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To study the situation of alcohol relapse and to investigate the relationship between psychological factors and alcohol relapse in persons with alcohol dependence in Thai Nguyen hospitals, Vietnam.

A correlation study was conducted among 110 patients. Data were collected through structured interviews and were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Spearman's correlation coefficient (r_s).

More than two-thirds of the participants were found to relapse more than once (X¯ = 2.04, SD = 0.86). Positive outcome expectancies, cravings, negative emotional states, and maladaptive coping were positively associated with relapse (r_s = 0.550, 0.522, 0.497; p = 0.000 and r_s = 0.217, p < 0.05, respectively). While, motivation to change with three subscales had a negative correlation to relapse including recognition (r_s = −0.199, p < 0.05), ambivalence (r_s = −0.331, p = 0.000), and taking steps (r_s = −0.606, p = 0.000). Adaptive coping, self-efficacy, and social support were also found to be negatively correlated to relapse (r_s = −0.535, −0.499, −0.338; p = 0.000, respectively). However, negative outcome expectancies (r_s = −0.024, p = 0.805) and positive emotional states (r_s = 0.081, p = 0.399) were not significantly related to relapse.

The findings of this study are significant implications for relapse prevention strategies. It suggests that the essential parts of relapse prevention are through: changing alcohol expectations, increase drinking refusal self-efficacy, coping skills training, enhancing motivation to change, managing alcohol craving and expanding social support.

This is the first study in Vietnam which investigated the relationship between psychological factors and alcohol relapse in individuals with alcohol dependence.