Client Spirituality and Substance Abuse Treatment Outcomes

摘要

A sample of 301 outpatient clients from a large substance abuse treatment facility was surveyed on spirituality and treatment outcome constructs utilizing a pretest/posttest design. Clients were surveyed prior to participating in outpatient treatment and then approximately seven months after discharge from treatment. Spirituality was measured multidimensionally to determine any contribution to treatment outcomes, including health, mental health, and substance use outcomes. Analyses were conducted to determine if spirituality changed over the study period and whether spirituality was affected by client characteristics at the beginning of treatment or impacted outcomes after treatment. Results indicated that many spiritual dimensions were important in treatment outcomes and that treatment history had some effect for posttest substance use. In general, the relationship was stronger for the spiritual dimensions than the religious dimensions.