Substance abuse treatment for mothers: treatment outcomes and the impact of length of stay.

This article examines the treatment outcomes of 305 women enrolled in a comprehensive, residential substance abuse treatment program for pregnant and parenting women and their children. The women were assessed at intake and three times in the year after discharge. Analyses focused on change in client functioning over time, and investigating the impact of length of stay in treatment on client outcomes. Comparisons of clients' functioning before and after treatment suggest significant improvements in a number of domains, including substance use, employment, legal involvement, mental health, parenting attitudes, and risky behaviors. For most outcome domains, results suggest that longer treatment stays are associated with more positive outcomes.

Voucher-based incentives for cigarette smoking reduction in a women's residential treatment program.

Participants were women (N = 16) living with their children in a residential substance abuse treatment facility. In this within-subjects repeated measures study, a 1-week baseline was followed by a 4-week intervention and a 2-week follow-up (same as the baseline). The intervention consisted of exposure to an educational video and a smoking cessation workbook, brief individual support meetings, and an escalating schedule of voucher-based reinforcement of abstinence. Throughout the study, three daily breath samples (8 a.m., noon, and 4 p.m.) were collected Monday through Friday to determine carbon monoxide (CO) concentration. In addition, urine cotinine (COT) was assessed on Monday mornings to monitor weekend tobacco use. Participants received vouchers of escalating value for CO-negative breath and COT-negative urine samples. Positive samples reset the voucher value. Significantly more negative tests were submitted during the intervention than during baseline and follow-up. The intensive behavioral intervention evaluated in this study produced a substantial reduction in cigarette smoking, and 25% of participants remained abstinent 2 weeks after the intervention was suspended. Nevertheless, the percentage of CO-negative samples submitted during the follow-up returned to baseline levels. While retaining many real-world characteristics, residential treatment facilities provide important opportunities for smoking cessation treatment and research.