The Relationship Between Substance Abuse Performance Measures and Mutual-Help Group Participation after Treatment

Abstract

The authors examined the relationship between treatment quality, using during-treatment process measures, and mutual-help group (e.g., Alcoholics Anonymous) attendance after outpatient substance use disorder (SUD) treatment for 739 clients in the Alcohol and Drug Services Study. Logistic regression models estimated any and regular mutual-help attendance after treatment. Clients referred to mutual-help groups were significantly more likely to attend any mutual help after treatment. Results were mixed for facility offered mutual-help groups; treatment engagement and retention were not significant. These findings offer treatment providers further evidence of the importance of referring clients to post-treatment mutual-help groups, an effective, low-cost option.

KEYWORDS:

• Self-help
• mutual-help
• performance measures
• substance abuse
• treatment

Notes

This research was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse through the Brandeis/Harvard Research Center on Managed Care and Drug Abuse Treatment (grant #P50 DA010233-09).

*p < 0.05

**p < 0.01

***p < 0.001.

^aRegular attendees after treatment are a subset of the any mutual-help group attendance after treatment group.

*p < 0.05

**p < 0.01

***p < 0.001.

^aExcludes mutual-help groups.

*p < 0.05

**p < 0.01

***p < 0.001

****p < 0.0001.

^aRegular mutual-help group attendance in year before admission in models 3 and 4.

^bIn models 1 and 3, treatment in a facility that offered mutual-help groups was significant at the p < .10 level.

*p < 0.05

**p < 0.01

***p < 0.001

****p < 0.0001.

^aModel did not converge.

^bSignificant at the p < 0.10 level.