Factors in maintaining sobriety following alcohol treatment

The purpose of this study was to provide descriptive data on what factors individuals perceive help them to maintain sobriety following treatment for alcohol problems. The subjects were 40 males who met the criteria for designation as alcohol dependent. As part of an outcome study of behavioral marital therapy of alcoholism, subjects completed a two-year follow-up interview. Two questions from this evaluation pertained to subjects' perceptions of the factors that helped them to resist temptation to drink and that helped them to maintain sobriety for a period of at least two months. Subjects' responses were coded into seven Reasons categories. The analyses showed that more than half the subjects reported more than one reason, but that number or type of reason was not associated with treatment condition in the outcome study, length of the longest interval of sobriety, or the number of abstinent days during the follow- up period. The implications of these findings for treatment of alcohol problems are discussed.