Using data from 1,162 people entering treatment and followed up (greater than 94%) for 8 years, this article examines the relationship between the duration of abstinence (1 month to 5 or more years) and other aspects of recovery (e.g., health, mental health, coping responses, legal involvement, vocational involvement, housing, peers, social and…

Whether methadone maintenance treatment demonstrates cumulative (rehabilitative) or stabilizing effects on behavior of narcotics addicts over multiple treatment episodes was studied involving 993 addicts in a quasi-experimental design. Observed behavioral changes and longitudinal self-reports indicate stabilizing, but not cumulative, effects. (SLD)