Assistant Professor Brigham Young University Provo, Utah, United States
Overview: This study evaluates the influence of positive social relationships on treatment length of stay for patients with substance use disorder. We used clinical data mining methodology and analyzed four measures of positive social relationships including outside support systems, substance-using housing environments, 12-Step involvement, and 12-Step program sponsorship.Proposal text: Social relationships are an important element of psychological wellbeing. Substance use treatment is also important for enhancing the well-being of clients. This study evaluates the influence of positive social relationships on treatment length of stay for clients with substance use disorders. We used clinical data mining (CDM) methodology for this study. CDM is a practice-based research approach that uses clinical data for understanding everyday social work. The clinical data we used is from client records at three substance use day treatment sites within the same agency (Nf444). We analyzed four measures of positive social relationships including outside support systems, substance-using housing environments, 12-Step involvement, and sponsorship in a 12-Step program. Using ten imputed datasets to run the model, we found these variables to not significantly influence treatment length of stay. Results suggest that other factors may better account for how long clients stay in treatment. For example, one of our control variables, number of children, had a significant negative effect on treatment length of stay. Further research on how social relationships might effect how long people stay in treatment is important. By attending this session, attendees will gain a better understanding of the factors that influence substance use treatment outcomes and the significance of treatment length of stay in substance use treatment success. Attendees with further understand how clinical data can be used to research social work practice.
Learning Objectives:
By attending this session, attendees will gain a better understanding of the factors that influence substance use treatment outcomes and the significance of treatment length of stay in substance use treatment success.
Attendees with further understand how clinical data can be used to research social work practice.