Interpersonal problems of alcohol use disorder patients undergoing a physical exercise intervention - A randomised controlled trial

The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether the interpersonal relationships of patients suffering from alcohol use disorder (AUD) might be improved as a result of an exercise intervention. Participants were randomised to either treatment as usual (TAU), or TAU in conjunction with participation in one of two intervention arms: exercising individually or supervised group exercise. The Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP-64) was used to assess self-perceived interpersonal problems. The subscales where the AUD patients reported significantly more interpersonal problems were: vindictive, cold, socially inhibited and non-assertive. In all, 116 predominantly male patients participated: an experimental sample of 81, and a control sample of 36. At baseline, on all the IIP subscales, the AUD population achieved higher scores as measured by the IIP than a healthy population. The subscales where the AUD patients reported significantly more interpersonal problems were: vindictive, cold, socially inhibited and non-assertive. The male AUD patients achieved significantly higher scores on the domineering subscale, whereas the female AUD patients achieved significantly higher scores on the non-assertive, exploitable and overly nurturant subscales. On none of the subscales did the intervention group achieve significant changes in IIP scores between pre- and post-treatment. These findings suggest that when working with alcohol patients, it is as important to understand the emotional context of the drinking as it is to target the symptoms of the drinking problems.