A Pilot Study of a Brief Motivational Intervention for Incarcerated Drinkers

Abstract

Almost half of convicted jail inmates have an alcohol use disorder and many are released to environments that put them in contact with network members and cues that make them more likely to relapse on alcohol or drugs. Given the high-risk period immediately following release, the purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of a brief motivational intervention administered just prior to release to increase substance use treatment entry and attendance, decrease alcohol and drug use, and change social networks for inmates with alcohol use disorders. Forty adult male inmates with AUDs were consented into the study and randomized to a motivational intervention or the control condition (an educational intervention), and then were contacted to do a one-month follow-up interview (62.5% completed this interview). Results indicated that conducting these interventions was feasible and considered extremely helpful by participants. Although there were no significant group differences, medium to large effect sizes suggest possible benefits from the motivational intervention in decreasing days of alcohol and drug use and increasing abstinence, and reducing the proportion of heavy drug users or users of any kind in the social network. Future studies should replicate these findings in larger sample sizes and over longer follow-up time periods. Results may have implications for the use of brief intervention strategies at jails for inmates with AUDs.

A randomized study of the use of screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) for drug and alcohol use with jail inmates

“…Future research could evaluate a protocol that incorporated a longer planned duration to address the more extensive drug use and criminal histories of a jail population. Another possible approach, used in a recent study (Owens & McCrady, 2016), would be to incorporate advice on strengthening social networks into the brief intervention to help reduce substance use following release, whether or not the person participates treatment.…”

Barriers to addiction treatment among formerly incarcerated adults with substance use disorders

“…Individuals were recruited while they were incarcerated via flyers and presentations, and all screening, informed consent, baseline assessments, and intervention procedures took place prior to their release from jail. Participants in the trial received either a motivational intervention to reduce substance use or an educational intervention on substance use and addiction within 14 days of their pending release from jail [ 20 ]. Participants were contacted to complete two follow-up interviews after their release from jail including a 1-month interview and a 3 to 6-month interview.…”

“…The parent study enrolled 40 participants, of whom 25 completed at least one follow-up interview [ 20 ]. There were an additional 3 participants consented into the parent trial who completed a follow-up interview but were ultimately excluded from the parent trial analyses for various reasons (e.g., female participants were excluded from main analyses to reduce heterogeneity).…”

Psychometric properties of the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity coding system 4.2 with jail inmates

“…Data for this project were drawn from a parent study in which participants were recruited shortly before release from jail for a randomized clinical trial examining the impact of a brief motivational intervention on post-incarceration substance use (Owens & McCrady, 2016). A total of forty participants were consented into the original study and randomized to either the motivational ( n = 23) or an educational ( n = 17) intervention.…”

“…All participants signed a consent form and all procedures were approved by the University of New Mexico Institutional Review Board. For more information on participants and procedures for the parent study, see Owens & McCrady (2016).…”