Do improvements in motivational language predict alcohol use in motivational interviewing? Ambivalence matters.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is described as a method for improving clinical outcomes by reducing client ambivalence. If this is true, MI's focus on improving clients' motivational language should be most useful for clients with ambivalence about change and less valuable for those who are ready to implement new behaviors or are opposed to change. To address this hypothesis and potentially add precision to MI delivery in clinical settings, we tested whether the relationship between clients' in-session motivational language and posttreatment alcohol use depended on their baseline motivation to change.

Method

Client speech from 149 sessions from Project MATCH were analyzed. A cluster analysis of the percent change talk during the first decile of the session identifi

SUBMITTER: Forman DP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12831094 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature