New doctoral study: Who you are shapes how treatment for alcohol problems works

Kristoffer Høiland

21.04.2026 - New research has examined the importance of patient factors in the treatment of alcohol use disorder. There is a need for more tailored tools and methods to improve treatment outcomes for people with alcohol problems, especially for women and for people with reduced cognitive functioning.

Researchers at Vestfold Hospital Trust have identified factors, including social, contextual, psychological and personality-related aspects of patients, that matter for the treatment of alcohol use disorder (AUD). The researchers looked at how different patient factors are linked to treatment dropout and the level of risky drinking after treatment. They also examined differences between women and men in treatment for alcohol use disorder, as well as assessment tools used to examine cognitive functioning.

The study’s findings show that impaired executive functioning increases the risk of early treatment dropout. Assessing difficulties in executive functioning at the start of treatment may make it possible to provide more effective and targeted interventions for the group that is vulnerable to dropping out of treatment.

The personality trait conscientiousness is also linked to treatment outcomes. Patients with lower levels of conscientiousness have a higher risk of harmful alcohol use after treatment, which suggests that personality assessments may be important when planning the course of treatment.

The study further found that women with alcohol use disorder experience a higher level of psychological symptoms and greater interpersonal difficulties than men. The women in the study also had greater cognitive difficulties compared with men. Alcohol treatment must be adapted to the specific challenges women face.

The study also shows that a widely used screening tool for cognitive difficulties, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), does not identify cognitive difficulties in people with AUD with sufficient precision. This underlines the need to develop specific assessment tools for AUD.

The research highlights the need to focus on the specific challenges faced by people in alcohol treatment. Treatment for AUD must be more individually tailored if the goal is to reduce relapse and improve quality of life. The study has implications for the development of more adapted treatment interventions for AUD in order to prevent dropout and increase the proportion of people who reduce their alcohol use after treatment.