Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students : A Harm Reduction Approach. - BASICS - Review - book review

Adolescence, Winter, 2000

DIMEFF, Linda A., BAER, John S., KIVLAHAN, Daniel R., & MARLATT, G. Alan. Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS): A Harm Reduction Approach. New York: The Guilford Press, 1999. 200pp. $25.00 (p).

This instructive manual presents a pragmatic and clinically proven approach to the prevention and treatment of undergraduate alcohol abuse. The BASICS model is a nonconfrontational, harm reduction, approach that helps students reduce their alcohol consumption and decrease the behavioral and health risks associated with heavy drinking. Including reproducible handouts and assessment forms, the book takes readers step-by-step through conducting BASICS assessment and feedback sessions. Special topics covered include the use of DSM-IV criteria to evaluate alcohol abuse, ways to counter defensiveness about drinking, and how to help students who continue to drink in a hazardous fashion.