AUTHOR=Klepper Sarah , Odenwald Michael , Rösner Susanne , Senn Smeralda , Menning Hans , Pereyra-Kröll Devi , Rockstroh Brigitte TITLE=Experience-Induced Change of Alcohol-Related Risk Perception in Patients with Alcohol Use Disorders JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology VOLUME=8 YEAR=2017 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01967 DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01967 ISSN=1664-1078 ABSTRACT=

The role of alcohol-related risk perception for effective treatment of alcohol use disorders (AUD) is still unclear. The present study on 101 alcohol-dependent patients undergoing a 10-week AUD treatment protocol investigated the relationship between alcohol-related risk perception and alcohol use with the hypotheses that (1) risk perception changes across treatment, (2) changes vary with treatment-related experiences of abstinence/relapse indicating ‘risk reappraisal,’ and (3) adjustment of perceived own vulnerability according to ‘risk reappraisal hypothesis’ predicts abstinence during follow-up. Abstinence during treatment was related to a decrease, and relapse during treatment to a slight increase in perceived own risks. Abstinence during the 3-month follow-up varied with experience-induced risk reappraisal. The results show an impact of risk reappraisal on alcohol use and hence advocate a focus on risk reappraisal in AUD treatment.