An investigation of the qualitative dimensions of motivation and the role that they play in recovery from substance addiction

The aim of this thesis was to investigate whether motivation to quit substance addicted behaviour can be assessed in terms of eight motivational dimensions identified from the psychological literature. A review of the literature of motivation in general psychology is followed by a review of contemporary approaches to understanding addiction and motivation to recover. These are drawn together to form a multidimensional model of motivation, that enables the clinician to assess a particular motivating reason on each of eight dimensions. The first study involved 54 participants who were presenting for inpatient withdrawal at a public facility in Melbourne, Australia. They were asked for the motivating reasons behind their intention to quit their substance-addicted behaviour and 200 reasons were collected. It was found that the eight dimensions were indeed independent constructs in the context of addiction recovery. In the second study 43 participants attended a one-day motivational workshop based upon this multidimensional model of motivation and significant improvements in motivation were recorded at the conclusion of the workshop. In summary this thesis provides evidence that this eight dimensional model of motivation may be of benefit to clinicians working with addicted patients, and several possible directions for future research of this model are proposed.