| Alcohol and illicit drug abuse continues to be a significant problem in the United States. Although access to treatment remains a hurdle for many who struggle with addiction, the extent to which treatment (once available) is effective in promoting recovery and preventing relapse remains unclear. Thus, the present study examined the relationship between clinical risk factors for substance abuse and their effects on treatment outcomes. Data was obtained from the Comprehensive Addiction Treatment Outcome Registry (CATOR; N=13,051), which was designed to provide substance abuse treatment programs with uniform forms that cover intake information and discharge, as well as treatment outcomes for 12 months post-treatment. From the original CATOR sample, predictors of treatment outcomes (i.e., relapse) at follow-up were examined in a total of 10,405 participants with complete data. Results suggested several variables to be significant indicators of relapse, including needle use, age of first drink, using multiple substances, depression, multiple substance diagnoses, the Big 5 cocaine items (craving, failing to fulfill responsibilities, withdrawal symptoms, giving up pleasant activities to use substances, and inability to reduce or stop substance use), history of substance abuse and past psychiatric history, as well as all of the behavioral risk items (meeting conduct disorder criteria as an adolescent, being arrested within the past year, and being arrested for a DUI/DWI). Secondary multivariate analyses, specifically a series of logistic regressions, were used to determine if demographic factors were significant in the context of the clinical risk items. Results suggested that age, race, employment status and marital status remained significant and these variables were included as control variables. Third, it was determined that the significant clinical risk variables listed above, as well as the four demographic control variables, would be used to construct a global assessment tool measuring clinical risk factors of relapse for the purpose of identifying high risk clients. |
