The relationship of counseling and self-help participation to patient outcomes in DATOS

Using a sample of 927 cocaine patients enrolled in programs in three modali ties included in the national Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Studies (DATOS), this investigation examined the relationship of three dimensions of treatm ent process on after-treatment cocaine and heavy alcohol use and predatory illegal activity. Logistic regression revealed significant reductions in al l three outcomes and strong effects of treatment duration and after-treatme nt self-help, conditional on the modality. Results did not support the hypo thesized relationship between treatment outcomes and amounts of counseling and during-treatment self-help. Findings support the robustness of duration effects and after-treatment self-help and contribute to the measurement me thodology for calibrating treatment intensity. The strong after-treatment s elf-help effect in the two residential and inpatient modalities suggests th ese programs can improve treatment outcomes by making referral to after-tre atment self-help participation a standard practice and installing mechanism s to increase the likelihood of attendance at least twice weekly during the year after treatment. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science ireland Ltd. All rights re served.