Characteristics and motives of problem drinkers seeking help from moderation management self-help groups

Abstract

Moderation Management (MM) is a relatively new self-help/mutual aid organization that adopts a cognitive-behavioral conceptualization of alcohol abuse. Specifically, MM construes problem drinking as a habit that can be brought under control through the application of cognitive-behavioral principles in the context of a network of supportive peers. MM therefore serves as an alternative to the spiritually oriented disease model of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), as well as to the abstinence goal orientation of AA and other self-help organizations (e.g., Women for Sobriety and SMART Recovery). To provide cognitive-behavioral therapists and researchers more information about MM, this paper describes the MM organization and presents survey data on the characteristics and help-seeking motives of 467 individuals who contacted the organization by telephone over a 1-year period. Callers to MM's national telephone number had significantly less severe drinking problems and greater educational and economic resources than typical help-seeking populations of alcohol-dependent persons (e.g., AA members). Study participants, particularly women, typically experienced MM as a better “fit” with their drinking problem, life experiences, and valuation of personal mastery than disease-model, abstinence-based approaches. Although the organization has never been subjected to a controlled outcome study, cross-sectional data indicate that MM members appear to reduce their level of alcohol-related harm over time. Cognitive-behavioral treatment professionals working with nondependent problem drinkers may thus wish to consider referring clients to MM.