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Acceptance of Moderate Drinking by Alcohol Treatment Services in the United States:
Harold Rosenberg, Leigh-Anne Davis
This study was designed to survey the acceptance of moderate drinking as an outcome goal by alcohol treatment services in the United States. Of a sample of 330 randomly selected services, there were 312 potential respondents of whom 196 (63%) returned surveys that were usable. Three-quarters of respondents reported that nonabstinence was not an acceptable outcome goal for patients in their program; however, 17% of these respondents endorsed the statement that nonabstinence was acceptable for patients in other alcohol programs or for their own patients after discharge. Of the remaining one-quarter of respondents who found moderate drinking acceptable for their patients, 80% worked in outpatient programs and 70% reported moderate drinking as appropriate for only 1-25% of their clientele. Respondents endorsing moderate drinking rated the following factors as important when selecting outcome goals: severity of physiological dependence, drinking history, psychological dependence, previous treatment, criminal behavior and liver function test results. (J. Stud. Alcohol 55: 167-172, 1994)
