What Happens After Treatment? Long-Term Effects of Continued Substance Use, Psychiatric Problems and Help-Seeking on Social Status of Alcohol-Dependent Individuals.

Purpose: We examined whether alcohol-dependent individuals with sustained substance use or psychiatric problems after completing treatment were more likely to experience low social status and whether continued help-seeking would improve outcomes.

Short summary: Ongoing alcohol, drug and psychiatric problems after completing treatment were associated with increased odds of low social status (unemployment, unstable housing and/or living in high-poverty neighborhood) over 7 years. The impact of drug problems declined over time, and there were small, delayed benefits of AA attendance on social status.

Method: Alcohol-dependent individuals sampled from public and private treatment programs (N = 491; 62% male) in Northern California were interviewed at treatment entry and 1, 3, 5 and 7 years later. Random effects models tested relationships between problem severity (alcohol, drug and psychiatric problems) and help-seeking (attending specialty alcohol/drug treatment and Alcoholics Anonymous, AA) with low social status (unemployment, unstable housing and/or living in a high-poverty neighborhood) over time.

Results: The proportion of participants experiencing none of the indicators of low social status increased between baseline and the 1-year follow-up and remained stable thereafter. Higher alcohol problem scores and having any drug and/or psychiatric problems in the years after treatment were associated with increased odds of low social status over time. An interaction of drug problems with time indicated the impact of drug problems on social status declined over the 7-year period. Both treatment-seeking and AA attendance were associated with increased odds of low social status, although lagged models suggested there were small, delayed benefits of AA attendance on improved social status over time.

Conclusion: Specialty addiction treatment alone was not sufficient to have positive long-term impacts on social status and social integration of most alcohol-dependent people.