Using Brief Therapies in the Management of Alcohol Related Problems among Male Undergraduates in Owerri, Nigeria

This study compared Harm-Reduction Therapy (HRT) only with HRT and Motivational Interviewing (MI) as brief therapeutic techniques in controlling Alcohol-Related Problems (ARPs). It was hypothesized that there will be significant reduction in the occurrence of ARPs at each interval tested following baseline occurrence. The second hypothesis compared the outcome for participants in HRT Only with HRT and MI groups. 28 male undergraduate students of Imo State University, who abuse alcohol, were selected using purposive sampling method. Their age range was 22-24years with mean age of 22.96 (SD= .88). The Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) was used to screen participants for alcohol abuse, while the Alcohol drinking Consequences Questionnaire (ADCQ) was used to assess their ARPs. Design was experimental and data was generated by assessing participants’ ARPs at baseline, 30th day and 60th day of therapeutic interventions. The repeated measures analysis of variance statistics with SPSS version 17 was used for data analysis. Significant increase in mean (SD) of ARPs reported from baseline 17.36 (4.56) first interval 11.21 (5.01) and last interval 4.96 (3.31). There was as hypothesized significant increased reduction in ARPs among participants across test intervals (F (2, 52) = 237.75, p= .001). Findings revealed no significant difference (F (1, 26) = 1.07, p = .31) in reduction of ARPs between participants in the HRT only group and those in the HRT and MI group. It was concluded that brief interventions (i.e. HRT & MI) are effective in controlling ARPs among undergraduates. A recommendation for the benefit of the inclusion of harm-reduction in the Nigerian public health policy was made.