Cognitive behavioral therapy delays relapse in female socially phobic alcoholics

The present study was conducted to test the hypothesis that socially phobic alcoholics treated with Cognitive Behavioral therapy (CBT) will have bette r drinking outcomes than those treated with Twelve-Step Facilitation therap y (TSF). Three hundred ninety-seven treatment-seeking alcoholics with concu rrent social phobia were compared retrospectively to a matched sample of 39 7 alcoholics without social phobia. Treatment was delivered in an outpatien t setting, and patients were randomized to either CBT, TSF, or Motivational Enhancement therapy (MET). The groups were compared on self-reported drink ing measures (e.g., quantity and frequency of drinking, and time-to-event m easures) during treatment period and monthly for 1 year following treatment . Survival analyses revealed that female outpatients with social phobia sho wed delayed relapse to drinking when treated with CBT rather than TSF; the reverse was true for female outpatients without social phobia. Survival ana lyses in male outpatients with and without social phobia revealed an opposi te trend, though it was not statistically significant. These data suggest t hat cognitive Behavioral therapy is superior to Twelve-Step Facilitation th erapy for the treatment of alcohol problems in specific populations, namely socially phobic women seeking outpatient treatment. (C) 2000 Elsevier Scie nce Ltd.