Brief Intervention to Reduce Hazardous Drinking and Enhance Coping among OEF/OIF/ONID Veterans

Hazardous drinking among US Military combat veterans is an important public health issue. Because recent combat veterans are difficult to engage in specialty mental health and substance abuse care, there is a need for opportunistic interventions administered in settings visited by recent combat veterans such as primary care. This paper describes a brief intervention (single session, following an assessment) that was recently developed and tested in a sample of veterans of Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and New Dawn (OEF/OIF/OND). The intervention consists of a counseling session delivered in a motivational interviewing style using a packet of personalized feedback about alcohol misuse, symptoms of PTSD and depression, as well as coping skills. The treatment is described and data from a single case treated with this intervention are presented.