Satisfaction with long-distance motivational interviewing for problem drinking

Objectives: To examine the relationship between participant preference and satisfaction with live interactive video, telephone, or face-to-face motivational interviewing sessions with problem drinkers.Methods: Participants completed a satisfaction questionnaire after each motivational interviewing counseling session utilizing an abbreviated Likert scale. The participants were asked what mode they would have preferred, their satisfaction with their counselor, and their satisfaction with overall counseling.Results: When asked to choose a long-distance mode of communication, televideo was preferred more than 2:1 over telephone. Also those with televideo experience were significantly more likely to choose televideo as a preferred long-distance mode of choice.Conclusions: Findings support the acceptability of 2 forms of long-distance communication, telephone and televideo, which might reasonably be studied in the future in rural areas (with some preference for televideo) to reduce heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems.