@article{ref1,
title="Readiness to change predicts drinking: findings from 12-month follow-up of alcohol use disorder outpatients",
journal="Alcohol and alcoholism",
year="2016",
author="Gaume, Jacques and Bertholet, Nicolas and Daeppen, Jean-Bernard",
volume="52",
number="1",
pages="65-71",
abstract="AIM: To test whether measures of readiness to change (RTC) re-assessed every 3 months had predictive value for change in alcohol use over 12 months in a sample of adult outpatients with alcohol use disorder (AUD). <br><br>METHODS: Of the case, 78 outpatients were followed monthly over one year and averaged 9.0 interviews each (total observations = 704). Alcohol abstinence days and heavy drinking days were assessed monthly using a 30-day timeline follow-back procedure. RTC was assessed using 3 'readiness rulers' (importance, readiness, and confidence to change, measured on a 0-10 visual analog scale). The effect of RTC on alcohol use over time was tested every 3 months using negative binomial generalized estimating equations (GEE), controlling for gender, age, baseline alcohol dependence severity and AUD treatment status (ongoing vs. ceased). <br><br>RESULTS: GEE models showed highly significant effects of readiness and confidence to change on respective alcohol outcomes. Effects of importance to change were weaker. <br><br>CONCLUSION: As hypothesized, higher RTC scores were associated with improved alcohol use outcomes in this longitudinal study. The strongest effects were for confidence to change. Finding significant predictive validity prospectively is consistent with a theoretical view of RTC as a dynamic construct. Further research might clarify how AUD treatment could actually elicit or increase RTC.<br><br>© The Author 2016. Medical Council on Alcohol and Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0735-0414",
doi="10.1093/alcalc/agw047",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/alcalc/agw047"
}