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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2015 May;50(3):302-9.
doi: 10.1093/alcalc/agv007. Epub 2015 Mar 1.

Screening and brief intervention for substance misuse: Does it reduce aggression and HIV-related risk behaviours?

Catherine L Ward  1 , Jennifer R Mertens  2 , Graham F Bresick  3 , Francesca Little  4 , Constance M Weisner  5
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Screening and brief intervention for substance misuse: Does it reduce aggression and HIV-related risk behaviours?

Catherine L Ward et al. Alcohol Alcohol. 2015 May.

Abstract

Purpose: To explore whether reducing substance misuse through a brief motivational intervention also reduces aggression and HIV risk behaviours.

Methods: Participants were enrolled in a randomized controlled trial in primary care if they screened positive for substance misuse. Substance misuse was assessed using the Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test; aggression, using a modified version of the Explicit Aggression Scale; and HIV risk, through a count of common risk behaviours. The intervention was received on the day of the baseline interview, with a 3-month follow-up.

Results: Participants who received the intervention were significantly more likely to reduce their alcohol use than those who did not; no effect was identified for other substances. In addition, participants who reduced substance misuse (whether as an effect of the intervention or not) also reduced aggression but not HIV risk behaviours.

Conclusions: Reducing substance misuse through any means reduces aggression; other interventions are needed for HIV risk reduction.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
CONSORT flowchart.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Change in six-item HIV Risk score among those who did not and who did reduce substance use.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Anderson P. (2015) Alcohol and violence. In: Donnelly PD, Ward CL. (eds). The Oxford Textbook of Violence Prevention: Epidemiology, Evidence and Policy. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 291–6.
    1. Anderson CA, Huesmann LR. (2003) Human aggression: A social-cognitive view. In: Hogg MA, Cooper J. (eds). The Sage Handbook of Social Psychology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 296–323.
    1. Avalos LA, Mertens JR, Ward CL, et al. (2009) Stress, substance use and sexual risk behaviours among primary care patients in Cape Town, South Africa. AIDS Behav 14:359–70. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Babor TF, Higgins-Biddle JC, Dauser D, et al. (2006) Brief interventions for at-risk drinking: Patient outcomes and cost-effectiveness in managed care organizations. Alcohol Alcohol 41:624–31. - PubMed
    1. Barnwell SS, Borders A, Earleywine M. (2006) Alcohol-aggression expectancies and dispositional aggression moderate the relationship between alcohol consumption and alcohol-related violence. Aggress Behav 32:517–27. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances