The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #54346

Alexandre B Laudet, PhD, National Development and Research Institutes, Inc., 71West 23rd Street, 8th floor, New York City, NY 10010, 212-845-4520, laudet@ndri.org and William L. White, MA, Chestnut Health Systems, 720 West Chestnut Street, Bloomington, IL 61701.

The bulk of current knowledge about recovery from drug addiction comes from follow-up interviews of participants in treatment evaluation studies and typically bears on relatively short periods; little is known about how recovery proceeds after that. Further, few studies have sought to examine the large number of individuals who may stop using drugs without formal treatment services As a result, current knowledge about factors associated with successful recovery is limited in time and in scope. First, this presentation addresses the need for longitudinal investigations of recovery over time: e.g., factors associated with achieving and maintaining abstinence may differ, and triggers to relapse may change over time; elucidating such questions can inform relapse prevention efforts and enhance the likelihood of stable resolution of addictions. Second, challenges such research poses to investigators are discussed and feasible strategies to conduct long-term studies of addiction recovery; e.g., recruiting cannot be limited to treatment venues but must cast a wide net to obtain samples representing all paths to recovery and addiction histories. Third, preliminary data and lessons learned from an ongoing study in NYC will be presented. The study is recruiting 300 abstinent former drug users stratified by length of abstinence at recruitment to determine whether psychosocial predictors of short-term abstinence (e.g., social support, motivation, coping style) can be generalized to long-term abstinence and to investigate the role of affiliation with 12-step groups in the process of recovery over time. Clinical implications and research strategies will be discussed. Funded by NIDA Grant R01 DA14409.

Learning Objectives:

• At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to:
• 1.Recognize the need to broaden the scope of research on processes of addiction recovery in time and in types of participants
• 2.Understand how recovery research differ from treatment evaluation studies
• 3.Develop and implement strategies to recruit and retain study participants who are representative of diverse paths out of addiction
• 4.Describe how factors associated with achieving abstinence differ from those implicated in stable recovery from addiction.

Keywords: Drug Addiction, Recovery

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.