Objectives
Heavy
smoking is likely to increase the risk of relapse after treatment for
alcohol dependence. Research on
smoking cessation
motivation in alcohol-dependent individuals may facilitate the development of individually tailored interventions aimed at abstinence from tobacco.
Methods
Two hundred and eighty-seven alcohol-dependent smokers being treated for
alcohol dependence were asked to complete measures of importance of abstinence from alcohol, alcohol abstinence
self-efficacy, importance of abstinence from tobacco, and tobacco abstinence
self-efficacy.
Treatment outcome was evaluated 12 weeks after discharge from the hospital in a subsample of 110 individuals.
Results
Both importance of abstinence and abstinence
self-efficacy differed across types of drug. Likewise, the strength of the correlation between importance and
self-efficacy differed across types of drug. Neither importance nor
self-efficacy predicted the risk of relapse. Most interestingly, however, tobacco abstinence
self-efficacy was positively related to the duration of the first drinking episode after discharge from the hospital.
Conclusions
Tobacco abstinence
self-efficacy might more accurately predict an individual's future success to cope with the urge to drink than alcohol abstinence
self-efficacy.
