Does treatment work? This issue is complex but extremely important, given the time and expense of alcohol and other drug treatment and the costs to society when people continue abusing alcohol and other drugs following treatment. Although numerous studies have examined treatment effectiveness, making sense of the results is difficult because of several underlying problems.

Problems

Treatment programs, for the most part, are not designed to scientifically evaluate the aspects of treatment that are most effective. This makes research immediately problematic, as there is no control over the many variables that may affect results. The numerous client variables that may impact treatment effectiveness include age, gender, duration of use, type of substances used, life problems experienced, voluntary or involuntary admission to treatment, prior treatment, client health, psychological ...

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