ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS OF STAFF WORKING IN METHADONE-MAINTENANCE CLINICS

Two attitudinal scales measuring commitment to abstinence-oriented tre atment policies and disapproval of illicit drug use were derived from a survey of 90 staff working in 10 public methadone maintenance clinic s in Sydney, Australia. The two scales were shown to be valid construc ts by confirmatory factor analysis and to be internally reliable and t o have high test-retest reliability. The factors underlying the two sc ales were highly correlated (r = .77), indicating support for policies that enforce abstinence and limit the duration of maintenance is high ly associated with personal disapproval of drug use. There was no sign ificant correlation between staff's knowledge of the benefits of metha done maintenance and their support for abstinence-oriented policies.