adjusting post‐treatment drinking scores for treatment‐goal congruent drinking in patients opting for controlled drinking (12 or less units per week), only being female was found to be predictive of post‐treatment drinking. Contrary to previous findings (McCrady et al., 2002; McCrady et al., 2004), higher drinking severity, frequency of drinking at baseline and marital dissatisfaction did not predict worse treatment outcome. Level of drinking at follow‐up was predicted by level of drinking at post‐treatment and being female. The interpretation of the relevance of gender in treatment outcome is difficult. Previous findings in this area are inconclusive; in a recent review on substance abuse in woman, gender was not found to be a significant predictor of treatment retention, completion, and outcome (Greenfield et al., 2007). In our study, level of expressed emotion, in particular patients perceived lack of support by the partner, was predictive of post‐treatment drinking outcome. This corroborates the growing body of evidence that expressed emotion is related to relapse not only in disorders like schizophrenia and depression (Butzlaff & Hooley, 1998), but in alcohol use disorders as well (Fals‐Stewart, OʹFarrell, & Hooley, 2001). FINDINGS OF THIS STUDY IN THE CONTEXT OF RECENT RESEARCH Since the start of this study in 1999, several other studies into the effectiveness of behavioral couple therapy have been published. An overview of these studies and their main results are presented in Table 1. The research groups of O’Farrell & Fals‐Stewart and McCrady dominate the research into the effectiveness of BCT. It should be noted that to the best of our knowledge, of the ten currently published studies on the effectiveness of BCT, only two studies (excluding the study by Bowers & Al‐Redha (1990), because of its small sample size) were published by other researchers than the above‐mentioned two research groups. Overall, the findings from the 1980‐ties and 1990‐ties have been confirmed in later studies: BCT is effective in decreasing alcohol intake and enhancing relationship functioning. However, its surplus value over other individual‐based interventions is only partially supported. Treatment outcomes since 1999. Two studies have found better post‐treatment drinking outcomes in patients receiving BCT compared to patients receiving
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a (stand‐alone) individual‐orientated treatment (Kelley & Fals‐Stewart, 2002; Walitzer & Dermen, 2004). The studies by Fals‐Stewart et al. (2006) and Fals‐Stewart, Klostermann et al. (2005) did not find such post‐treatment differences. However, at 12‐month follow‐up, individual‐based treatment in combination with BCT produced better drinking outcomes compared to receiving only individual based treatment or individual treatment in combination with Psycho‐education. Regarding change in relationship functioning, BCT produced better relationship functioning at post‐treatment in three studies (Fals‐Stewart et al., 2006; Fals‐Stewart, Klostermann et al., 2005; Kelley & Fals‐Stewart, 2002) but not in another study into the treatment of problem drinking (Walitzer & Dermen, 2004). Follow‐up data are available of Fals‐Stewart et al. (2006), Fals‐Stewart, Klostermann et al. (2005), and Walitzer & Dermen (2004), two of which report better relationship function in couples receiving BCT compared to not receiving BCT.
In sum, since the start of our study in 1999 a number of studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of BCT in reducing drinking and enhancing relationship functioning in male and female alcoholic patients and their partners. Overall, BCT is more effective in decreasing relationship distress compared to individual treatment modalities. This is in line with the findings in our RCT. The extent to which BCT is found to be more effective in decreasing drinking compared to individual treatment is less robust. Since BCT has been found to have long lasting effects in these studies, the potential surplus value may be that BCT results in increased relationship satisfaction, which functions as a buffer against treatment decline during follow‐up, rather than that BCT directly enhances post‐treatment reduction in drinking. However, it should be noted that in our study the protective quality of BCT against treatment decline during follow‐up was not observed. New developments. Several new issues have been addressed in BCT research during the past few years. Fist of all, during the 1980‐ties and 1990‐ties research into BCT has almost exclusively addressed problematic drinking in male patients (Epstein & McCrady, 1998). To date, however, two studies have been conducted into BCT in the treatment of female patients, one study has tested BCT in female alcohol dependent patients (Fals‐Stewart et al., 2006) and one in female drug dependent patients (Winters et al., 2002). Both studies support the notion that BCT can be effective in the treatment of female patients and their non‐substance abusing partner, and to some extent
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Note: IBT¹ = Individual‐based AA orientated therapy, BCT² = Behavioral couple therapy, IAT³ = Interactional couple therapy, MSI⁴ = Minimal spouse intervention, ASFI⁵ = Alcohol focused spouse involvement, CBT⁶= Cognitive behavior therapy, SO’s⁷ = Significant others, RP⁸= relapse prevention, AA⁹ = encouragement participation AA self‐help.
