Efficacy of the Life Goal-Focused Brief Intervention among Patients with Alcohol Use Disorder: A Preliminary Study

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the efficacy of the life goal-focused brief intervention, or the so-called the goal-focused self-regulation program (GFSRP), for patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD). METHODS: The GFSRP was developed as an 8-week group-program, which is based on a wide range of self-regulation theories, such as goal setting and implementation intentions. Patients with AUD (n=50) took part in the GFSRP and were compared to the control group (n=48). This study examined the changes in outcome measures from baseline to follow-up (12-week) in a mixed design. RESULTS: The GFSRP group had higher scores for the abstinence self-efficacy in negative affect situations than the control group at the post-test. In addition, it showed greater scores of optimisms compared to the control group. Furthermore, in the GFSRP group, there was no difference in intrinsic life goals from baseline to the 12-week follow-up, whereas the control group showed a significant decrease. CONCLUSION: The GFSRP could increase the abstinence self-efficacy and optimism among patients with AUD. Moreover, it might prevent loss of life-goals as core factors in self-regulation among patients with AUD.