Chaple Michael, Sacks Stanley, McKendrick Karen, Marsch Lisa A, Belenko Steven, Leukefeld Carl, Prendergast Michael, French Michael
Center for the Integration of Research & Practice (CIRP), National Development & Research Institutes, Inc. (NDRI), 71 W 23 Street, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10010 USA.
Psychiatry, Dartmouth Medical School, 1 Rope Ferry Road, Hanover, NH 03755-1404 USA.
J Exp Criminol. 2014;10(1):105-127. doi: 10.1007/s11292-013-9187-y.
Despite evidence that treatment is effective in reducing recidivism among inmates with substance use problems, scarce resources mean that few of those in need of treatment actually receive it. Computerized substance abuse interventions could be used to expand access to treatment in prisons without placing an undue burden on resources. The major aim of the study was to compare treatment conditions in terms of their service utilization, skills acquisition, and treatment satisfaction.
The study recruited men and women with substance use disorders from 10 prisons in 4 states. In an open label clinical trial, 494 subjects were randomly assigned either to the Experimental condition, a computerized drug treatment intervention, the (TES; = 249), or to the Control condition, ( = 245). Chi-square tests compared groups on categorical variables and independent samples tests were used for interval level continuous variables.
Initial evidence demonstrated: (1) comparable group rates of session attendance and high rates of TES module completion for experimental subjects; (2) comparable group gains in the development of coping skills; and (3) a more favorable view of TES than of .
Collectively, these results show that a computerized intervention, such as TES, can be implemented successfully in prison. Given the barriers to the delivery of substance abuse treatment typically encountered in correctional settings, computerized interventions have the potential to fill a significant treatment gap and are particularly well suited to inmates with mild to moderate substance use disorders who often are not treated.
尽管有证据表明治疗对于减少有药物使用问题的囚犯的累犯率有效，但资源稀缺意味着很少有需要治疗的人真正得到治疗。计算机化的药物滥用干预措施可用于扩大监狱中治疗的可及性，而不会给资源带来过度负担。该研究的主要目的是比较不同治疗条件在服务利用、技能习得和治疗满意度方面的情况。
该研究从4个州的10所监狱招募了有药物使用障碍的男性和女性。在一项开放标签临床试验中，494名受试者被随机分配到实验条件组，即一种计算机化药物治疗干预措施（TES；n = 249），或对照组（n = 245）。卡方检验用于比较分类变量上的组间差异，独立样本t检验用于区间水平的连续变量。
初步证据表明：（1）实验组受试者的课程出勤率相当，且完成TES模块的比例很高；（2）两组在应对技能发展方面的进步相当；（3）与对照组相比，受试者对TES的评价更积极。
总体而言，这些结果表明，像TES这样的计算机化干预措施可以在监狱中成功实施。鉴于在惩教环境中提供药物滥用治疗通常会遇到障碍，计算机化干预措施有可能填补显著的治疗缺口，尤其适合那些经常得不到治疗的轻度至中度药物使用障碍的囚犯。