Post‐treatment Follow‐up
Sample size
Treatment conditions Number of sessions
Outcome drinking
Outcome relationship
Outcome drinking Outcome Relationship
O’Farrell 1985, 1992
34
IBT¹ IBT + group BCT² IBT + group IAT³
> 4 > 4 + 10 > 4 + 10
= BCT & IAT > IBT
BCT > IAT
= BMT & IAT > relationship stability
IBT McCrady 1986, 1991
53
MSI⁴ AFSI⁵ BCT
15 15 15
= BCT > ASFI, MSI
BCT superior compared to ASFI +
MSI
BCT > ASFI, MSI
Bowers 1990
16
Care‐as‐usual Group BCT (one all‐day session + 8 weekly sessions)
7 9 (19 hours)
= = BCT > Care‐as‐usual
BCT > Care‐as‐usual
McKay 1993
51
Group CBT⁶ Group CBT + conjoint sessions SO’s⁷
20 10 + 10
= =
O’Farrell 1993, 1998
73
BCT + RP⁸ BCT without RP
17 (6‐8 + 10)+ 15 17 (6‐8 + 10)
BCT + RP > BCT
BCT + RP > BCT
BCT + RP > BCT up till 6‐months
BCT + RP > BCT throughout 30‐
months
McCrady 1999, 2004
90
BCT BCT + RP BCT + AA⁹
15‐17 15‐17 + 4‐12 15‐17
BCT + RP > BCT, BCT +
AA
= = =
Table 1a. Overview BCT research
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Note: PACT¹⁰ = Conjoint psycho‐education, PD¹¹ = Problem drinking group program, BRT¹² = Brief relationship therapy.
Post‐treatment
Follow‐up
Sample size
Treatment conditions
Number of sessions
Outcome drinking
Outcome relationship
Outcome drinking
Outcome Relationship
Kelley 2002
71
CBT CBT + BCT CBT+ PACT¹⁰
32 20 + 12 20 + 12
CBT + BCT > CBT,
CBT + PACT
CBT + BCT> CBT,
CBT + PACT
Walitzer 2004
64
PD¹¹ AFSI BCT
10 10 10
ASFI, BCT > PD BCT = ASFI
= ASFI, BCT > PD. BCT = AFSI
=
Fals‐Stewart 2005
100
IBT IBT + BRT¹² IBT + PACT IBT + BCT
18 12 + 6 12+ 6 12 + 24
= BRT, BCT > IBT, PACT
BRT > IBT, PACT at 12 months
BRT > IBT, PACT at 12 months
Fals‐Stewart 2006
138
IBT IBT+ BCT IBT + PACT
32 20 + 12 20 + 12
= BCT > IBT PACT BRT > IBT, PACT at 12 months
BRT > IBT, PACT at 12 months
Table 1b. Overview BCT research
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is superior compared to receiving only individual‐orientated treatment. The choice to include male as well as female patient in our study is supported by these data.
Another development in the field of BCT research is testing its effectiveness in non‐clinical samples (problem drinkers rather than alcohol dependent patients) within the controlled drinking paradigm. Walitzer & Dermen (2004) tested the effects of alcohol‐focused spouse involvement (AFSI) and behavioral couples therapy (BCT) in treatment of problem drinking using a drinking reduction program, which was conducted in groups. They found that including the partner in treatment resulted in fewer heavy drinking days and more abstinent/light drinking days in the year following treatment, compared to patients of whom the partner was not involved in treatment. However, the combination of alcohol‐focused spouse involvement with behavioral couple therapy yielded no better outcomes compared to the alcohol‐focused spouse involvement alone treatment condition. These findings contradict the notion that BCT serves as a key ingredient in spouse‐involving treatment programs (McCrady et al., 1986; McCrady et al., 1991). A possible explanation could be that couples in this sample were not maritally distressed at baseline. Studies showing BCT to be effective in enhancing marital satisfaction, enrolled couples whose baseline levels of marital satisfaction were in the distressed range. Further, the study involved problem drinking subjects rather than formally diagnosed alcoholics.
