Readiness for mental health treatment and for changing alcohol use in patients with comorbid psychiatric and alcohol disorders: are they congruent?

Patients with comorbid psychiatric and alcohol disorders may be ready to change one problem but not the other. This study compared 132 dually diagnosed patients' readiness for mental health treatment to their readiness to change alcohol use. The patients completed a measure of readiness to change alcohol use [the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment Scale-Alcohol (URICA-A)] and the new Readiness for Mental Health Treatment measure. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) reveals that the measures have similar factor structures, but correlation and cluster analyses suggest that separate levels of patient motivation exist for mental health treatment and changing alcohol use. The newly developed mental health treatment measure will help clinicians tailor interventions to their patients' needs.