Evaluating moderators of beneficial effects of severity-based assignment to substance use treatments in impaired drivers.

Remedial programs for impaired driving offenders have proved valuable in reducing subsequent alcohol and other drug use and preventing recidivism in this population. Many of these programs are based on a severity-based assignment scheme, where individuals assessed to have greater problems or be at higher risk are assigned to longer, more intensive interventions. Recent research, using regression discontinuity analyses, provided support for severity-based assignment schemes in demonstrating that those with higher problem or risk levels assigned to longer and more intensive programming showed a significant reduction in drinking days over a follow-up interval, attributable to program assignment.

Multiple "Lower BAC" offenders: Characteristics and response to remedial interventions.

Background: In recent years, there has been increasing attention to "lower BAC" drinking drivers, typically those whose blood alcohol content (BAC) is under the legal limits defined in criminal law. In 2009, legislation was enacted in Ontario, Canada that enabled police to issue roadside license suspensions to individuals caught driving with BAC between 0.05% and 0.

Characteristics and predictors of recidivist drink-drivers.

Objective: The current study compared characteristics of nonrecidivist versus recidivist drink-drivers and of recidivists in their first versus second appearance at Back on Track (BOT), the remedial measures program for impaired drivers in Ontario, Canada.

Methods: Information from 59,134 convicted drivers who participated in BOT between 2000 and 2010 was examined to identify drivers who completed the program a second time following reconviction.

Results: A total of 586 recidivists were identified.

Evidence from regression-discontinuity analyses for beneficial effects of a criterion-based increase in alcohol treatment.

Brief interventions effectively reduce alcohol problems; however, it is controversial whether longer interventions result in greater improvement. This study aims to determine whether an increase in treatment for people with more severe problems resulted in better outcome. We employed regression-discontinuity analyses to determine if drinking driver clients (n = 22,277) in Ontario benefited when they were assigned to a longer treatment program (8-hour versus 16-hour) based on assessed addiction severity criteria.

Examining factors in the Research Institute on Addictions Self-Inventory (RIASI): Associations with alcohol use and problems at assessment and follow-up.

Impaired driving is a leading cause of alcohol-related deaths and injuries. Rehabilitation or remedial programs, involving assessment and screening of convicted impaired drivers to determine problem severity and appropriate programs, are an important component of society's response to this problem. Ontario's remedial program, Back on Track (BOT), involves an assessment process that includes administration of the Research Institute on Addictions Self-Inventory (RIASI) to determine assignment to an education or treatment program.

Alcohol consumption, alcoholics anonymous membership, and homicide mortality rates in Ontario 1968 to 1991.

Background: Research has shown a strong link between alcohol use and a variety of problems, including violence. Parker and colleagues have presented a selective disinhibition theory for the link between alcohol use and homicide (and other violence) that posits a causal relationship that is also influenced by other situational and contextual factors. This model is particularly well suited for aggregate-level investigations.

Drinking-driving fatalities and consumption of beer, wine and spirits.

Drinking-driving is a leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality in Canada. The purpose of this paper was to examine factors that influenced drinking driver deaths in Ontario. We examined the impact of per capita consumption of total alcohol, and of beer, wine and spirits separately, on drinking-driving deaths in Ontario from 1962 to 1996, as well as the impact of the introduction of Canada's per se law and the founding of People to Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere - Mothers Against Drunk Driving (PRIDE - MADD) Canada.

Predictive validity of the RIASI: alcohol and drug use and problems six months following remedial program participation.

The ability of screening instruments for convicted drinking drivers to predict subsequent alcohol and drug-related problems rarely has been studied. The predictive validity of the Research Institute on Addictions Self-Inventory (RIASI) was investigated in a sample of 6,003 convicted drinking drivers who were participating in Back on Track (BOT), Ontario's remedial measures program for convicted drinking drivers. All BOT participants complete an assessment (which includes the RIASI), followed by a brief education or treatment program, and concluded 6 months later by a follow-up interview.

Cirrhosis mortality in Ontario: effects of alcohol consumption and Alcoholics Anonymous participation.

Aims: We test the hypotheses that cirrhosis mortality rates are positively associated with per capita alcohol consumption and negatively associated with Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) membership rates.

Design: The impact of alcohol consumption levels and AA membership rates on cirrhosis mortality rates in Ontario from 1968 to 1989 were examined. Time-series analyses with ARIMA modelling were applied to male and female cirrhosis mortality rates in three age groups: 15-44, 45-64 and 65 + years.

The criminalization of impaired driving in Canada: assessing the deterrent impact of Canada's first per se law.

Objective: The goal of this article is to assess the effectiveness of Canada's first per se law criminalizing driving with a blood alcohol concentration of over 0.08%, the Breathalyser Law introduced in 1969, in reducing drinking-driver-related fatalities. We also examine the long-term deterrent effect of this law on driver fatality rates.