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the extinction of these conditioned responses, suggested above to be manifest in dependent behaviour (reviews of the literature are in Carroll 1997, Miller and Heather 1998). This literature on coping, coupled with clinical observation formed the background to the hypothesis referring to the implication of coping behaviours in the change or reduction of dependence over time and the suggestion of their differential application in high and low dependence people.
The null hypothesis relating to coping stated that there was no difference between high and low dependence individuals in the sort of coping strategies used and the frequency of their use; the reason for investigating whether there was a difference was the possibility that high dependence individuals would find change more difficult and therefore need to use more behavioural coping as these are normally associated with environmental factors, thus providing environmental support for change. It would appear to be the case that the null hypothesis can be rejected, that a difference was found. The high dependence group who changed both dependence and use (became abstinent) used more behavioural coping than those who did not change and the low dependence group who became abstinent used more of all coping.
The specific findings of note were: the negative correlation between intake measures of dependence and coping for the whole sample suggested that the higher the dependence the lower the frequency of coping strategies used. Dependence was significantly reduced over the first three months and the frequency of use of coping strategies significantly increased. While overall, dependence for the entire cohort did not significantly change between three months and twelve months, it was shown to be the case that for some dependence declined and for some it increased during this time. The overall frequency of coping during this nine month period declined.
When the high dependence group was examined separately it appeared that the frequency of the use of coping in this group was different. First, no significant correlation was found between dependence and coping at intake. The two things appeared not to be related. At three months however, people who had shown high dependence at intake and become abstinent at three months were using behavioural coping significantly more frequently than those who had not become abstinent. Furthermore, in the group of those with high dependence at intake whose dependence scores showed reliable change at three months, a significant positive correlation was found between frequency of behavioural coping and amount of change in dependence. This suggests that people with high dependence use behavioural coping in the course of reducing their dependence and becoming abstinent. It also suggests that coping strategies are modified during a period of help-seeking. At three months there was a significant negative correlation between level of dependence and frequency of the use of all coping in those with high dependence at intake. At
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