NCJ Number
52064
Date Published
1978
Length
362 pages
Annotation
THIS STUDY IS AN EVALUATION OF ALCOHOLISM TREATMENT AND ITS ETIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS CONDUCTED BY INVESTIGATING ALCOHOLICS IN TREATMENT AS WELL AS THOSE WHO WERE NOT.
Abstract
THIS VOLUME CONTAINS THE FINDINGS OF THE FIRST IN A SERIES OF ONGOING RAND CORPORATION ALCOHOLISM STUDIES, SUPPORTED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON ALCOHOL ABUSE AND ALCOHOLISM (NIAAA). THE PURPOSE OF THESE STUDIES IS TO DEVELOP A BASIC KNOWLEDGE ON THE NATURE OF ALCOHOLISM, ALCOHOL ABUSE, AND TREATMENT, AND TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE NATIONAL SYSTEM OF ALCOHOLISM TREATMENT CENTERS (ATC) ESTABLISHED BY NIAAA IN 1971. THE MAIN OBJECTIVE OF THE EVALUATION WAS TO ASSESS THE NATURE OF TREATMENT OUTCOMES, DRAWING ON A NATIONAL DATA BASE OF PERSONS WHO HAD BEEN TREATED AT THE NIAAA CENTERS. THE MONITORING SYSTEM USED BY NIAAA CONTAINS A BROAD SET OF CLIENT, TREATMENT, AND OUTCOME DATA ON APPROXIMATELY 30,000 CLIENTS WHO HAD ENTERED TREATMENT AT THE 44 COMPREHENSIVE TREATMENT CENTERS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY. THE DATA COLLECTED BY THE TREATMENT CENTER STAFF ON CONTACT AND INTAKE FORMS INCLUDED INFORMATION ON DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES, SOCIAL BACKGROUND, DRINKING HISTORY, BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL IMPAIRMENT, AND CONSUMPTION. MONTHLY INDIVIDUAL SERVICE REPORTS AND A SIX MONTH FOLLOWUP FORM WERE COMPLETED FOR EACH CLIENT. A CENTRAL CONTRACTOR EDITED, VALIDATED, AND UPDATED THE DATA. A SPECIAL 18 MONTH ATC FOLLOWUP STUDY REPRESENTED A POTENTIAL REPLICATION OF THE RESULTS OF THE 6-MONTH ANALYSIS ON A SMALLER, LONG TERM, AND MORE PRECISE LEVEL. SAMPLES OF CLIENTS FOR THIS STUDY WERE TAKEN FROM EIGHT REPRESENTATIVE ATCS WHICH COMPRISED NEARLY TWO THIRDS OF THE ORIGINAL SAMPLE. A COMPARISON OF CHARACTERISTICS OF A NATIONAL SAMPLE OF ALCOHOLICS IN TREATMENT WITH THE GENERAL POPULATION, AND A NATIONAL SUBPOPULATION OF PROBLEM DRINKERS NOT IN TREATMENT, WAS MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH A PUBLIC SURVEY OF AWARENESS AND ATTITUDES TOWARD ALCOHOLISM, AND DRINKING BEHAVIORS, AND PROBLEMS. THIS DATA WERE COLLECTED DURING THE SAME PERIOD AS THE ATC DATA BASE. AN ANALYSIS OF THE DATA REVEALED THAT CONTRARY TO GENERAL OPINION, ALCOHOLISM IS NOT HOPELESS; TREATMENT CAN BE SUCCESSFULLY FORMULATED THROUGH ABSTENTION AND MODERATE DRINKING DEFINED IN TERMS OF REMISSION. NO RECOMMENDATIONS ABOUT SPECIFIC TREATMENTS ARE MADE, BUT THE WIDE ACCEPTANCE OF ABSTENTION AS THE ONLY METHOD OF RECOVERY IS QUESTIONED. IT WAS FOUND THAT MOST TREATMENTS HAVE RELATIVELY UNIFORM RATES OF SUCCESS. IT WAS CONCLUDED, THEREFORE, THAT THE FACT OF TREATMENT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE METHOD. TABULAR DATA; FOOTNOTES; AN INDEX; A BIBLIOGRAPHY; AND APPENDICES WHICH INCLUDE INTERPRETATIONS OF THE RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF SELF-REPORTED DRINKING BEHAVIOR, REACTIONS TO THE RAND REPORT, AND SAMPLES OF THE DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS ARE PROVIDED. (JCP)