Abstinence expectancy and abstinence among men undergoing inpatient treatment for alcoholism

Abstract

Several personal and situational variables were examined as possible predictors of renewed drinking before completion of an inpatient alcoholism treatment program: either drinking surreptitiously while remaining in the program or leaving the program to return to alcohol. Male alcoholics were interviewed shortly after entering the program and again as they finished treatment. The first interview assessed predictor variables, the second interview assessed drinking during treatment. Treatment dropouts were pursued to determine their drinking status. Discriminant analyses revealed that renewed drinking was inversely related to subjects' reported expectancies of remaining abstinent during the next 6 months, positively related to employment instability, and also related to racial group. Analysis of premature termination of treatment as an alternative outcome variable suggested that these effects were specific to renewed drinking per se. Discussion centers on the potential relevance of expectancy-based theories of self-regulation to behavior during the period of treatment.