The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #60359

Kimberly Kotrla, LMSW-ACP, James Alan Neff, PhD, MPH, and Liliane Cambraia-Windsor, MSSW. School of Social Work, University of Texas at Austin, Substance Abuse Research Development Program, 1717 W. 6th St, Ste 240, Austin, TX 78703, 512-232-0603, kotrlak@sbcglobal.net

A substantial body of literature supports the effectiveness of brief interventions in motivating change in substance abuse behaviors (ie., reducing use/abuse) or in motivating treatment entry. Large scale meta-analyses of the effectiveness of brief-interventions are available, though differences in meta-analytic approaches used make comparisons difficult. To clarify the influence of intervention, setting, and target population characteristics upon the effectiveness of brief interventions (defined in terms of between-groups effect sizes post-intervention), preliminary descriptive and analytic findings from an ongoing comprehensive meta-analysis of 62 controlled trials conducted between 1977 and 2002 are presented.

Intervention subjects in brief intervention trials have been predominantly male (72%), white (62%), with alcohol problems (87%), and recruited from medical settings (47%).The average age has been 38 ± 8.11. Interventionists have been primarily medical/other professionals (72%).

Trends in trial designs over time are notable. Earlier trials (pre-1993) predominantly involved medical professionals (40%) as interventionists; recent trials have involved more non-medical professionals and paraprofessionals (56%). Early trials exclusively targeted alcohol (100%); more recent trials have addressed alcohol alone (74%), other substances (13%), or a combination (13%).

Effect sizes were calculated and multivariate analyses are currently being conducted to examine relationships between study characteristics and effect sizes outcome dimensions such as consumption (e.g. frequency, abstinence), substance-related problems (e.g. alcohol/drug severity indices), health biomarkers (e.g. GGT, BAC), psychosocial difficulties (e.g. marital problems), or health services utilization (e.g. hospitalization, emergency room visits). Results of these multivariate analyses will be presented along with implications for future research directions and intervention practice.

Learning Objectives:

• 1. Describe the characteristics and changes in designs of brief intervention trials over the past 25 years.
• 2. Understand factors that appear to influence outcomes of brief interventions.
• 3. Recognize the need to include more diverse study populations and to examine differences in outcomes by ethnicity and type of substance.
• 4. Articulate the implications of findings from this review for public health policy and practice.

Keywords: Interventions, Substance Abuse Treatment

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.