EFFECT OF RANDOM VERSUS NONRANDOM ASSIGNMENT IN A COMPARISON OF INPATIENT AND DAY HOSPITAL REHABILITATION FOR MALE ALCOHOLICS

Alcoholic patients randomly assigned to day hospital or inpatient reha bilitation were compared with patients who self-selected these treatme nt settings to examine differences in substance use and psychosocial o utcomes under experimental and nonexperimental designs. Patients who s elf-selected treatment did not have better outcomes than those who wer e randomly assigned, and there were no significant differences between day hospital patients and inpatients on any of the 11 outcome measure s. Significant interactions between treatment setting and assignment w ere found with only 2 outcome measures. Therefore, the comparisons bet ween day hospital and inpatient treatment yielded similar outcomes und er both ''scientific'' conditions and the conditions that more closely approximate the experiences of most patients. Implications for the us e nonrandomized participants in alcoholism treatment research and limi tations of the study were also discussed.