Length of stay and program component effects in the treatment of alcoholism: A comparison of two techniques for process analyses.

Abstract

The effects of length of treatment and specific treatment components (therapy sessions, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and films and lectures on alcoholism) of three residential alcoholism programs were examined. Two statistical techniques, partial correlation and treatment-effect correlation, were compared for their estimates of treatment effects after controlling for patient background characteristics and functioning at intake. Longer periods of treatment were associated with better outcome for residents of a halfway house but not for patients at a milieu-oriented program or a Salvation Army center. Some evidence suggested that the three program components tended to have moderately beneficial effects on outcome, although the results varied in some cases, depending on whether partial or treatment-effect correlation was used in the analysis. The substantive and methodological implications of the findings are considered.

Depression Change Profiles in Adolescents Treated for Comorbid Depression/Substance Abuse and Profile Membership Predictors

“…Moos and colleagues report internal consistency of subscales ranging from .61-.78, with test-retest reliabilities from .68-.86 at 2 months. The scale effectively distinguishes normal from disturbed families, including alcohol-abusing families (Finney, Moos, & Chan, 1981). The Conflict and Cohesion subscales were used to assess adolescent current perceptions of relationship functioning, measured with 9 statements about families for each, which were rated as true/mostly true or false/mostly false for their family.…”

Length of stay, neuropsychological performance, and aftercare: Influences on alcohol-treatment outcome.

“…Among treatment variables, attention has been focused on the relative efficacy of longer and more expensive inpatient treatment programs due to increasing emphasis on cost-effectiveness. Finney, Moos, and Chan (1981) reviewed the literature on length of stay as it relates to treatment outcome and found in-consistent results. In nonexperimental studies, longer inpatient stay was associated with (a) more positive outcome, (b) better initial outcome not maintained at follow-up, (c) no better outcome, and (d) poorer outcome.…”

“…In nonexperimental studies, longer inpatient stay was associated with (a) more positive outcome, (b) better initial outcome not maintained at follow-up, (c) no better outcome, and (d) poorer outcome. Using analytic methods that statistically controlled for patient background characteristics and psychosocial functioning at intake, Finney et al (1981) found that longer periods of treatment were moderately associated with better outcomes for residents of a halfway house but not for patients at a milieu-oriented program or a Salvation Army center. Another recent correlational study (Welte, Hynes, Sokolow, & Lyons, 1981) also statistically controlled for relevant patient and program variables and found that at 8-month follow-up the abstinence rate was significantly higher among patients who remained in inpatient treatment longer than 60 days.…”

Comparing Inmate Perceptions of Two Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Programs

“…Therapeutic communities have been used to treat a myriad of social and psychological disorders of clients, including substance abuse (Farabee, Prendergast, & Anglin, 1998;Finney, Moos, & Chan, 1981;Hartmann, Wolk, Johnston, & Colyer, 1997;McMurran, Egan, & Ahmadi, 1998). They involve the use of a combination of intensive and secluded social and psychological therapy that is designed to alter clients' attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.…”