Does co-occurring social phobia interfere with alcoholism treatment adherence and relapse?

This study investigates the impact of social phobia on adherence to and outcomes 6 months following standard alcohol treatment and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) group meetings among alcohol-dependent patients with and without social phobia. In a cohort study, 300 detoxified alcohol-dependent individuals in Porto Alegre, Brazil, were interviewed during, as well as 3 and 6 months after hospital detoxification. At both follow-up points, treatment adherence was low and relapse rates were high among patients with and without social phobia, and no significant differences were seen between the two groups of patients in relapse, adherence to AA, or adherence to psychotherapy. Findings from this sample suggest that although alcohol-dependent patients with social phobia showed a tendency for less adherence at AA and felt less integrated with their AA group, social phobia comorbidity was not a significant risk factor for alcohol use relapse or for nonadherence to AA or psychotherapy.