Using a Lifecourse Context for Exploring Alcohol Change Attempts and Treatment Efforts Among Individuals With Alcohol Dependency

Abstract

This article explores the importance of incorporating past attempts at changing one's drinking during current assessment and treatment processes, as well as when interpreting research outcomes. It is hypothesized that the current change efforts might be influenced by the change attempts that individuals have experienced over the lifecourse or “career” of their alcohol use disorders. In addition to formal treatment efforts, previous attempts might include other less easily recognized change strategies categorized as “informal” and “self-change” efforts. The authors describe initial development of an assessment strategy, the Lifecourse Alcohol Change Attempt interview protocol, and the results of a pilot test involving current and retrospective data collection. Results are indicative of both the feasibility and clinical utility of applying a lifecourse approach to self-change attempts and inclusion of self-perceptions regarding attempt outcomes, barriers, and facilitators of change. Implications for social work practice and recommendations for future research are offered.

Keywords:

• alcohol use disorders
• assessment and treatment
• formal, informal, and self-change attempts at change
• lifecourse approaches

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by The 2007–2008 Lois and Samuel Silberman Fund Faculty Grant Program, and in-kind support from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Addiction and Behavioral Health Research (CABHR) and the Center for Urban Population Health (CUPH). We are grateful for the consultation provided by Dr. Allen Zweben, for the efforts of CABHR's data management and student assistants, and to the study participants who once again so generously shared with us their time, energies, and experiences.