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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2019 Nov:98:106044.
doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2019.106044. Epub 2019 Jul 5.

Alcohol demand moderates brief motivational intervention outcomes in underage young adult drinkers

Rachel N Cassidy  1 , Michael H Bernstein  2 , Molly Magill  2 , James MacKillop  3 , James G Murphy  4 , Suzanne M Colby  2
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Alcohol demand moderates brief motivational intervention outcomes in underage young adult drinkers

Rachel N Cassidy et al. Addict Behav. 2019 Nov.

Abstract

Introduction: The Alcohol Purchase Task (APT), a behavioral economic measure of alcohol's reinforcing value (demand), has been used to predict the effects of Brief Motivational Intervention (BMI) on alcohol use outcomes. However, it is not known whether BMI may be more or less efficacious, relative to control, among those with different levels of alcohol demand prior to treatment.

Methods: Non college-attending young adults (N = 150) reporting past-month heavy drinking were randomized to a single in-person session of BMI or a relaxation training control (REL). The BMI included delivery of personalized feedback and focused on developing discrepancy between the young adults' goals and their current pattern of alcohol use. At baseline, participants completed assessments of alcohol use and the APT. Drinking levels were re-assessed at 6 weeks and 3 months post-intervention. Demand indices derived from the APT were examined as moderators of treatment effects on follow-up drinking after covarying for baseline alcohol use.

Results: Two of four APT demand indices - intensity and Omax - moderated treatment outcomes. Relative to REL, BMI led to greater reductions in total number of drinks consumed and drinks per drinking day among participants with higher baseline alcohol demand. This association was not observed among participants with lower levels of alcohol demand.

Conclusions: These results demonstrate that BMI may be particularly beneficial for those with a high reinforcing value of alcohol. The mechanism for this effect is unclear, and determining the process by which BMI confers increased benefit for these individuals is a fruitful area for future work.

Keywords: Alcohol; Behavioral economics; Treatment; Young adults.

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Conflict of interest statement

DECLARATION OF INTERESTS

The authors have no financial conflicts of interest to disclose.

Conflict of Interest

The authors have not conflicts of interest to report.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Average consumption of standard drinks and maximum daily expenditure as a function of APT price. The x-axis represents each price on the APT, from $0 to $20.
Figure 2:
Figure 2:
Interaction Probe of Alcohol Demand Moderating Drinking Outcomes. Gray lines represent BMI condition and black lines represent relaxation control (REL) condition. All significant moderation effects from Table 1 are probed. Low, medium, and high represent −1SD, Mean, and +1SD, respectively. The y-axis represents log-transformed scores.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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