Is Treatment Readiness Associated With Substance Use Treatment Engagement? An Exploratory Study.

With nearly 8.2% of Americans experiencing substance use disorders (SUDs), a need exists for effective SUD treatment and for strategies to assist treatment participants to complete treatment programs (Chandler, Fletcher, & Volkow, 2009). The purpose of the current research is to contribute to an emerging knowledge base about treatment readiness and its utility for predicting substance use treatment process performance measures. The study examines the relative salience of treatment readiness as a predictor of treatment engagement. Data are derived from adult cases included in the 2012 Global Appraisal of Individual Needs-Intake data set ( n = 5,443). Binary logistic regression was used to identify if treatment readiness predicts substance use treatment engagement. The findings of this study do not provide support for treatment readiness significantly predicting substance use treatment engagement. Further research is needed to better understand treatment engagement.

Does substance misuse moderate the relationship between criminal thinking and recidivism?

PURPOSE: Some differential intervention frameworks contend that substance use is less robustly related to recidivism outcomes than other criminogenic needs such as criminal thinking. The current study tested the hypothesis that substance use disorder severity moderates the relationship between criminal thinking and recidivism. METHODS: The study utilized two independent criminal justice samples. Study 1 included 226 drug-involved probationers. Study 2 included 337 jail inmates with varying levels of substance use disorder severity. Logistic regression was employed to test the main and interactive effects of criminal thinking and substance use on multiple dichotomous indicators of recidivism. RESULTS: Bivariate analyses revealed a significant correlation between criminal thinking and recidivism in the jail sample (r = .18, p < .05) but no significant relationship in the probation sample. Logistic regressions revealed that SUD symptoms moderated the relationship between criminal thinking and recidivism in the jail-based sample (B = -.58, p < .05). A significant moderation effect was not observed in the probation sample. CONCLUSIONS: Study findings indicate that substance use disorder symptoms moderate the strength of the association between criminal thinking and recidivism. These findings demonstrate the need for further research into the interaction between various dynamic risk factors.

Short-term trajectories of substance use in a sample of drug-involved probationers.

The current study estimates trajectories of illegal substance use in a sample of 251 drug-involved probationers to identify risk profiles that predict group membership and explores the impact of treatment participation across these trajectories. Trajectory analyses reveal five patterns of drug use during probation supervision. Age and the use of hard drugs are identified as the strongest predictors of involvement in illicit drug use while on probation. The effect of participation in substance use treatment varies across treatment settings and trajectory groups. Prior research has tended to treat drug abusers as a homogeneous population, but the current study findings suggest considerable heterogeneity amongst drug users involved in the criminal justice system. Identifying trajectories of drug use during supervision can help identify individuals who may be more likely to persist in drug use, can inform practice by identifying individuals in need of more intensive treatment services, and can assist in developing new drug treatment strategies.

A reanalysis of the self-appraisal questionnaire: psychometric properties and predictive validity.

This research reassessed the psychometric properties and predictive validity of the Self-Appraisal Questionnaire (SAQ) in response to published criticism of the authors' earlier work. The current research used a much longer recidivism tracking-period, a different measure of recidivism, a larger sample, and more advanced analytic techniques than the original. Examination of the SAQ's psychometric properties continued to indicate that three of the six recidivism prediction subscales exhibited substandard levels of reliability and four of these subscales were not unidimensional. Yet, in contrast to the author's earlier results, the current analyses found that SAQ total score modestly predicted reconviction.

Co-occurring disorders in treatment-based courts: results of a national survey.

Drug courts and mental health courts have expanded rapidly in the past several decades to provide more efficient coordination of treatment and supervision of offenders with behavioral health problems. A significant number of offenders in these court-based programs have co-occurring mental and substance use disorders, which predict early termination, relapse, rearrest, and other negative outcomes. A web-based national survey examined programmatic adaptations for co-occurring disorders (CODs) among 54 drug courts, mental health courts, and freestanding COD dockets. COD dockets were smaller and of longer duration, and provided more intensive services than programs situated in drug courts or in mental health courts. However, more similarities than differences were noted across the different types of court-based program. Key adaptations for CODs included extended program duration, highly intensive and integrated treatment, smaller, less formal, and more frequent hearings, and use of specialized supervision teams and dually credentialed staff.