Discrepancy between readiness to change, insight and motivation in alcohol-dependent inpatients

BACKGROUND: Poland, Czech Republic, and the Slovak Republic are countries with high alcohol consumption, and alcohol-induced disorders are in the ten leading causes of Years Lost due to Disability. Therefore it is necessary to study factors as insight, motivation, and readiness to change for the better understanding the variables which are in probably connected with therapeutic effectiveness. AIM: The purpose of the study was to examine the state of readiness to change at the beginning and the end of inpatient short (six weeks) and long (12 weeks) therapeutic program in the Slovak Republic, Poland, and the Czech Republic, and look for the relationship between readiness to change, insight, and motivation in alcohol-dependent persons. METHODS: We studied a sample of 380 alcohol-dependent inpatients (282 men and 98 women) by Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), The Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale (SOCRATES), Readiness to Change Questionnaire (RCQ), and Demographic Questionnaire. RESULTS: The unmarried patients declare a higher severity of alcohol dependence than married or divorced ones in AUDIT questionnaire. At the beginning of the treatment, the majority of patients declared Action (68.5%) or Preparation (26.3%) motivation stage according to RCQ questionnaire. At the end of the treatment, married patients showed higher readiness to change in domain Taking steps of SOCRATES questionnaire. The unmarried patients displayed the decrease of domain Ambivalence. The duration of the completed therapeutic program may not be crucial for improvement in preparedness to change. CONCLUSION: The intention and motivation to alcohol dependence treatment seem to be high at the beginning of the treatment, but recognition of the alcohol problems were low in highly dependent patients. Marital status was connected with an increased active component for readiness to change. The passive component (decreasing the ambivalence) was observed in the unmarried patients.