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The purpose of the study was to assess alcohol expectancies and motives of psychiatric outpatients with and without comorbid current or lifetime substance use disorders. Seventy-five psychiatric outpatients with diagnoses of mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and substance use disorders were administered the Alcohol Effect Expectancy Questionnaire-Abridged Version and the Drinking Motives Measure. Results demonstrated that the internal reliabilities for the two scales were comparable with those reported for these measures in the general population. Psychiatric outpatients with a history of comorbid substance use disorders reported greater expectancies and motives for using alcohol than did patients with no such history. In addition patients with comorbid alcohol and drug use disorders, and only comorbid alcohol use disorder, showed significantly greater expectancies and motives for alcohol use than patients with only comorbid drug use disorders and patients with no history of comorbid substance use disorder. We discuss the implications of the findings for role of expectancies and motives in the maintenance and treatment of substance abuse in psychiatric patients.

Over the past decade substantial advances have been made in the psychiatric rehabilitation of persons with severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. In this review we highlight progress in several areas that have been the focus of extensive research, including case management, social skills training, supported employment, family intervention, and integrated treatment for comorbid substance use disorders. We also identify characteristics of successful psychiatric rehabilitation programs: (1) effective interventions tend to be direct and behavioral; (2) rehabilitation programs have specific effects on related outcomes, with limited generalization to other domains; (3) short-term interventions are less effective than long-term ones; (4) interventions need to be delivered close to patients' natural environments; and (5) effective programs often combine skills training and environmental support.