Using motivational interviewing to enhance treatment readiness in offenders with symptoms of alcohol dependence

Inadequate treatment motivation frequently results in failure to comply with treatment and increased dropout and relapse (Annis, Schober, & Kelly, 1996). Motivational interviewing (MI; Miller & Rollnick, 1991) increases problem recognition and personal responsibility for drinking; elicits concern about drinking; resolves ambivalence about changing drinking behavior; and, establishes commitment to change drinking behavior (Miller, 1996). This study aimed to enhance treatment readiness and commitment to change drinking behavior by using MI with 83 male federal inmates with symptoms of alcohol dependence. This study is possibly the first systematic examination of MI in a correctional setting. It is unique in its use of stage of change as an outcome measure. Volunteers were randomly assigned to a MI (intervention) or control group. Stage of change was measured pre and postintervention using a preliminary version of the Readiness to Change Questionnaire - Treatment Version (RCQ (TV); Heather, Luce, Peck, Dunbar, & James, 1999), the Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale (SOCRATES; Miller & Tonigan, 1996), and the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (URICA; DiClemente & Hughes, 1990; McConnaughy, DiClemente, Prochaska, & Velicer, 1989). Despite the small sample, a Principal Components Analysis replicated the structure of the SOCRATES. This supports using the SOCRATES in correctional settings. Further SOCRATES findings indicate that the MI group participants had significantly greater posttest recognition scale scores than their control group counterparts. Similar findings were observed for MI group participants with significant problems related to drinking. These findings support using MI to enhance problem recognition. Findings from the preliminary version of the RCQ (TV) indicate that the MI group participants who were in the precontemplation stage of change at pretest had significantly greater posttest contemplation scale scores than their control group counterparts. This indicates that MI increased thinking about changing drinking behavior. There was an absence of significant findings from the URICA. Its use in its present form in future corrections research is questionable. Methodological, statistical, and measurement issues are discussed in the context of future MI research in corrections. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)