Chunk #13 — Substance Misuse in North America — Personality-Targeted Interventions for the Prevention of Alcohol and Illicit Drug Misuse: the Preventure Programme
After selection on personality scales (often using the SURPS), high-risk individuals are invited to participate in brief individual- or group-based intervention sessions that target their dominant personality profile. Interventions are generally two-to-six sessions in duration, with 1 week separating (each-remove) session, each generally 90 min in duration. The interventions are conducted using manuals that (remove which) incorporate psycho-educational, motivational enhancement therapy (MET; [53]) and cognitive–behavioural (CBT; [53]) components and include real-life ‘scenarios’ shared by local youth with similar personality profiles. In the first session, participants are guided in a goal setting exercise, designed to enhance motivation to change behaviour. Psycho-educational strategies are then used to teach participants about the target personality variable and associated problematic coping behaviours like avoidance, interpersonal dependence, aggression, risky behaviours and substance misuse. They are then introduced to the CBT model and guided in breaking down a personal experience according to the physical, cognitive and behavioural components of an emotional response. In the subsequent sessions, participants are encouraged to identify and challenge personality-specific cognitive distortions that lead to problematic behaviours.
