SECONDARY PREVENTION OF ALCOHOLISM VIA COMPUTER SOFTWARE

THE OVERALL GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP, EVALUATE, AND DISSEMINATE AN INTERACTIVE COMPUTER SOFTWARE PROGRAM FORSECONDARY PREVENTION OF ALCOHOL ABUSE. SECONDARY PREVENTIONIS DEFINED HERE AS TRAINING IN SPECIFIC BEHAVIORAL SKILLS TO EITHER REDUCE AND/OR ELIMINATE ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND ALCOHOL-RELATED PROBLEMS. THE CLINICAL POPULATION THIS TRAINING WILL TARGET CONSISTS OF ALCOHOL ABUSERS WHO HAVE LOWER LEVELS OF ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION, A SHORTER HISTORY OF PROBLEM DRINKING, AND LESS SEVERE ALCOHOL-RELATED PROBLEMS THAN SEVERE ABUSERS. THIS TRAINING WILL NOT BE APPROPRIATE FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO MEET THE DSM-IIIR CRITERIA FOR ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE. THE GOALS OF PHASE I ARE TO SELECT A PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE OR "SHELL" AND DEVELOP THE FIRST TWO LESSONS OF THE TRAINING. IN PHASE II, THE GOAL IS TO COMPLETE THE DEVELOPMENT AND REFINEMENT OF THE SOFTWARE. THE PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS ARE POTENTIALLY FAR REACHING. IF INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE AT HIGH RISK FOR DEVELOPING SEVERE ALCOHOL PROBLEMS CAN BE SUCCESSFULLY PREVENTED FROM DOING SO, THE SAVINGS TO SOCIETY WILL BE CONSIDERABLE. THE COSTS OF MEDICAL CARE, LOST WORK, AND ALCOHOL-RELATED INJURIES FOR ALCOHOL ABUSERS ARE WELL KNOWN.