Discusses the problem of drunk driving primarily as a failure in the process of operant conditioning, with the inappropriate behavior of the drunk driver resulting from a profound ignorance of the potentially tragic consequences of his behavior. Concludes most effective way to understand consequences is to witness autopsies of drunk driving…

Assessed degree of alcohol aversion in 60 alcoholics who received emetic alcohol-aversion therapy. Results revealed changes in response to alcoholic, but not to nonalcoholic, flavors, including decreased consumption in taste tests, more negative flavor ratings, overt behavioral indicants of aversion and increased tachycardiac response. (Author/NB)

Data indicated that drinking and other outcome measures were only moderately interrelated in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Outcome at the group level was somewhat better six months after treatment than it was 18 months later. (Author)

The problem drinking continuum was devised to illustrate different kinds of alcohol-related problems, without implying irreversibility, progression, or the presence of a unitary disease. It is one way of conceptualizing alcohol dependencies that has been fruitful in outpatient counseling, residential care, alcohol education, and training programs.…

The Final Report of the Task Force on Responsible Decisions About Alcohol is comprised of three booklets. Booklet 1 contains a history of the Education Commission of the States (ECS) and the formation of the ECS Task Force on Responsible Decisions About Alcohol. The goals and objectives of the task force are defined as they relate to approaches…

The authors describe a study undertaken at the State University of New York at Buffalo which sought to develop an effective Alcohol Instruction Model and to develop an Alcohol Behavior Inventory that would measure the drinking severity and the severity of alcohol-related behavior of university students. (MJB)

Used covert sensitization and alcohol education/counseling to eliminate drinking behavior in two motivated offenders in their early twenties who had previously been classified as "alcoholic." In over 24 months for 1 subject, and 9 months for the other, only 1 conviction for 1 of the subjects occurred, which turned out to be minor and…

Alcoholism researchers in the past 35 years have emphasized abstinence as the major criterion of treatment success. In recent years, however, this emphasis has been questioned and from the current debate over treatment goals and outcome measures at least two areas of controversy have emerged. The first, called the "abstention-moderation"…

An experimental treatment approach to teaching alcoholics controlled drinking utilizing a multi-modal treatment approach is presented. This approach included aversion conditioning contingent upon emission of such undesirable drinking behaviors as gulping, drinking straight drinks, Blood Alcohol Level of 0.065 or greater, and time between drinks.…

After describing a social learning formulation of the male alcoholic's marriage, this paper reviews the few studies of behavioral marital therapy (BMT) for alcoholics and their wives. Although none of these studies are as rigorous as one might wish and many of them are merely case studies, a review of the literature shows that behavioral marital…

This study attempts to identify the specific demographic and sociological characteristics related to improvement for 48 male alcoholic patients who participated in two contrasting one-month inpatient treatment programs. Of the 48 subjects, 27 participated in a broad spectrum behavior therapy program (experimental group). The remaining 21 subjects…

Results illustrate the usefulness of a conceptual model for assessing the interrelationships among pretreatment, and posttreatment variables and outcome. This approach facilitates the unraveling of these complex interrelationships by allowing for examination of the cumulative influences of prior variables on subsequent variables. (Author/BEF)

This paper describes a study which compared the results of treating out-patient middle-income problem drinkers with: (1) a multi-component positive reinforcement procedure emphasizing moderation; or (2) traditional group encounter therapy emphasizing abstinence. Results suggested that behavioral treatment was more effective than traditional…

This paper reports on a multimedia approach to alcohol education in the content of developing positive patterns of social interaction leading to personal and social health. ( MM)

Problem drinkers in the community were subjects in a study that evaluated the therapeutic potential of learning techniques in changing abusive drinking patterns and achieving moderation. The authors conclude that moderation is a more attainable and feasible goal for problem drinkers than for chronic alcoholics. (Author)