Article Critique

Article Critique

Article Critique

All potential participants were recruited from a drug rehabilitation center that offers intense, structured, residential treatment to individuals suffering from alcohol and other drug dependencies. This center admits clients with relatively severe problems, including (a) history of chronic and severe addiction, (b) comorbid psychiatric diagnoses, (c) previous poor treatment responses, (d) frequent relapses (e) legal problems related to substance abuse, and (f) low motivation for change. We chose residential treatment patients because of the rehabilitative challenges associated with this group, who tend toward greater psychiatric disorder than those referred to outpatient services regardless of age. (Lin 2004)

Forty-three potential participants were referred for this study on the basis of the opinion of their therapists that they would be good candidates for FT. If interested, participants were provided with details regarding the study and completed the Enright Forgiveness Inventory and the Spielberger State-Trait Anger Expression Scale. Typical cases involved some sort of abuse, sexual or physical, usually perpetrated by someone close to the client (e.g., a parent or spouse). If potential participants' score on the EFI was at or below 256, their composite SSTAEI score was 35 or higher, and they voluntarily provided written informed consent to take part in the study, they were randomly assigned to FT or ADC. (Pyrczak 2008)

Three potential participants were eliminated on the basis of their forgiveness and anger scores. Thus, 40 participants were randomized to one of the two interventions. All participants met criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders for substance dependence as per their clinicians' evaluations. Seven of these participants completed FT, and 7 completed ADC. Equal numbers of participants dropped out of each treatment condition, resulting in a 35% completion rate for each group. Given the high levels of mobility and chaos that characterize the lives of this client population, this dropout rate is not unusual. (Lin 2004)

For example, Henggeler, Pickrel, Brondino, and Crouch (1996) conducted a study in which the treatment-as-usual condition had a completion rate of 22%, which was actually higher than the 10% to 18% rate they had expected for youths participating in therapeutic communities. Further, in a large study of substance-abusing adolescents conducted by Szapocznik, Kurtines, Foote, Perez-Vidal, and Hervis (1983, 1986), only 72 of approximately 650 potential participants completed treatment. Similar retention patterns are found with adult substance abusers. In addition, residential cases tend to be the most severe, given that nationally ...