A new decisional balance measure of motivation to change among at-risk college drinkers.

Full Abstract

In this study, an open-ended decisional balance worksheet was used to elicit self-generated pros and cons of current drinking and reducing drinking, which were then quantified to create a decisional balance proportion (DBP) reflecting movement toward change (i.e., counts of pros of reducing drinking and cons of current drinking to all decisional balance fields). This study's goal was to examine the convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity of the DBP as a measure of motivation to change. Participants were college students (N = 143) who reported having engaged in weekly heavy, episodic drinking and who had participated in a larger randomized clinical trial of brief motivational interventions (K. B. Carey, M. P. Carey, S. A. Maisto, & J. M. Henson, 2006). Findings indicated partial support for convergent and discriminant validity of the DBP. Compared with Likert scale measures of decisional balance and readiness to change, DBP scores reflecting greater movement toward change best predicted reductions in heavy drinking quantity and frequency and experience of alcohol-related consequences, although some of these effects decayed by the 12-month follow-up. Findings suggest that the DBP is a valid measure of motivation to change among at-risk college drinkers. 2009 APA, all rights reserved.

Author information

Author/s: Collins, Susan E (SE); Carey, Kate B (KB); Otto, Jacqueline M (JM);

Affiliation: Addictive Behaviors Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. susan.collins(-atsign-)gmx.net

Grants: AA12518 (Agency:NIAAA NIH HHS) ; T32AA007455 (Agency:NIAAA NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Randomized Controlled Trial; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Journal: Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors (Psychol Addict Behav), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Sep; vol 23 (issue 3) : pp 464-71

Dates: Created 2009/09/22; Completed 2009/10/27;

PMID: 19769430, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 10/27/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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