Objective: This study examined the effect of motivation for change, measured by the Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale (SOCRATES), on alcohol use severity among alcoholic patients with severe and persistent mental illness.
Method: At a Veterans Affairs hospital, 390 dually diagnosed patients were recruited and assessed for motivation for change, alcohol use severity, psychotic symptoms and global functioning at baseline and 9-month follow-up.
Results: Regression analyses showed that patients who were highly ambivalent about their alcohol use at baseline consumed significantly more alcohol 9 months later, on the basis of Addiction Severity Index ratings (p < or = .01), than patients who felt less ambivalent.
Conclusions: The findings suggest that increased awareness of alcohol-related problems is essential to reducing alcohol use severity for alcoholic patients with severe and persistent mental illness. The implications and limitations of the findings are discussed.