A national survey of outdoor behavioral healthcare programs that annually serve over 10,000 clients and their families found that over 80 percent of programs were licensed by state agencies. Private placements outnumbered adjudicated programs by nearly five to one, and less than 25 percent of client treatment costs were covered by insurance…

Used Hill Interaction Matrix to measure content and quality of interactions in 12-hour therapy group of 12 male drug addicts and 3 therapists. Categories of therapeutic work included conventional, assertive, speculative, and confrontive; categories of content included topic, group, personal, and relationship. Group was highly confrontive; most…

Explored drug overdose mortality and its economic consequences through examination of Texas mortality data from 1980-86. Compared crude mortality rates across 10 drug categories. Found drug overdose mortality costs had more than doubled over 6-year period. Found men had greater illicit drug overdose risk than women; women had greater prescribed…

Twice interviewed methadone maintenance patients in three cities using Addiction Severity Index. Of subjects followed, 35.4 percent reported having experienced recent psychological symptoms. Found no relation between length of time in treatment at first interview and psychiatric severity. Over one-year period, treatment that subjects received from…

Explored physical and emotional health status of 71 African-American grandmothers raising their grandchildren as result of crack cocaine involvement of children's parents. Comparison of self-assessed health ratings with qualitative responses revealed tendency for respondents to downplay their own health problems and symptoms. (Author/NB)

Reliability and validity of self-reported behavior within a deviant population are examined using data from 2 interviews with 323 narcotics addicts conducted 10 years apart (1974-75 and 1985-86). Results complement existing reliability and validity studies of alcohol use, and suggest that quality information can be obtained from heroin users. (SLD)

Interviewed 72 heroin-addicted female street prostitutes and assessed fear of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), AIDS risk reduction behavior, and prostitutes' recommendations for AIDS risk reduction programs. Self-reported data showed that, although subjects were afraid of AIDS, irrationality produced by addiction compelled risky…

Investigates whether personality tests can differentiate between alcohol and drug users among juvenile offenders. Subjects were 108 Icelandic juvenile offenders who had been given conditional discharge, who received the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) and Gough Socialisation Scale (GSS). Drug and alcohol users scored significantly lower…

This study determined whether long-term abstinence reinforcement could maintain cocaine abstinence throughout a yearlong period. Patients who injected drugs and used cocaine during methadone treatment (n = 78) were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 abstinence-reinforcement groups or to a usual care control group. Participants in the 2…

The influence of a family history of suicide on suicide attempt rate and characteristics in depression, schizophrenia, and opioid dependence was examined. One hundred sixty inpatients with unipolar depression, 160 inpatients with schizophrenia, and 160 opioid-dependent patients were interviewed. Overall, a family history of suicide was associated…

In New South Wales, Australia, a cost-effectiveness evaluation was conducted of an adult drug court (ADC) program as an alternative to jail for criminal offenders addicted to illicit drugs. This article describes the program, the cost-effectiveness analysis, and the results. The results of this study reveal that, for the 23-month period of the…

In this study, the authors examined the relation between adolescent and parent therapeutic alliances and treatment outcome among 65 substance-abusing adolescents receiving multidimensional family therapy. Observer ratings of parent alliance predicted premature termination from treatment. Observer ratings, but not self-report, of adolescent…

To evaluate buprenorphine training methodology, we surveyed physicians who had completed a combined online and in person buprenorphine curriculum. Of 53/70 (76%) survey respondents, 57% were psychiatrists and 40% generalists. On a scale of 1 (very poor) to 7 (superlative), the overall training rated a mean of 5.8. The online course (5.0) rated…

Abuse of alcohol or other substances by schizophrenic patients seriously undermines effective treatment. To document the extent of substance abuse among schizophrenic patients hospitalized in one Veterans Administration Hospital, medical records of 100 patients were reviewed. The results revealed that 54 patients had recent substance abuse, with…

This report is a description of the phenomenon of methadone diversion as it exists now and places it in the context of prior research in this area. The intent here is to clarify issues around methadone diversion and to provide guidance to treatment administrators and program planners regarding efforts they can initiate to monitor this significant…