Individual and Social Factors Associated With Participation in Treatment Programs for Drug Users

Abstract

Since only about one third of people who are dependent on drugs are in treatment, there is a need to promote both treatment entry and retention. Previous research has described the role of individual and social characteristics in drug treatment participation, but little is known about the interaction of individual and social factors. Injecting and non-injecting drug users (2002-2004; N=581) were recruited in Baltimore, MD (SHIELD Study) and were administered a structured questionnaire. The mean age of participants was 43.6 years, 41% were female, 50% had high school education, and 16% self-reported being HIV infected. Logistic regression analyses of interaction terms revealed that compared to those with no plans to stop and no friends encouraging them to enter treatment those who planned to cease drug use or whose friends encouraged treatment were more likely to attend a 12-step program. Furthermore, compared to those with no problems with drug use and no friends encouraging them to enter treatment those with greater perceived drug problem severity or with friends encouraging treatment were more likely to attend methadone maintenance, as were those who did not receive free drugs from others. The influence of friends may have a crucial modifying effect by getting into treatment less addicted individuals who have higher chances of successful recovery.

“He Was the Story of My Drug Use Life”: A Longitudinal Qualitative Study of the Impact of Partner Incarceration on Substance Misuse Patterns Among African American Women

“…Also consistent with past research, formal and informal support emerged as powerful determinants of trajectories of substance misuse (Gyarmathy & Latkin, 2008;Kelly, Hoeppner, Stout, & Pagano, 2012;Lewandowski & Hill, 2009;Tucker et al, 2005). Early access to formal and informal support seemed to protect T2 women from a spike in substance misuse during the weeks following the incarceration, and connecting with support over time was integral to the process of de-escalating misuse among T1 women.…”

Factors related to psychosocial barriers to drug treatment among Chinese drug users

“…Beyond demographics, we must also consider how individual factors such as personal drug use and history of prior drug treatment shape barriers perceived by drug users. Research has shown that the extent of drug use was positively associated with treatment entry (Chitwood & Morningstar, 1985; Gyarmathy & Latkin, 2008). Studies have also demonstrated that prior history of drug treatment was positively associated with future entry into treatment (Davey et al, 2007; Schutz et al, 1994; Siegal et al, 2002).…”

A Multiple Indicators Multiple Causes (MIMIC) model of internal barriers to drug treatment in China

“…On the basis of the Allen Barriers to Treatment Inventory (Allen, 1994), as well as other barrier lists (Grant, 1997;Rapp et al, 2006;Tucker et al, 2004), Rapp et al (2006) developed the Barriers to Treatment Inventory (BTI) to assess both the internal and external BDATs, and demonstrated the presence of four dimensions of internal barriers (i.e., absence of problem, negative social support, fear of treatment, and privacy concerns), as well as three dimensions of external barriers (i.e., time conflict, poor treatment availability, and admission difficulty). Further studies gave evidence that both demographic factors, such as gender, age, education, ethnicity, employment and marital status (Greenfield et al, 2007;Lundgren et al, 2001;Siegal et al, 2002), and drug abuse status, such as primary drugs use, drug treatment experience and duration of primary drug use (Davey et al, 2007;Gyarmathy and Latkin, 2008;Siegal et al, 2002), are closely associated with entry to treatment. Yet, those findings have not fully clarified how individual characteristics influence barriers to drug treatment.…”