Most recently, the clinical efficacy and cost effectiveness was tested of adding a brief relationship therapy (6 sessions) or a shortened version of the standard behavioral couples treatment (12 sessions) to a 12‐step‐orientated group‐counseling program (Fals‐Stewart, Klostermann et al., 2005). Results show brief relationship therapy to be as effective as shortened behavioral couple therapy and having superior drinking and dyadic adjustment outcomes compared to only group counseling or group counseling in combination with psycho‐education. In addition to being effective, brief relationship therapy was found to be more cost‐effective compared to shortened behavioral couple therapy, psycho‐education or group counseling sessions.
Treatment formats. Looking at Table 1, there are a number of striking issues in the studies reviewed: (1) large heterogeneity in terms of number of treatment sessions, (2) the difference in types of comparison treatments, ranging from care‐as‐usual condition with a minimum of four sessions
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(O’Farrell et al 1985) to conditions of thirty‐two treatment sessions (Fals‐Stewart et al. 2006; Kelly et al, 2002), (3) the difference in treatment formats; either stand‐alone or as an adjunct to other types of treatment, and (4) the shift from delivering BCT in couple group format to delivering BCT in an ‘individual’ couple format. In comparison, our study is one of the few trials to test BCT as a stand‐alone treatment. Further, our study is on the low end of number of treatment sessions; in fact the number of sessions in our study is only comparable with the trial by Walitzer & Dermen (2004), but this study involved problem drinkers rather than alcohol dependent patients. Finally, our study is the only BCT trial that evaluated the effectiveness of controlled drinking in a clinical sample.
Since the original studies by O’Farrell et al. (1985) and McCrady et al (1986), the literature shows a substantial increase in number of treatment sessions. This trend is opposite to other developments in the field of treatment of substance use disorders; brief interventions based on motivational interviewing and a stepped‐care philosophy are now strongly prevalent in treatment outcome research, as well as in implementation activities in clinical settings. LESSONS LEARNED WHILE DOING RESEARCH IN A ROUTINE CARE TREATMENT SETTING The implementation of the study described in this thesis was far from uncomplicated; and several obstacles (see also obstacles in treatment diffusion, Chapter 1) hindered the inclusion of couples at intake in the Dutch centers involved in the study. Regular addiction treatment centers in the Netherlands have little experience in participating in controlled outcome research and in some cases informing patients about possible participation in a randomized trial was found difficult or had low priority compared to other activities. Another obstacle in the recruitment of participants was the lack of a good patient intake tracking system to enable the research‐assistant to identify potentially eligible patients (see patient inclusion and exclusion criteria in Chapter 3). The lesson learned would be that recruitment of a sample of patients for research purposes (with specific characteristics) can only be fully effective if the identification of a similar patient samples is practiced within routine care on regular basis. In other words, if routine practice is not used to identifying variable X in their patients (e.g. having a partner or not), conducting an outcome study with patients characterized with X will be hard to accomplish.
Another lesson learned is that it is important that practitioners who have to refer patients to the study have confidence in the treatment methods
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to be evaluated. Somewhat to our surprise, competitive allegiances of scientists and practitioners to different treatment models also hindered recruitment of participants for this study. Although most staff‐members had accepted the cognitive behavioral model in the treatment of substance abuse, practitioners as well as management staff questioned the behavioral couple treatment model repeatedly. In a number of potentially eligible patients referral to the RCT was hindered in that BCT had to compete with the premise that (1) involving the spouse into treatment is only clinically relevant in the case of severe marital discord, or (2) in the case of severe marital discord other more profound issues should be addressed underlying the alcohol abuse and discord, or (3) ‐ completely the opposite opinion ‐ the presumption that full involvement of the spouse should be mandatory in all cases. In other words, if practitioners and key‐figures within the organization differ with respect to their commitment to the treatments to be investigated in a controlled study, this will result in repeated debates and reservations to enroll suitable patients.
