A recent study conducted by a group at the University of Maryland found that court-mandated addiction treatment is especially helpful for those with Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD).
Using 236 men, it was found the overall success for participants without ASPD was high (85%) whether the treatment was court mandated or not. However, for those with ASPD, a whopping 94% remained in court-mandated treatment, though only 63% stayed in voluntary programs!
ASPD is relatively rare in the general population, but it’s estimated that its prevalence is relatively high (some estimate the prevalence as high as 50%) among addicts in drug treatment programs. I personally doubt that ASPD prevalence is that high even among treated addicts but it is certainly higher.
The Maryland team’s findings have two important implications for substance abusers with ASPD that should be noted:
- Judicial mandates offer a way to keep them in addiction treatment programs.
- Voluntary participants may require special interventions to keep them actively engaged in therapy.
Recently, a colleague shared with me some great insight about research into the effectiveness of mandated treatment: Mandated treatment can be effective if implemented well, which may sound simple but isn’t within a system that is used to putting down prisoners and not building them up. However, without aftercare, even the best mandated treatment loses its impact quickly. When it comes to aftercare, when trying to determine the best form of it (outpatient, residential , intensive, medical, etc.) the best thing to do is to ask the released client – if the match between the client’s desires and the treatment provided is high, the results are significantly better.
Citation:
The interactive effects of antisocial personality disorder and court-mandated status on substance abuse treatment dropout. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment 34(2):157-164, 2008