Purpose – To study the situation of alcohol relapse and to investigate the relationship between psychological factors and alcohol relapse in persons with alcohol dependence in Thai Nguyen hospitals, Vietnam. Design/methodology/approach – A correlation study was conducted among 110 patients. Data were collected through structured interviews and were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Spearman’s correlation coefficient (rs).

Findings – More than two-thirds of the participants were found to relapse more than once (X 5 2.04, SD 5 0.86). Positive outcome expectancies, cravings, negative emotional states, and maladaptive coping were positively associated with relapse (rs 5 0.550, 0.522, 0.497; p 5 0.000 and rs 5 0.217, p < 0.05, respectively). While, motivation to change with three subscales had a negative correlation to relapse including recognition (rs 5
0.199, p < 0.05), ambivalence (rs 5
0.331, p 5 0.000), and taking steps (rs 5
0.606, p 5 0.000). Adaptive coping, self-efficacy, and social support were also found to be negatively correlated to relapse (rs 5
0.535,
0.499,
0.338; p 5 0.000, respectively). However, negative outcome expectancies (rs 5
0.024, p 5 0.805) and positive emotional states (rs 5 0.081, p 5 0.399) were not significantly related to relapse. Practical implications – The findings of this study are significant implications for relapse prevention strategies. It suggests that the essential parts of relapse prevention are through: changing alcohol expectations, increase drinking refusal self-efficacy, coping skills training, enhancing motivation to change, managing alcohol craving and expanding social support.