NCJ Number
186806
Journal
Substance Use and Misuse: An International Interdisciplinary Forum Volume: 35 Issue: 12-14 Dated: 2000 Pages: 1911-1930
Date Published
2000
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This article reports on a study that identified the impact of various post-treatment variables that contributed to treatment outcomes within one year after treatment concluded.
Abstract
Follow-up studies of drug user treatment generally find significant improvements in client functioning, but information about the therapeutic components associated with client behavioral changes over time is limited. In the current study, an integrative model developed previously to predict treatment retention was expanded and applied to post-treatment outcomes. This study is based on 321 daily opioid users treated in three methadone treatment clinics. The effects of pretreatment motivation, treatment process measures that represented therapeutic relationship, counseling session attendance, and length of treatment were examined in relation to measures of family relations, peer deviancy, return to treatment, drug use, and criminality in the year after treatment. Models were tested in two stages. The first was developed from a during-treatment process model for predicting time in treatment to include post-treatment outcomes. The second model was expanded further to include the effects of intervening social support variables as predictors of post-treatment drug and criminality outcomes. The results supported both models and emphasize the importance of considering social influences and related community contextual factors that affect recovery dynamics. 36 references, 2 figures, and 2 tables