Treatment outcomes for female offenders: relationship to number of Axis I diagnoses.
This article describes a study that examined the relationship between multiple Axis I mental health diagnoses and treatment outcomes for female offenders in prison substance abuse treatment programs. Preliminary findings of the effectiveness of therapeutic community (TC) treatment, modified for female offenders, relative to a control cognitive behavioral treatment condition, are presented. The hypothesis--that participants who fit into multiple diagnostic categories have more dysfunctional symptoms and behaviors at baseline--was confirmed; however, a hypothesized relationship between the number of Axis I diagnoses and 6 month treatment outcomes across five domains (mental health, trauma exposure, substance use, HIV needle risk behaviors, and HIV sexual risk) was not supported. Across all Axis I mental health groups, TC treatment was significantly more effective than the control condition overall, as well as on measures of mental health symptoms and HIV sexual risk. These findings suggest that this TC treatment program, as modified, is an effective model for women with varied diagnoses and diagnostic complexities.
Sacks
Joann Y
JY
Center for the Integration of Research and Practice, National Development and Research Institutes, Inc, New York, NY 10010, USA. joannsacks@ndri.org3
McKendrick
Karen
K
Hamilton
Zachary
Z
Cleland
Charles M
CM
Pearson
Frank S
FS
Banks
Steven
S
D000328:Adult; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D003415:Crime / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011330:Prisons / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012309:Risk-Taking; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology*