Effectiveness of an Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention for Low-Income Clients Drinking at a High-Risk Level in Social Service Settings in Korea

Abstract

The present study was the first to investigate the effectiveness of an alcohol screening and brief intervention (ASBI) for high-risk drinkers of low socioeconomic status in the Korean community social service setting. A total of 153 clients of social service agencies participated in this study. Clients in the experimental group received interventions which were composed of screening for alcohol problems and brief motivational interventions. Clients in the comparison group received only the alcohol problems screening. The amount of alcohol consumption as the primary outcome variable was measured one time before intervention and three times after intervention. When analyses were conducted separately for participants from self-sufficiency centers and community welfare centers, there was a significant time and group interaction effect. The weekly alcohol consumption of the experimental group was gradually reduced over time. However, the amount of the comparison group was reduced at the 1-month follow-up but was increased at the eight-week and 12-week follow-ups. Overall, study findings yielded partial support for the effectiveness of ASBI. ASBI was effective in reducing alcohol consumption among clients from self-sufficiency centers. Future studies need to confirm the effectiveness of an ASBI more rigorously and conduct qualitative studies to further understand personal experiences of participants.