title: Retention in substance abuse treatment. Role of psychiatric symptom severity.
abstract: The authors investigated the association between psychiatric symptom severity and subsequent treatment retention among substance abusers. The Symptom Check List-90-R was administered, after admission to an addiction treatment facility, to 308 male and 106 female clients with moderate-to-severe substance abuse problems. Mean scores on nine symptom and three summary scales were computed. Controlling for other sociodemographic and treatment variables, somatization was significantly associated with dropout from specialized outpatient and inpatient treatment programs. This study, however, suggests that psychopathologic symptom severity at admission has only limited utility in predicting subsequent treatment retention among substance abusers with overall moderate levels of psychological distress.
authors.affiliation: Clinical, Social and Evaluation Research Department, Addiction Research Foundation, Toronto, Ontario.
authors.forename: H E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cutler
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Sklar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D001521:Behavior Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010343:Patient Admission; D010352:Patient Dropouts / Q000523:psychology*; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011599:Psychopathology; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs