AI Article Synopsis
- The study examined how abstinence-contingent wage supplements help unemployed adults in opioid agonist treatment improve drug abstinence and employment compared to usual care methods.
- Participants in the wage supplement group showed better outcomes during the intervention phase, providing more negative urine samples for drugs and achieving higher employment rates.
- However, after the intervention ended, both groups exhibited similar rates of drug use and employment, suggesting that the benefits of wage supplements may not be long-lasting once the financial incentives are removed.
Article Abstract
Background: Substance use disorder, unemployment, and poverty are interrelated problems that have not been addressed adequately by existing interventions. This study evaluated post-intervention effects of abstinence-contingent wage supplements on drug abstinence and employment.
Methods: Unemployed adults enrolled in opioid agonist treatment were randomly assigned to an abstinence-contingent wage supplement group (n = 44) or a usual care control group (n = 47). All participants could work with an employment specialist throughout a 12-month intervention period. Those in the abstinence-contingent wage supplement group earned stipends for working with the employment specialist and, after gaining employment, abstinence-contingent wage supplements for working in their community job but had to provide opiate- and cocaine-negative urine samples to maximize pay. To assess post-intervention effects of abstinence-contingent wage supplements and compare those effects to during-intervention effects, we analyzed urine samples and self-reports every 3 months during the 12-month intervention and the 12-month post-intervention period.
Results: During the intervention, abstinence-contingent wage supplement participants provided significantly more opiate- and cocaine-negative urine samples than usual care control participants; abstinence-contingent wage supplement participants were also significantly more likely to become employed and live out of poverty than usual care participants during intervention. During the post-intervention period, the abstinence-contingent wage supplement and usual care control groups had similar rates of drug abstinence, similar levels of employment, and similar proportions living out of poverty.
Conclusions: Long-term delivery of abstinence-contingent wage supplements can promote drug abstinence and employment, but many patients relapse to drug use and cease employment when wage supplements are discontinued.
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|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8885832 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2022.109322 | DOI Listing |
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Article Synopsis
- The study examined how abstinence-contingent wage supplements help unemployed adults in opioid agonist treatment improve drug abstinence and employment compared to usual care methods.
- Participants in the wage supplement group showed better outcomes during the intervention phase, providing more negative urine samples for drugs and achieving higher employment rates.
- However, after the intervention ended, both groups exhibited similar rates of drug use and employment, suggesting that the benefits of wage supplements may not be long-lasting once the financial incentives are removed.
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