Relationships Between Treatment Components, Client-Level Factors, and Positive Treatment Outcomes

How different amounts and components of treatment affect substance abuse treatment outcomes is fundamentally important to evaluating current treatment practices and recommending improvements. Through a secondary analysis of data from the National Treatment Improvement Evaluation Study (NTIES), the present study examined the relationships between treatment components, client-level factors, and positive treatment outcomes. Several components were shown to have significant effects on the odds of a positive outcome, over and above the effects of client background characteristics. Depending on treatment modality, these included length of stay; whether or not clients reported seeing their treatment plan hours per month in group and individual counseling; utilization of educational, vocational, and other ancillary services; use of anti-anxiety and drug and alcohol medications; and client matching. Several interactions between client-level factors and treatment components were also observed. Study limitations are discussed, followed by implications for policy and practice and suggestions for further research