Single-case study of effectiveness of online intervention for problem drinkers

Harmful alcohol consumption has significant negative consequences, both on a national and international level. Unfortunately, there is a considerable treatment gap for people exhibiting this problem, and this gap is present in Mexico. The majority of people experiencing problems with alcohol can ben...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Stepanov, Nikolai, Cárdenas-López, Georgina
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:México
Institución:UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUTÓNOMA DE MÉXICO
Repositorio:Acta Comportamentalia
Idioma:español
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/83986
Acceso en línea:https://www.revistas.unam.mx/index.php/acom/article/view/83986
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:problem drinkers
brief interventions
internet interventions
tele´-psychotherapy
guided self-help
bebedores problema
intervenciones breves
intervenciones vía Internet
telepsicoterapia
autoayuda guiada
Descripción
Sumario:Harmful alcohol consumption has significant negative consequences, both on a national and international level. Unfortunately, there is a considerable treatment gap for people exhibiting this problem, and this gap is present in Mexico. The majority of people experiencing problems with alcohol can benefit from brief interventions, and there is evidence that Internet-based, therapist guided, self-help interventions can be effective in the treatment of alcohol problems. In addition, the use of information and communication technologies for the treatment of alcohol abuse has proven to be a valuable tool during the pandemic. The present work consisted in describing a brief intervention for problem drinkers, called Guided Self-Change, adapted to such an Internet format, as well as performing a quasi-experimental single case study design of one participant in order to obtain preliminary results of the intervention´s effectiveness. The results indicated that the treatment seemed to decrease harmful drinking, as well as positively affecting related variables such as the perception of alcohol consumption severity, life satisfaction and willingness to change. Additionally, the usability of the Internet-based format was positively rated, indicating its potential acceptability. However, because of the limitations inherent to the quasi-experimental nature of the design, the findings are only tentative, and need to be corroborated by replications, and more sophisticated study designs, such as those using multiple baselines, and/or randomized controlled trials.