Motivation and life events: A prospective natural history pilot study of problem drinkers in the community

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2005.02.006 Byline: John A. Cunningham (a), T. Cameron Wild (b), Anja Koski-Jannes (c) Keywords: Alcohol; Motivation; Life events; Autoremission; Natural history Abstract: A prospective natural history study was conducted of problem drinkers who were thinking about quitting or reducing their alcohol consumption. Two primary constructs, cognitive appraisals and life events, were measured in a mailed-out baseline survey. A one-year follow-up survey identified those who had made reductions in drinking. Partial correlations controlling for baseline drinking severity revealed some support for both cognitive appraisal and life events explanations of change. Author Affiliation: (a) Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Russell Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 2S1 (b) Centre for Health Promotion Studies, University of Alberta, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Canada (c) University of Tampere, Jarvenpaa Addiction Hospital, Finland