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

Hypothesized that 245 alcohol-abusing male veterans, grouped according to levels of neuropsychological functioning, would have differential outcome following random assignment to 2- or 7-wk hospitalization in a milieu-oriented treatment program. Over the 9 mo of posthospitalization follow-up, there...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of consulting and clinical psychology 1983-12, Vol.51 (6), p.900-911
Main Authors: Walker, R. Dale, Donovan, Dennis M, Kivlahan, Daniel R, O'Leary, Michael R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aftercare
Alcohol Treatment
Alcoholism
Alcoholism - therapy
Biological and medical sciences
Hospitalization
Human
Humans
Length of Stay
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Milieu Therapy
Neuropsychological Assessment
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Reeducation. Readaptation. Sociotherapy
Treatment Outcomes
Treatments
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Summary:Hypothesized that 245 alcohol-abusing male veterans, grouped according to levels of neuropsychological functioning, would have differential outcome following random assignment to 2- or 7-wk hospitalization in a milieu-oriented treatment program. Over the 9 mo of posthospitalization follow-up, there was significant improvement for the sample as a whole. However, outcome following 2- and 7-wk programs did not differ significantly. Neuropsychological performance was significantly but modestly related to some outcome criteria (e.g., abstinence rates and employment status), but no consistent interaction with length of stay was found. The most salient finding was the strong relationship of aftercare involvement (which was analyzed as a covariate) to most outcome criteria. Ss who attended weekly aftercare groups for 9 mo following hospitalization were 3 times more likely to remain abstinent than Ss who dropped out of aftercare (70.2 vs 23.4% abstinence, respectively). Implications for individualizing alcohol treatment and conducting future research on patient-treatment matching are discussed. (59 ref)
ISSN:0022-006X
1939-2117
DOI:10.1037/0022-006X.51.6.900