Relationship between treatment length and outcome in a therapeutic community.

The present study examines the association between treatment length and treatment outcome among drug users treated in a therapeutic community. The therapeutic community employed in the present study recently had been changed from a 6-month to a 1-month program by external administrative mandate, but had undergone virtually no other changes. Twenty-two subjects who received 6 months of treatment and 22 who received 1 month were compared. The 6-month group had more subjects with successful outcome. These results support previous studies associating longer treatment programs with better outcome.