Abstinence Violation Effect

The abstinence violation effect (AVE) includes the cognitive and emotional responses a substance abuser may experience after breaking a rule for abstinence. In 1985, Alan Marlatt and Judith Gordon proposed the AVE as an important ingredient of relapse and a variable needing to be addressed as part of their relapse prevention model. In 2001, George Parks, Britt Anderson, and Alan Marlatt suggested that the AVE included the attributions and cognitive dissonance that develop following a lapse in alcohol or other drug use by a substance user who had previously made an active decision to maintain abstinence. It has been hypothesized that a slip or lapse, the first violation of the abstinence goal, has the potential to turn into a full-blown relapse depending upon the attributions ...