RESEARCH REPORT

Identification of behaviour change techniques to reduce excessive alcohol consumption

  1. Susan Michie1,*,
  2. Craig Whittington1,
  3. Zainab Hamoudi2,
  4. Feri Zarnani2,
  5. Gillian Tober3,
  6. Robert West4

Article first published online: 17 APR 2012

DOI: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2012.03845.x

Issue

Addiction

Addiction

Volume 107, Issue 8, pages 1431–1440, August 2012

Additional Information

How to Cite

Michie, S., Whittington, C., Hamoudi, Z., Zarnani, F., Tober, G. and West, R. (2012), Identification of behaviour change techniques to reduce excessive alcohol consumption. Addiction, 107: 1431–1440. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2012.03845.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    Centre for Outcomes Research and Effectiveness, Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK

  2. 2

    Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK

  3. 3

    Leeds Addiction Unit, Leeds, UK

  4. 4

    Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Research Centre, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK

*Susan Michie, Centre for Outcomes Research and Effectiveness, Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, 1–19 Torrington Place, London WC1E 7HB, UK. E-mail: s.michie@ucl.ac.uk

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 10 JUL 2012
  2. Article first published online: 17 APR 2012
  3. Accepted manuscript online: 16 FEB 2012 01:25PM EST
  4. Submitted 27 July 2011; initial review completed 19 October 2011; final version accepted 10 February 2012

SEARCH

SEARCH BY CITATION

ARTICLE TOOLS

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (141K)

Keywords:

  • Alcohol;
  • behaviour change techniques;
  • brief intervention;
  • taxonomy

ABSTRACT

Background  Interventions to reduce excessive alcohol consumption have a small but important effect, but a better understanding is needed of their ‘active ingredients’.

Aims  This study aimed to (i) develop a reliable taxonomy of behaviour change techniques (BCTs) used in interventions to reduce excessive alcohol consumption (not to treat alcohol dependence) and (ii) to assess whether use of specific BCTs in brief interventions might be associated with improved effectiveness.

Methods  A selection of guidance documents and treatment manuals, identified via expert consultation, were analysed into BCTs by two coders. The resulting taxonomy of BCTs was applied to the Cochrane Review of brief alcohol interventions, and the associations between the BCTs and effectiveness were investigated using meta-regression.

Findings  Forty-two BCTs were identified, 34 from guidance documents and an additional eight from treatment manuals, with average inter-rater agreement of 80%. Analyses revealed that brief interventions that included the BCT ‘prompt self-recording’ (P = 0.002) were associated with larger effect sizes.

Conclusions  It is possible to identify specific behaviour change techniques reliably in manuals and guidelines for interventions to reduce excessive alcohol consumption. In brief interventions, promoting self-monitoring is associated with improved outcomes. More research is needed to identify other behaviour change techniques or groupings of behaviour change techniques that can produce optimal results in brief interventions and to extend the method to more intensive interventions and treatment of alcohol dependence.

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (141K)