Gender similarities and differences in the treatment, relapse, and recovery cycle.

This study explores the influence of gender on changes in recovery status among participants in a longitudinal study. The study sample (N = 1,202; 60% female) is recruited on referral to treatment, and annual interviews are conducted from Years 2 to 6 following intake. At each annual observation, participants are classified into one of four statuses (recovery, treatment, incarcerated, and using), and the transitional probabilities and correlates of transitioning from one status to another are estimated.

An eight-year perspective on the relationship between the duration of abstinence and other aspects of recovery.

Using data from 1,162 people entering treatment and followed up (> 94%) for 8 years, this article examines the relationship between the duration of abstinence (1 month to 5 or more years) and other aspects of recovery (e.g., health, mental health, coping responses, legal involvement, vocational involvement, housing, peers, social and spiritual support), including the trend and at what point changes occur.

Utilizing Recovery Management Checkups to shorten the cycle of relapse, treatment reentry, and recovery.

Over the past several decades, a growing body of evidence suggests that a subset of substance users suffers from what appears to be a more chronic condition, whereby they cycle through periods of relapse, treatment reentry, incarceration, and recovery, often lasting several years. Using data from quarterly interviews conducted over a 2-year period in which 448 participants were randomly assigned to either an assessment only condition or to a Recovery Management Checkup (RMC) condition, we looked at the frequency, type, and predictors of transitions between points in the relapse, treatment reentry, and recovery cycle. The results indicated that about one-third of the participants transitioned from one point in the cycle to another each quarter; 82% transitioned at least once, 62% multiple times.

Pathways in the relapse--treatment--recovery cycle over 3 years.

For many individuals, substance use leads to a chronic cycle of relapse, treatment reentry, and recovery, often lasting for decades. This study replicates earlier work, documents the transition patterns within the cycle during a 3-year period, and identifies variables that predict these transitions. Data are from 1,326 adults recruited from sequential admissions to 12 substance abuse treatment facilities in Chicago, IL, between 1996 and 1998.

The duration and correlates of addiction and treatment careers.

While addiction is increasingly recognized as a chronic condition, little information is available on the actual duration of addiction and treatment careers. The purpose of this study was to estimate the duration and correlates of years between (a) first use and at least a year of abstinence and (b) first treatment admission and at least one year of abstinence. Data are from 1,271 of 1,326 (96%) people recruited from a stratified sequential sample of admissions to publicly funded treatment programs in a large metropolitan area.

Gender differences in long-term drug treatment outcomes in Chicago PETS.

Few long-term follow-up studies of substance abusers have examined gender differences. In the current study, gender differences were examined at 36 months following residential or outpatient drug-free treatment among 951 participants in the Chicago Target Cities Project, the majority of whom were female (62%) and African American (93%). There were no differences in the proportion of men and women who reported any alcohol or drug use at the 36-month follow-up, with an overall reduction of 41% from intake.

Out of touch or on the money: Do the clinical objectives of addiction treatment coincide with economic evaluation results?

Previous economic studies have examined the association between substance abuse treatment and reduced costs to society, but it remains uncertain whether the economic measures used in cost and benefit-cost analyses of treatment programs correspond in direction and magnitude with clinical outcomes. In response to this uncertainty, the present study analyzed a longitudinal data set of addiction treatment clients to determine the statistical agreement between clinical and economic outcomes over time. Data were collected from 1,326 clients in the Chicago cohort of the Persistent Effects of Treatment Study.

Impact of centralized intake on drug and alcohol treatment placement decisions.

The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) and others have asserted that matching persons to an appropriate level of care will result in more positive and cost-effective treatment outcomes. The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, through its Target Cities demonstration project, proposed the implementation of centralized intake and the use of comprehensive standardized assessment procedures as mechanisms for improving the treatment process. As part of Chicago Target Cities, it was decided to implement ASAM criteria at the central intake units (CIU).

Impact of centralized intake on case management services.

The Chicago Target Cities demonstration project was designed to improve the effectiveness and accessibility of substance abuse treatment in large metropolitan areas. The primary interventions included centralized intake (CIU), comprehensive standardized assessment procedures, and management of a centralized wait list. A part of this project, the effectiveness of a case management model implemented through the CIU, was tested.

Studies in intuitive personology from an idiothetic point of view: Implications for personality theory.

Following Lamiell's (1981) critique of the individual differences approach to the scientific study of personality, questions have arisen concerning (a) the nature of the empirical research to which the "idiotheric" framework he proposed as an alternative has thus far led, and (b) the wider theoretical implications of that research. The present article seeks to address these questions within the medium of research on the nature of the reasoning process by which lay persons formulate and express subjective personality impressions. It is argued that the findings of this research offer strong empirical support for a conception of the intuitive personologist as a dialectician.