Course and outcome of drug abuse and medical and social conditions in selected young drug abusers

Benson, G.

doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.1985.tb05050.x

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Several persons in these categories probably belong to the group of drop-outs at the military medical examination. The profile of background data and socio-medical factors among individuals with drug careers of 2 10 years in the group of military conscripts was similar to that seen among males in the selected materials of young drug abusers in Gothenburg (2). The differences in background data between registered and unregistered highfrequency drug users indicate that registration reflects the degree of abuse.…”

Section: Comparisons With Other Studiessupporting

confidence: 59%

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Course and outcome of drug abuse in military conscripts

Benson

1985

Acta Psychiatr Scand

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The course and outcome of drug abuse was studied by following a representative sample of military conscripts from Gothenburg who participated in a questionnaire survey concerning drug habits in 1969/70 in connection with registration for military service. Those with abuse registered in medical or social welfare files had, with few exceptions (11%), admitted to use of drugs in the questionnaire. However, 55% of those who in the questionnaire indicated high-frequency drug use and 89% of those who indicated low-frequency drug use were not registered. A large proportion of drug abuse was thus hidden. It was estimated that 6% of the whole population were registered for drug abuse up to the time of the questionnaire survey, and another 1% after that. In some cases registered drug abuse started as early as 9 years of age. For the under-fifteens solvents were the commonest first drug and for the over-fifteens cannabis. Few initiated drug abuse after the age of 20. In 30% of the registered men, the duration of abuse was less than or equal to 2 years, in 50% 2-10 years and in 20% less than or equal to 10 years. Distributed over the entire population, the proportions were 2%, 3% and 1%, respectively. Among high-frequency drugs users, 45% of the registered abuse remained after 5 years and 20% after 9 years. Compared with the drug-free "normal group" registered drug abusers had more often indicated running away from home, repeated truancy, nervous complaints, and had more often received child and youth psychiatric care and been registered with the Social Welfare Administration at an early age. Those who had long drug careers had lower intelligence levels than the normal group.

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Section: Comparisons With Other Studiessupporting

confidence: 59%

“…Longitudinal studies of 15-year-old pupils and drug abusers known to health and social welfare authorities have been reported elsewhere (1,2). This work deals with the course and outcome in another unselected population: military conscripts in Gothenburg registering for service in 1969/70.…”

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confidence: 99%

Course and outcome of drug abuse in military conscripts

Benson

1985

Acta Psychiatr Scand

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“…Non‐controlled studies were included because so few controlled studies exist. Studies were excluded from the review only if the average age of the clients was <13 or >19 (i.e., Baer et al, 1992; Benson, 1985; Dejong & Henrich, 1980; Gorelick, Wilkins, & Wong, 1989; Holsten, 1980; Khuri et al, 1984; Langrod, Alksne, & Gomez, 1981; Nigam, Schottenfeld, & Kosten, 1992; Roffman et al, 1988; Wilkinson & LeBreton, 1986), or if the sample size was 20 or less (i.e., Bry & Krinsley, 1992; Duehn, 1978; Fredericksen, Jenkins, & Carr, 1976; Kaminer, 1992; Myers, Donahue, & Goldstein, 1994; Smith, 1983; Vik, Grizzle, & Brown, 1992).…”

Section: Inclusion Criteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

A comprehensive and comparative review of adolescent substance abuse treatment outcome.

Williams

Chang

2000

Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice

292

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There are relatively few studies on adolescent substance abuse treatment. The ones that exist tend to be methodologically weak. Methodologically stronger studies have usually found most adolescents receiving treatment to have significant reductions in substance use and problems in other life areas in the year following treatment. Average rate of sustained abstinence after treatment is 38% (range 30-55) at 6 months and 32% at 12 months (range 14-47). Variables most consistently related to successful outcome are treatment completion, low pre-treatment substance use, and peer/parent social support/nonuse of substances. There is evidence that treatment is superior to no treatment, but insufficient evidence to compare the effectiveness of treatment types. The exception to this is that outpatient family therapy appears superior to other forms of outpatient treatment. 3There have been several reviews and commentaries on the adolescent drug treatment literature (e.g., Brown, 1993; Brown, Mott and Myers 1990; Bukstein, 1994; Davidge and Forman, 1988; Dusenbury, Khuri and Millman, 1992;Kaminer, 1994;Spicer, 1991; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1995a; Winters, Latimer and Stinchfield, in press). The most thorough review has been that of Catalano, Hawkins, Wells, Miller and Brewer (1990/1991). In this review Catalano and his colleagues identified 16 treatment outcome studies and an additional 13 studies that examined factors affecting treatment progress or treatment outcome. Four of these studies were multi-site, multi-program evaluations (Friedman, Glickman and Morrissey, 1986; Drug Abuse Reporting Program (DARP) reported in Sells and Simpson, 1979; Treatment Outcome Prospective Study (TOPS) reported in Hubbard, Cavanaugh, Craddock and Rachal, 1985; and the Uniform Data Collection System (UDCS) reported in Rush, 1979). In their review of all of these studies, they concluded that treatment was likely better than no treatment, but there was no evidence that one treatment type was superior to another. Pre-treatment factors associated with outcome were race, seriousness of substance use, criminality, and educational status. During-treatment factors predictive of outcome were time in treatment for residential programs, involvement of family in treatment, experienced staff who used practical problem solving, and programs that provided comprehensive services (school, recreation, vocation, contraceptive). Posttreatment factors were believed to be the most important determinants of outcome. These included involvement in work and school, association with nonusing friends, and involvement in leisure activities.Unfortunately, Catalano et al. 's (1990/1991) review has several limitations. Catalano et al. (1990Catalano et al. ( /1991, as well as several other reviewers of the adolescent literature (e.g. Newcomb and Bentler, 1989), have pointed out that the small number of treatment outcome studies makes conclusions very tentative. For comparison purposes, in the adult literature, there have been over 1000 stud...

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“…For example, many researchers have attempted to identify predictors of problem behavior among adolescents who are at high-risk for future problem behavior (e.g., Benson, 1985;Dembo et al, 1991). These studies did not explain much of the variance in problem behavior.…”

Section: The Influence Of Irr On the Results Of High-risk Studiesmentioning

confidence: 97%

High-risk studies are influenced by indirect range restriction

Miller

1994

J Behav Med

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High-risk studies select subjects who are at high risk for existing or future disease. Therefore, the range of disease is restricted in high-risk studies. This paper shows that high-risk studies are vulnerable to a particular type of range restriction referred to as indirect range restriction. A simulation study is used to illustrate the effects of indirect range restriction on high-risk studies. The results suggest that indirect range restriction can have a substantial impact on the results of high-risk studies. In addition, a review of several areas of behavioral medicine research suggests that high-risk studies have produced many misleading findings. The range restriction approach can be used to estimate statistical power in high-risk studies, interpret the results of high-risk studies, and design future high-risk studies.

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Course and outcome of drug abuse and medical and social conditions in selected young drug abusers

Cited by 11 publications

References 18 publications

Course and outcome of drug abuse in military conscripts

Course and outcome of drug abuse in military conscripts

A comprehensive and comparative review of adolescent substance abuse treatment outcome.

High-risk studies are influenced by indirect range restriction

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