Erica Hoffmann

A nationwide survey of American alcohol and drug craving assessment and treatment practices

A four-page paper survey was mailed to 500 randomly-selected substance abuse treatment agencies listed in a national directory to evaluate how often specific methods are employed to assess and treat craving in American substance abuse agencies. Of 426 eligible agencies, 149 (35%), located in 41 states, returned 152 usable replies. Although counselors regularly assessed craving during intake evaluations, they rarely used published self-report questionnaires. Almost one-half of respondents made craving a target of treatment with at least a majority (and sometimes all) of their clients, and only 5% of respondents reported never making craving a target of treatment. A variety of interventions are employed to address craving, including coping skills training, encouraging clients to avoid/leave situations where craving occurs, and providing clients with education about craving. We recommend additional professional education and training to familiarize counselors with standardized craving instruments and exposure interventions that hold promise to ameliorate craving.

Assessing University Students' Self-efficacy to Employ Alcohol-Related Harm Reduction Strategies

Abstract Objective: Develop and evaluate key psychometric properties of a self-report questionnaire specifically designed to assess student drinkers’ self-confidence to employ a variety of strategies intended to reduce unhealthy consequences of high-risk drinking. Methods: Four hundred ninety-eight participants rated their confidence (from “not at all confident” to “completely confident”) to employ 17 harm reduction strategies when drinking. Results: Factor analysis and internal consistency reliability analyses indicated that the 17 items constitute a single scale with good test–retest reliability. Consistent with other research examining previous use of such strategies, women in our sample reported significantly higher harm reduction self-efficacy than did men. Harm reduction self-efficacy was also associated with reported number of high-risk drinking episodes in the previous 2 weeks. Conclusion: This brief and easily administered questionnaire holds promise as a clinical tool to identify individuals with low harm reduction self-efficacy and as an outcome measure for health promotion and educational interventions.

Development of a Questionnaire to Assess University Students’ Intentions to Use Behavioral Alcohol-Reduction Strategies

Abstract Objective: To evaluate the psychometric properties of a new self-report questionnaire designed to assess college students’ intentions to employ 31 specific alcohol-reduction strategies. Method: Students attending a large public university were recruited to complete alcohol-reduction, drinking history, and personality questionnaires online. Results: Based on item–total correlations and principal components analysis, the authors eliminated 3 items and calculated average intention ratings across the remaining 28 items. The resulting scale had appropriate unidimensionality and excellent internal consistency. Correlations of intention questionnaire scores with measures of drinking history, alcohol outcome expectancies, sensation seeking, and impression management provided some support for criterion and discriminant validity of the questionnaire. Conclusion: This questionnaire could be employed as an outcome measure to evaluate prevention programs and as a clinical tool to identify clients who have little intention to employ drinking reduction strategies in heavy drinking situations.

Evaluation of the criterion and predictive validity of the Alcohol Reduction Strategies—Current Confidence (ARS-CC) in a natural drinking environment

To evaluate several psychometric properties of a questionnaire designed to assess young peoples self-efficacy to employ 31 alcohol reduction strategies, we assessed breath alcohol concentration, self-reported drinking, current strategy self-efficacy, and recent past use of these strategies in 100 young adults as they walked to and from the local bar district of a Midwestern college town. In support of criterion and predictive validity of the questionnaire, we found that lower self-efficacy at the initial assessment was significantly correlated with higher scores on a screening measure of consumption, with having engaged in more heavy drinking episodes in the past 30 days, and with higher levels of intoxication and use of fewer reduction strategies later that evening. Frequency counts indicate that 10 of the alcohol reduction strategies had been used by at least half of the sample to reduce their drinking earlier that evening.