An important aspect has not been mentioned yet in this thesis; the counselors that actually participated as therapists in the study were overall very enthusiastic about the BCT protocol. They held it to be effective, in some patients to have an additional benefit over individual treatment, and they reported using the BCT interventions also outside the trial, in the treatment of other patients. In this sense this study demonstrates that doing research in a clinical setting with regular counselor is an effective way of disseminating evidence‐based treatment into clinical practice. These positive side effects of a RCT on clinical practice are however not always found to be stable over time (e.g. Fals‐Stewart, Logsdon, & Birchler, 2004) and cannot counter other strong factors that hinder the implementation of evidence‐based interventions into clinical practice (Gotham, 2006). If substance abuse treatment centers are willing to add BCT interventions to their treatment offer, they need to organize intake in such a way that eligible patients can be identified and allocated to BCT, and they must be willing to invest in training and supervision of their counselors, which should consist of more than the ‘stereotypical’ one or two days training which often is customary (Gotham, 2006).
A relatively large proportion of the couples in our study did not provide follow‐up research data. The research compliance of 75% post‐treatment and 67% at follow‐up is at the low end of those observed in other alcohol treatment outcome trials (Stout et al 1996). It should be noted, however, that in BCT trials conducted in the U.S., which reported slightly
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higher percentages of research compliance, couples were financially compensated for participating in diagnostic interviews and filling out questionnaires. Within Dutch trials this is not customary and even considered as unethical, given that patients may participate in the study because of financial gain rather then on a completely voluntary basis. As long as this ethical principle stands, getting a clear view on variables associated with treatment dropout will be very difficult. IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH Parallel to the research of BCT in the treatment of alcohol use disorder, several trials have demonstrated BCT to be effective in the treatment of drugs use disorders (Fals‐Stewart et al., 1996; Fals‐Stewart, OʹFarrell, & Birchler, 2001; Winters et al., 2002). Recent research has focused on the potentially additional effect of BCT on secondary outcome domains such as HIV risk behavior, cost‐outcomes, and emotional and behavioral adjustment of children. The main researchers in the field stress that future research should direct attention to (1) the treatment of couples in which both partners abuse alcohol and/or drugs, (2) the therapeutic processes involved, i.e. the mechanisms of action of BCT, and (3) the addition of specific elements to BCT to enhance secondary outcome (e.g. parent‐skills training) (Fals‐Stewart, OʹFarrell et al., 2005). As an extension of our RCT, research should try to identify patient, partner and couples characteristics that predict which patients will benefit more from stand‐alone BCT, and which patients will benefit more from individual CBT. More in general, treatment outcome research should direct attention toward predictors associated with successful moderation of alcohol use. IMPLICATIONS FOR CLINICAL PRACTICE BCT is an effective treatment in decreasing problematic alcohol use in married or cohabiting patients and their non‐alcoholic partners. In our study, BCT was not more effective in terms of drinking outcome, but neither less effective, compared to a standard CBT protocol, nor was there a difference in treatment retention between treatment conditions. Although BCT effectively decreased marital dissatisfaction in the partner, it was not effective in decreasing it to a non‐distressed level. It seems that ten sessions of stand‐alone BCT, directed at decreasing drinking, increasing drinking coping skills of both patient and partner, and substantially targeting marital distress is too large a treatment goal for such a relatively brief treatment.
With respect to future clinical practice, research suggests that the potentially additional benefit of BCT may be in couples who report high
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levels of relationship distress (including IPV) rather then BCT being a treatment format which should be offered to all patients who seek treatment and have a partner who is willing to participate in treatment. From a cost‐effective perspective, we would like to suggest adopting a stepped‐care principle and delivering BCT to patients having received individual CBT and who still report frequent lapses or still report post‐treatment relationship discord. BCT would in this sense become a relapse prevention intervention for those patients at risk for relapse, characterized by high post‐treatment drinking scores and significant low relationship functioning.
