Citation

Klepper S, Odenwald M, Rösner S, Senn S, Menning H, Pereyra-Kröll D, Rockstroh B. Front. Psychol. 2017; 8: e1967.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Frontiers Research Foundation)

DOI

10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01967

PMID

29180975

PMCID

PMC5693910

Abstract

The role of alcohol-related risk perception for effective treatment of alcohol use disorders (AUD) is still unclear. The present study on 101 alcohol-dependent patients undergoing a 10-week AUD treatment protocol investigated the relationship between alcohol-related risk perception and alcohol use with the hypotheses that (1) risk perception changes across treatment, (2) changes vary with treatment-related experiences of abstinence/relapse indicating 'risk reappraisal,' and (3) adjustment of perceived own vulnerability according to 'risk reappraisal hypothesis' predicts abstinence during follow-up. Abstinence during treatment was related to a decrease, and relapse during treatment to a slight increase in perceived own risks. Abstinence during the 3-month follow-up varied with experience-induced risk reappraisal. The results show an impact of risk reappraisal on alcohol use and hence advocate a focus on risk reappraisal in AUD treatment.

Language: en

Keywords

alcohol addiction; feedback; risk perception; risk reappraisal; treatment