Motivational interviewing as a precursor to a substance abuse program for offenders

The present research explored the use of motivational interviewing as a pre-treatment primer for a substance abuse program. The effective treatment of offender drug abuse problems is of particular concern in corrections because of high levels of drug abuse reported in offender populations. Increasing motivation before substance abuse treatment is extremely important in order to augment treatment effectiveness. Ninety-six federal inmates at a medium security federal Institution, who had a drug problem and who met the criteria for the substance abuse treatment program, were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions (n = 32 per condition) in this study. Offenders either participated in a 45- to 60-minute motivational interview condition, a 45- to 60-minute control interview condition, or a no-interview control condition. Most offenders later completed a six-week cognitive-behavioural substance abuse treatment program. Readiness to change was measured by stages of change instruments and a processes of change instrument. Testing was completed in three phases: preceding the interview (or no-interview), after one week, and after completion of the substance abuse treatment. The motivational interviewing condition had significant change from Phase I to Phase II testing on RCQ-TV action scores as compared with the interview control and the no-interview control conditions. Other stage instruments (URICA, SOCRATES) did not significantly differ across conditions. When processes of change were measured using the Behavioural subscale of the POC-SU, the motivational interviewing condition had significant change in increased use of behavioural processes from Phase I to II testing as compared with the two control conditions. Both a stages of change instrument and a processes of change instrument were able to detect effects of motivational interviewing in this study. In addition, there were some main effects of testing time at Phase III testing, likely indicating that the measures were able to detect the larger effect of the subsequent substance abuse program. Problems with stages of change instruments are outlined. Disadvantages and advantages of the current study are discussed and implications for future research are mentioned. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)