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SUMMARY IN DUTCH
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NEDERLANDSE SAMENVATTING Cognitief gedragtherapeutische behandelstrategieën zijn effectief gebleken bij de behandeling van alcoholafhankelijkheid. Deze behandelvorm wordt over het algemeen individueel of in groepsverband aangeboden. Echter, uit wetenschappelijk onderzoek blijkt dat een andere soortgelijke behandeling ook effectief is, namelijk gedragtherapeutische relatietherapie. De centrale vraag daarbij is of gedragstherapeutische relatietherapie een meerwaarde heeft boven reguliere individueel cognitief gedragstherapeutische interventies bij de behandeling van alcoholafhankelijkheid. In hoofdstuk 1 van dit proefschrift wordt een samenvatting geboden van de wetenschappelijke bevindingen met betrekking tot de relatie tussen alcoholafhankelijkheid en relationele problemen. Vervolgens wordt de empirische status van gedragstherapeutische relatietherapie bij de behandeling van alcoholafhankelijkheid ten tijde van de start van dit promotietraject besproken. Over het algemeen kan gesteld worden dat (echt)paren waarbij een van beide partners problemen heeft met alcohol, gekenmerkt worden door een lage relatiesatisfactie, gebrekkige relationele communicatie, meer seksueel disfunctioneren en meer verbale agressie en relationeel geweld.
Bij gedragstherapeutische relatietherapie wordt er vanuit gegaan dat alcoholgebruik en relationele variabelen elkaar onderling beïnvloeden; relationele spanningen kunnen de behoefte aan alcohol doen toenemen, tegelijkertijd kan het alcoholgebruik de relationele spanning vergroten. Naast reguliere cognitief gedragstherapeutisch interventies gericht op het alcoholmisbruik, zoals het leren herkennen van risicosituaties en het leren hanteren van trek, richt gedragstherapeutische relatietherapie zich ook op het gedrag van de partner dat (vaak onbedoeld) de trek in alcohol kan uitlokken en/of het drinken kan bekrachtigen. Daarnaast maakt deze behandeling gebruik van gedragstherapeutische interventies die ingezet worden bij de behandeling van relationele problemen, zoals bijvoorbeeld communicatieoefeningen, om zodoende de algemene relatiesatisfactie van het (echt)paar te vergroten en de kans op terugval in alcoholgebruik te verkleinen. In hoofdstuk 2 wordt een casus beschreven van een alcoholafhankelijke patiënte met bijkomende angst en depressieve klachten en persoonlijkheidsproblematiek. De casus demonstreert onder andere het gebruik van het gedragstherapeutisch relatietherapieprotocol voor alcoholafhankelijkheid.
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In hoofdstuk 3 worden de resultaten gepresenteerd van een behandelstudie naar gedragstherapeutische relatietherapie bij alcoholafhankelijkheid. In deze studie is het effect van gedragstherapeutische relatietherapie vergeleken met een gelijk intensieve individuele behandeling Leefstijltraining 2, een behandeling die veel wordt toegepast is in de verslavingszorg in Nederland. Het onderzoek heeft plaatsgevonden in de klinische praktijk, met reguliere patiënten. De behandelingen zijn uitgevoerd door behandelaren van de participerende instellingen (de Jellinek Stichting en Brijder Verslavingszorg) en om de klinische relevantie van het onderzoek te maximaliseren zijn de exclusiecriteria voor deelname aan deze behandelstudie tot een minimum beperkt. De resultaten van het onderzoek laten zien dat zowel individuele therapie als relatietherapie significant effectief zijn in het verminderen van het alcoholgebruik, zowel na afsluiting van behandeling, als ook zes maanden later. Er werd echter wat betreft alcoholgebruik geen verschil tussen beide behandelingen waargenomen. In tegenstelling tot individuele therapie, resulteerde relatietherapie niet bij de patiënt maar wel bij de partner in een significante toename in relatiesatisfactie na afsluiten van behandeling. Dit verschil was echter niet meer zichtbaar zes maanden na afloop van de behandeling.
Hoofdstuk 4 richt zich op relationeel geweld bij de (echt)paren die deelnamen aan bovengenoemd onderzoek. Alcoholmisbruik en relationeel geweld komen relatief vaak samen voor. Verschillende onderzoeken hebben aangetoond dat naast een correlationeel verband tussen beide, er hoogstwaarschijnlijk ook sprake is van een causaal verband waarbij alcoholmisbruik tot relationeel geweld leidt. Wat de precieze samenhang is tussen alcoholmisbruik, relationeel geweld en andere relatievariabelen zoals relatiesatisfactie is nog onduidelijk. In de huidige onderzoekspopulatie was de frequentie van relationeel geweld in het jaar voorafgaande aan behandeling overeenkomstig met de omvang die gerapporteerd wordt in soortgelijk Amerikaans onderzoek. Behandeling van alcoholafhankelijkheid resulteerde zowel in de individuele behandelconditie als in de relatietherapie behandelconditie in een significante afname van relationeel geweld. In het jaar voorafgaande aan behandeling rapporteerde 57 % van de (echt)paren geweld, gedurende het jaar na aanvang van de behandeling daalde dit naar 24.3 %. Er werd geen verschil waargenomen tussen beiden behandelcondities.
