Randomized controlled trial of two brief alcohol interventions for OEF/OIF veterans
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of 2 brief interventions for alcohol misuse in a sample of combat veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. METHOD: Participants were 68 combat veterans (91.2% male; 64.7% White, 27.9% Black) with a mean age of 32.31 years (SD = 8.84) who screened positive for hazardous drinking in a Veterans Affairs Medical Center primary care clinic using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (Babor, Higgins-Biddle, Saunders, & Monteiro, 2001). More than half of the sample (57.4%) met criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; based on the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale; Blake et al., 1995). Eligible veterans who elected to participate completed a baseline assessment and were randomized to receive 1 of 2 interventions (personalized feedback delivered with or without a motivational interviewing counseling session). Both interventions included information on hazardous drinking, PTSD symptoms, depression, and coping. Follow-up assessments were conducted at 6 weeks and 6 months post-intervention. RESULTS: Both conditions resulted in statistically significant reductions in quantity and frequency of alcohol use as well as frequency of binge drinking and alcohol-related consequences. Within-group effect sizes (ds) were in the small to medium range (.21-.55) for quantity and frequency of alcohol use. There were no statistically significant Condition × Time interactions, suggesting that both interventions were similarly effective. PTSD and non-PTSD veterans responded equally well to both interventions, but veterans with PTSD assigned to feedback plus motivational interviewing reported greater reductions in weekly drinking at the 6-week follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that brief interventions for alcohol misuse may be effective for reducing drinking, even in an Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran population with a high degree of PTSD.
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The Lane 2008 and McDevitt-Murphy 2014 studies were included because their interventions were available without referral to large groups of people.
“The studies by Lane 2008 and McDevitt-Murphy 2014 were included because although they did not take place in general practice clinics, the interventions were available without referral to large groups of people.”
From Effectiveness of brief alcohol interventions in primary care populations (2018) · cites this paper as McDevitt-Murphy 2014
The Method (Participants and Procedure; page unavailable) describes recruiting veterans mainly at a specialized VA primary care clinic, screening them, and inviting those who screened positive into the trial; it does not describe a referral requirement. The Discussion calls the feedback intervention potentially easy to disseminate, but the study delivered it to 68 participants. Thus the source supports access through screening rather than referral, not that the interventions were actually available to large groups. (LLM, conf=0.82)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredMcDevitt-Murphy 2014 had high risk of bias for blinding of treatment providers because treatment providers were not blinded.
“Not blinded.”
From Effectiveness of brief alcohol interventions in primary care populations (2018) · cites this paper as McDevitt-Murphy 2014
One included study took place in a veterans' affairs medical centre.
“one in a veterans' affairs medical cen- tre (McDevitt-Murphy 2014)”
From Effectiveness of brief alcohol interventions in primary care populations (2018) · cites this paper as McDevitt-Murphy 2014
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References 24 · Cited by 42
- Authors
- McDevitt-Murphy, M. E., Murphy, J. G., Williams, J. L., Monahan, C. J., Bracken-Minor, K. L., & Fields, J. A.
- Affiliations
- University of Memphis (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
- Published
- 2014
- Volume
- 82
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 562-568
- ISSN
- 0022-006X (ISSN-L)
- 1939-2117
- PMC
- PMC4114986
- OpenAlex
- W2029694043
- Semantic Scholar
- ed5995480695839b7d610972f4b29010837e1c40
- Cited by
- 42
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 6.04
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (K23AA016120)
- Memphis Veterans Affairs Medical Center
- Tennessee Board of Regents
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Alcohol Consumption and Health Effects
- Keywords
- brief alcohol intervention, alcohol abuse, combat veterans, Operation Enduring Freedom, Iraq War, post-traumatic stress disorder, personalized feedback, motivational interviewing, binge drinking, hazardous drinking, alcohol-related consequences, depression, coping, primary care
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Alcohol Drinking, Counseling, Depression, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, United States, Veterans, Treatment Outcome, Iraq War, 2003-2011, Young Adult, Afghan Campaign 2001-, Motivational Interviewing
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