Alcohol relapse repetition, gender, and predictive validity

Earlier exploratory work on a scoring algorithm for the Reasons for Drinking Questionnaire [Zywiak, W. H., Westerberg, V. S., Connors, G. J., & Maisto, S. A. (2003). Exploratory findings from the Reasons for Drinking Questionnaire. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 25, 287–292.] presented a number of interesting findings, but was limited by a fairly low consistency in type of relapse between the first relapse and the second relapse (63%). This scoring algorithm objectively classifies alcohol relapses into one of three types (negative affect, social pressure, or craving/cued). While examining gender differences in the type of first relapse, evidence indicating that relapses were more consistent for men (81%) than for women (44%) was uncovered. For initial posttreatment relapses, women were more likely to have negative affect relapses, and men were more likely to have social pressure relapses. For men, negative affect relapses were predicted by the Beck Depression Inventory score. For women, negative affect relapses were predicted by the Alcohol Dependence Scale score, and craving/cued relapses were predicted by situational craving.