Social skills and cognitive behavioral approaches to the treatment of problem drinking.

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Abstract
The efficacy of a cognitive-behavioral skills training treatment program for problem drinkers was evaluated and reported. Hospitalized problem drinkers (32) were divided into 4 treatment groups: social skills training (SST), cognitive restructuring (CR), both cognitive restructuring and social skills training (CR-SST) and a control group (traditional supportive therapy). Each group received 12 treatment sessions which lasted 2 h each. Behavioral ratings and self-report of alcohol intake were used to monitor the differences among treatment groups at posttreatment and follow-up (12 mo.). Results showed both the SST and CR-SST groups to be significantly better in effecting beneficial changes than the CR group, which was in turn better than the control group immediately after training. At follow-up the CR and CR-SST groups both indicated consistently superior performance on the measures compared with the SST group, which in turn was superior to the control group. Cognitive-behavioral skills training was more effective than skills training and supportive therapy in producing long-term (12 mo.) skills increments and in reducing alcohol consumption. The findings suggest further support for a multiple-determined social learning model of alcohol dependency.