Relapse determinants reported by men treated for alcohol addiction: the prominence of depressed mood.

Men treated for alcohol addiction who relapsed after residential treatment were surveyed to identify high-risk events, which had functioned as relapse determinants. The investigation was guided by G. Alan Marlatt's relapse prevention model. Participants endorsed one of nine relapse determinants listed on the study's relapse questionnaire most directly related to their first use of alcohol or drugs after treatment. The relapse determinants most consistently endorsed were intrapersonal in nature. The relapse determinant most frequently endorsed was depressed mood, consistent with the study's hypothesis. A rationale was presented for future research to isolate risk factors for relapse episodes organized on the basis of relapse determinants.