Analyzing Drug Abuse Treatment
Briefly described below are our major current, planned, and recently completed studies.
Dimensions of Change
Now in its third phase, this study, supported by a five-year grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), promises to greatly enhance treatment effectiveness. Phoenix House researchers, working with our partners at the RAND Corporation, have identified eight critical aspects of behavior and attitude necessary for post-treatment success and developed an instrument that tracks these “dimensions of change” during the course of treatment. In the current phase, we are applying this knowledge and modifying the treatment process in various ways in order to discover how these changes will affect treatment outcome.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Phoenix House Programs: Secondary Analysis of Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) and Phoenix House Client Data
This self-funded project is examining the post-treatment outcomes of Phoenix House clients in New York State by merging admission data for New York programs in 2000 with pre- and post-treatment data on arrests, convictions, and other indicators of criminal activity in the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services database. The study will make possible more accurate estimates of the impact Phoenix House treatment has on reducing crime and drug related offenses.
Effectiveness of Community-Based Treatment for Substance Abusing Adolescents: 12-month Outcomes from a Case-Control Evaluation of a Phoenix Academy
Because so little is known about the effectiveness of the substance abuse treatment for youth, the RAND Corporation secured a NIDA grant to compare outcome for adolescent probationers treated at the Phoenix Academy of Los Angeles with outcome for similar adolescent who received an alternative probation disposition. The RAND research team headed by Andrew R. Morral, Ph.D., found Phoenix Academy treatment associated with greater reductions in subsequent drug use, drug use problems, and psychological distress. According to Dr. Morral, the study, published in September 2004, “is the first clear evidence that the kinds of substance abuse treatments commonly available to teens can be effective.” And he noted, “In the program we studied, improvement began immediately and continued for at least 12 months.”
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