Perinatal substance abusers: Factors influencing treatment retention

Haller, Deborah L.; Knisely, Janet S.; Elswick, Ronald K.; Dawson, Kathryn S.; Schnoll, Sidney H.

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Volume 14, Issue 6 , Pages 513-519, November 1997

Perinatal substance abusers: Factors influencing treatment retention☆

Deborah L. Haller, PhD
- Requests for reprints should be addressed to Deborah L. Haller, PhD, Medical College of Virginia Hospitals, 1200 E. Broad St. — Box 980109, Richmond, VA 23298-0109.
- Division of Substance Abuse Medicine, Medical College of Virginia Hospitals, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23298-0109 USA
- We wish to acknowledge the technical support of Diane Green, Sarah Burns and Beth Lowry. Our thanks also to Regina Hill for preparation of the manuscript.
Janet S. Knisely, PhD
- Division of Substance Abuse Medicine, Medical College of Virginia Hospitals, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23298-0109 USA
- We wish to acknowledge the technical support of Diane Green, Sarah Burns and Beth Lowry. Our thanks also to Regina Hill for preparation of the manuscript.
Ronald K. Elswick Jr., PhD
- Department of Biostatistics, Medical College of Virginia Hospitals, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23298-0109 USA
- We wish to acknowledge the technical support of Diane Green, Sarah Burns and Beth Lowry. Our thanks also to Regina Hill for preparation of the manuscript.
Kathryn S. Dawson, PhD
- Department of Biostatistics, Medical College of Virginia Hospitals, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23298-0109 USA
- We wish to acknowledge the technical support of Diane Green, Sarah Burns and Beth Lowry. Our thanks also to Regina Hill for preparation of the manuscript.
Sidney H. Schnoll, MD, PhD
- Division of Substance Abuse Medicine, Medical College of Virginia Hospitals, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23298-0109 USA
- We wish to acknowledge the technical support of Diane Green, Sarah Burns and Beth Lowry. Our thanks also to Regina Hill for preparation of the manuscript.

Received 7 November 1995; received in revised form 3 February 1997; accepted 31 March 1997.

Abstract

This study investigated the association between two demographic and two psychological variables and treatment retention for 65 perinatal substance abusers. Subjects who lived in the community while attending day treatment were 6.125 times more likely to drop out than subjects who lived in a program-operated shelter (p <.0001). An interaction was found for pregnancy status and antisocial personality disorder (p < .0478). Subjects who were both pregnant and antisocial were 4.876 times more likely to remain in treatment than those who were neither pregnant nor antisocial. Degree of “treatment resistance,” measured by the MMPI Negative Treatment Indicators (TRT) Scale, did not predict dropout. These findings indicate that supportive housing can play an important role in preventing dropout for perinatal substance abusers. Additionally, pregnancy may present a “window” of opportunity for treating a hard to reach population, drug abusing women with comorbid ASP.

Keywords: perinatal, pregnancy, women, retention, dropout, antisocial personality

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