New article examines the impact of mindfulness in treating alcohol use disorder

New research from the University at Buffalo School of Social Work suggests that assigning formal daily mindfulness homework may be beneficial for clients during treatment for alcohol use disorder.

Kyler S. Knapp, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Social Work, led the study, titled “Daily mindfulness homework completion is associated with reduced drinking during a mindfulness-enriched emotion regulation treatment for alcohol use disorder.” The paper appears in the June issue of Addictive Behaviors.

Knapp's co-authors were alumnus Braden K. Linn, PhD ’18, MSW ’12, assistant professor at Pennsylvania State University, as well as Paul R. Stasiewicz, professor and Janet B. Wattles Endowed Chair, and Clara M. Bradizza, professor, both from the UB School of Social Work.

Homework is widely used in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for alcohol use disorder (AUD). Theoretically, homework helps clients generalize skills acquired during treatment to their daily lives. However, clinical trials methodology has typically employed pre- and post-treatment assessments, which has made evaluating the contribution of homework to behavior change a challenge.

The current study leveraged daily diary data from a clinical trial of CBT for AUD to parse within- and between-person associations of mindfulness homework practice and alcohol consumption. Adults seeking treatment for AUD (N = 97) completed 12 treatment sessions and 84 consecutive daily smartphone surveys. Each day, participants reported on the frequency of prior day’s formal and informal mindfulness homework practice, the duration of prior day’s formal mindfulness practice, and prior day’s alcohol consumption. Multilevel models tested within- and between-person associations of mindfulness homework practice with the odds of drinking and heavy drinking, accounting for prior day’s alcohol use.

Results revealed that greater-than-usual frequency and duration of formal daily mindfulness homework practice, but not informal mindfulness practice, were associated with lower odds of a drinking day. Further, greater-than-usual duration of formal daily mindfulness homework practice, but not frequency of mindfulness practice (formal or informal), was associated with lower odds of a heavy drinking day. Results suggest that formal daily mindfulness homework practice may be beneficial and extend the literature by demonstrating that it coincides with reduced drinking and heavy drinking odds within-persons during AUD treatment. Apprising AUD clients of the potential value of homework may help boost its uptake.