Patterns and temporal change of psychopathological symptoms among inpatients with alcohol use disorder undergoing a twelve-step based treatment. (December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Horváth, Zsolt; Tremkó, Mariann; Fazekas, Zsolt; Tóth, András; Petke, Zsolt; Farkas, Judit; Griffiths, Mark D.; Demetrovics, Zsolt; Urbán, Róbert
• Is Part Of: Addictive behaviors reports. Volume 12(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-12
• Subjects: Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) -- Psychopathological symptoms -- Twelve-step based treatment -- Minnesota model -- Alcohol comorbidity; Compulsive behavior -- Periodicals; 616.8584
• DOI: 10.1016/j.abrep.2020.100302
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2352-8532

Abstract

Highlights: Psychopathological symptom profiles and trajectories were examined among AUD inpatients. Three quantitatively different subgroups were identified in terms of psychopathological symptoms. Classes were discriminated by different psychopathological symptom change trajectories. Subgroups with more severe psychopathological symptoms used alcohol in a more harmful way. Drinking of the more severely affected classes were more motivated by coping and conformity motives. Abstract: Background: Patients diagnosed with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) present an increased risk for experiencing severe internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Involvement in twelve-step based treatment programs, such as the Minnesota Model (MM), can contribute to improvement of an individual's psychopathological symptom profile. The present study's main objective was to examine profiles and change trajectories of psychopathological symptoms of AUD subgroups during an eight-week long period of MM treatment attendance. Method: Inpatients with AUD (N = 303) who attended MM treatment programs participated in the present study. Latent Class Growth Analysis (LCGA) was used to evaluate the psychopathological symptom change trajectories assessed by using the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Multiple comparisons and multinomial logistic regression were performed to validate the subgroups. Results: Three subgroups were identified: low severity (48.5%), moderate severity (35.2%), and high severity (16.2%) symptomatic subgroups. The moderate severity class demonstrated the largest effect in terms of symptoms decrease. Higher severity classes showed significantly higher rates of harmful alcohol drinking and drinking motives. Conclusions: The present study identified three severity-based subgroups which indicate that psychopathology sits on a spectrum of severity among AUD patients. The findings highlight the associations between AUD and internalizing symptoms, negative reinforcement drinking motives, and the symptomatic improvement that can occur among those participating in MM treatment programs.