In hoofdstuk 5 wordt gekeken naar de behandelresultaten van abstinentie‐georiënteerde patiënten versus patiënten die gecontroleerd
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alcoholgebruik nastreefden. In hoeverre patiënten die voldoen aan de diagnose alcoholafhankelijkheid altijd volledig moeten stoppen met drinken (abstinentie) en in hoeverre gecontroleerd drinken nog een realistisch behandeldoel is, heeft in de wetenschappelijke literatuur geleid tot felle debatten, waarbij de discussies vaak meer ingegeven werden voor ideologie dan door wetenschappelijke evidentie. Binnen het huidige onderzoek waren patiënten vrij om hun behandeldoel te kiezen, ofwel abstinentie ofwel gecontroleerd gebruik. Gecontroleerd drinken werd daarbij gedefinieerd als niet meer dan 3 eenheden alcohol per dag en niet vaker dan 4 maal per week (in totaal dus maximaal 12 eenheden per week). Patiënten die kozen voor gecontroleerd gebruik bleken bij aanvang van de behandeling over het algemeen minder te drinken dan patiënten die abstinentie nastreefden. Over de behandelcondities heen bleken zowel patiënten die abstinentie nastreefden als patiënten die gecontroleerd gebruik nastreefden, effectief in het verminderen van hun alcoholgebruik na afsluiten van behandeling, als ook 6 maanden later. Patiënten die gecontroleerd drinken nastreefden hadden relatief wel vaker forse uitglijders in alcoholgebruik vergeleken met patiënten die abstinentie nastreefden. Tegengesteld aan de verwachting werd er geen relatie vastgesteld tussen mate van gerapporteerde trek in alcohol (craving), behandeldoel en behandelresultaat. Deze bevindingen sluiten aan bij recent onderzoek waaruit blijkt dat zelfgerapporteerde craving en fysiologische bepalingen (cue‐reactiviteit) slechts beperkt met elkaar samenhangen en dat het met name de cue‐reactiviteit is, en niet zozeer zelfgerapporteerde craving, die behandelresultaat voorspelt.
In hoofdstuk 6 wordt onderzocht welke kenmerken van de patiënten voorafgaande aan de behandeling, het beloop van de behandeling konden voorspellen. Wat bleek was dat alcoholgebruik bij afronden van de behandeling werd voorspeld door behandeldoel (gecontroleerd gebruik), sekse (vrouw zijn) en gebrek aan ervaren steun door de partner. Na een statistische correctie met betrekking tot behandeldoel, bleek alleen de variabele ‘sekse’ (vrouw zijn) drinken bij de nameting te voorspellen. Zes maanden na afronden van de behandeling bleken drankgebruik gemeten direct na afsluiten van behandeling en sekse een negatieve voorspeller voor het drankgebruik bij follow‐up.
