This chapter focuses on the use of brief interventions for the treatment of alcohol and other substance use disorders and risky use. The authors provide definitions of brief interventions and a rationale for their use. They review the evidence base for brief interventions across primary care, emergency medical, college, and correctional settings, and include analysis of the impact of brief intervention on drinking and drug use and the relative costs of such services. They also describe several widely used frameworks or organizing structures for brief interventions including FRAMES (provide feedback, emphasize responsibility, give advice, menu of options, express empathy, support self-efficacy), SBIRT (screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment), and the five As (ask, assess, advise, assist, arrange). Finally, the authors discuss the therapeutic approach of motivational interviewing as an interaction style that can be used within the context of many brief intervention structures.
Screening instruments for substance use and brief interventions targeting adolescents in primary care: A literature review
