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The effectiveness of alternative planned durations of residential drug abuse treatment.

J McCusker, M Vickers-Lahti, A Stoddard, R Hindin, C Bigelow, M Zorn, F Garfield, R Frost, C Love and B Lewis

School of Public Health, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA.

Randomized controlled trials were conducted at two residential drug abuse treatment facilities to compare programs that differed in planned duration. One trial compared a 6-month and a 12-month therapeutic community program (n = 184), and the second compared a 3-month and a 6-month relapse prevention program (n = 444). Retention rates over comparable time periods differed minimally by planned treatment duration, and the longer programs had lower completion rates. There was no effect in either trial of planned treatment duration on changes in psychosocial variables between admission and exit or on rates or patterns of drug use at follow-up between 2 and 6 months after exit.