What Do Internet-Based Alcohol Treatment Websites Offer? BENJAMIN A. TOLL, Ph.D., 1,2 LINDA C. SOBELL, Ph.D., 3 JUSTIN D’ARIENZO, M.S., 3 MARK B. SOBELL, Ph.D., 3 LORI EICKLEBERRY-GOLDSMITH, M.S., 3 and HEATHER J. TOLL, Psy.D. 1 ABSTRACT The Internet was searched for websites that advertised or provided treatment or help for alco- hol problems. Websites were evaluated for the types of treatment offered and whether the treatment had an empirical basis. While a wide range of treatments were advertised, very few websites offered online services. In addition, very few sites provided or advertised alcohol treatment programs that were empirically based. Recommendations for future Internet-based health care and treatment are offered. 581 CYBERPSYCHOLOGY & BEHAVIOR Volume 6, Number 6, 2003 © Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. INTRODUCTION T HE INTERNET has become an easily accessible, user-friendly source of information, including advice and counseling for a variety of clinical is- sues. 1–3 Moreover, surveys show that many people are using the Internet to obtain information about treatment for medical and psychological problems. 4–7 For example, in 1999 about 60 million people used the Internet to search for health-related information. 8 There are several reasons why the Internet may be an ideal venue for offering interventions for in- dividuals with alcohol problems. For example, be- cause many people with alcohol problems never enter formal treatment programs due to the stigma (reviewed in Klingeman et al. 9 ), online interventions could be appealing and far-reaching. In fact, brief interventions 10 and self-change materials 9 could easily be adapted for websites. While the Internet’s rapid growth has provided people with access to a wealth of previously unavailable information, the accuracy of this information is currently not regu- lated. 11,12 However, the quality of Internet-based in- formation and services has recently started to receive increasing attention. 13 For example, the American Psychological Association’s Board of Professional Affairs created a Work Group on Professional Prac- tice Issues in Telehealth to study the impact of tele- health (i.e., information and interventions mediated by telecommunications) on psychology. 13 Very few studies have evaluated Internet-based interventions for alcohol problems (e.g., Cunning- ham et al. 4 ). The present study evaluated treatments or interventions for alcohol problems offered over the internet and examined how many of these were empirically based. MATERIALS AND METHODS A search for websites was conducted between September 2000 and December 2000 using the In- ternet browser Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0. Ten search engines were used: (a) Yahoo!, (b) AltaVista, (c) MSN, (d) HOTBOT, (e) Google, (f) Searchbug, (g) AOL, (h) Excite, (i) Copernic, and (j) GoTo. Web- sites were located by using four “Boolean” keyword search terms: (a) “alcohol” AND “treatment,” (b) “alcohol” AND “self*,” (c) “alcohol” AND “inter- 1 Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut. 2 VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, Connecticut. 3 Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.