In hoofdstuk 7 wordt een samenvatting gegeven van de verschillende bevindingen die in de eerdere hoofdstukken beschreven zijn. Vervolgens wordt uitvoerig een overzicht gegeven van de onderzoeksliteratuur over gedragstherapeutisch relatietherapie bij alcoholafhankelijkheid die sinds de start van deze studie in 1999
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gepubliceerd is. Geconcludeerd wordt dat de meerwaarde van gedragstherapeutische relatietherapie duidelijk zichtbaar is met betrekking tot verbetering van relatiesatisfactie (met name bij de partner). De meerwaarde ten aanzien van afname van alcoholconsumptie is aanwezig maar minder eenduidig. Aansluitend worden enkele struikelblokken met betrekking tot het doen van onderzoek in de klinische praktijk besproken. Met betrekking tot toekomstig onderzoek wordt aangeven dat de aandacht uit zou moeten gaan naar patiënt‐ en partnervariabelen die predictief zouden kunnen voor welke (echt)paren eerder baat zouden hebben bij gedragstherapeutische relatietherapie en bij welke patiënten een individuele behandeling meer geïndiceerd is. Wat betreft de implicaties van dit onderzoek voor de klinische praktijk, wordt aangeraden de gedragstherapeutische relatiebehandeling op te nemen binnen een model van stepped‐care en deze behandelvorm aan te bieden bij patiënten die een verhoogd risico hebben op terugval, gekarakteriseerd door frequente uitglijders in gebruik tijdens de behandeling en/of een significant lage relatiesatisfactie.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Veel dank ben ik verschuldigd aan de (echt)paren die de afgelopen jaren deelgenomen hebben aan dit project en bereid waren zich regelmatig te laten bevragen over alcoholgebruik en relationele kwesties in ruil voor een kopje koffie. Veel dank ook aan de therapeuten die als behandelaar meegewerkt hebben aan dit project, in het bijzonder de behandelaren van het eerste uur: Elly Lucassen, Henri Nelissen, Heleen Riensma, en Hélène van Roekel. Zonder jullie inzet en enthousiasme was dit project nooit van de grond gekomen, laat staan tot een goed einde gebracht. Gerard Schippers wil ik bedanken voor zijn bereidheid om het promotorschap op zich te nemen toen “in redelijkheid niet verwacht kon worden” dat Paul deze rol bleef vervullen. Het is een lang traject geworden, dank voor je lange adem en je inzet. Erica de Koning wil ik bedanken voor de aanzet tot dit onderzoek en het bewerken van het partner‐relatieprotocol. Helaas was de samenwerking van korte duur. Riëta Oberink, Sanne Bakker, Sylvia Oude Egberink en Marije Uffen wil ik bedanken voor hun ondersteunende werkzaamheden binnen dit project, en voor het stug doorgaan met het proberen deelnemers te werven, ook al was het resultaat ervan meestal bedroevend. Kamergenoten/collega aio’s, Arnold van Emmerik, Ellen Hamaker, Hilde Geurts, Merel Krijn, Saskia van der Oord, Wieke de Vente, Mark Spiering en Jan Muskens, dank voor jullie gezelschap, het koffieleuten, de broodjes bij Kriterion: het vormt een boeket aan plezierige herinneringen. Arnold, Jan‐Henk en Mark, het borrelen (soms tot in de vroege uren) was een welkome afwisseling op het lezen en schrijven over problematisch alcoholgebruik. Lieve Julie en Esther. Jullie stelselmatige vraag aan de ontbijttafel “Ellen, wanneer ga je nou eens promoveren?” was steeds confronterend maar ook stimulerend om toch die trap weer op te gaan richting studeerkamer en om door te ploeteren. Lieve Paul en Lotte, na een aantal jaren te druk te zijn geweest met het proefschrift is er nu toch echt meer tijd voor leuke dingen…bedankt voor jullie offers.
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CURRICULUM VITAE Ellen Vedel was born on the 16th of October 1974 in Copenhagen, Denmark. After finishing secondary school in Venlo in 1993, she moved to Amsterdam to study Psychology at the University of Amsterdam. She graduated in 1998 and was appointed as junior researcher at the department of Psychiatry of the Free University of Amsterdam. Among others, she participated in research on the treatment of anxiety disorders in alcohol dependent patients. In 1999, she started post‐doctoral training to become a behavior therapist, which training was completed in 2006. From 1999 until 2004 she worked as PhD student at the department of Clinical Psychology of the University of Amsterdam on the research project presented in this thesis. In 2004 she started working as a clinician at the Jellinek, an addiction treatment center, and in 2005 became treatment manager at the Circuit of Intensive Treatment of the Jellinek, combing clinical duties as behavior therapist with management duties. In addition, since 2000 she teaches the course Addiction at the department of Clinical Psychology at the University of Amsterdam; since 2005 she is involved in teaching in courses on Addiction in the post‐doctoral training of GZ‐psychologists. She co‐authored a number of publications on substance use disorders including Evidence‐based Treatment for Alcohol and Substance Abuse (Routledge/Taylor & Francis, New York, 2006).