The effect of motivational enhancement therapy and coping skills training on the self-efficacy and motivation of incarcerated male alcohol abusers

Motivational Interviewing

March 2022

Full Citation

Amrod, J. (1995). The effect of motivational enhancement therapy and coping skills training on the self-efficacy and motivation of incarcerated male alcohol abusers. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of two types of structured group treatments--motivational enhancement therapy (MET) and coping skills training (CST)--on the motivation to change heavy drinking, the negative affect coping self-efficacy, and the positive social situation coping self-efficacy of incarcerated male alcohol abusers. Motivation to change was measured by two inventories: the Socrates Personal Drinking Questionnaire (Miller, 1993) and the Readiness to Change Questionnaire (Rollnick, Heather, Gold, & Hall, 1992). Situation-specific sobriety self-efficacy was measured by scales of the Situational Confidence Questionnaire (Annis, 1987).

The 163 participants were administered each of these questionnaires and were randomly assigned to one of the two treatment groups or to a no-treatment control condition. Treatment subjects participated in 12 group sessions during the following 5 weeks. Coping skills groups were designed to teach skills for coping with high-risk drinking situations. Motivational enhancement groups were designed to elicit self-motivated statements and to develop a plan for resolving discrepancies between past behavior and future goals. Six weeks following pretesting, the questionnaires were administered for a second time to all participants.

At posttest, subjects in the MET group had higher negative affect coping self-efficacy relative to controls. Subjects in both the MET and CST groups had a higher level of positive social situation self-efficacy relative to controls. Results indicated that there were no differential treatment effects for motivation to change drinking.

Examination of the data suggested that the effect of treatment on motivation may depend on subjects'' initial stage of change. Implications for further research are discussed, including the need for study of the possible effects of assessment itself on the motivation of subjects.