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Affiliation
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Department of Psychiatry , The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio , NRLC MC 7793, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio , TX 78229-3900 , USA , MullenJ@uthscsa.edu , RyanSR@uthscsa.edu , Mathias@uthscsa.edu. |
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Abstract
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OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to characterize and compare the treatment needs of adults with driving while intoxicated (DWI) offenses recruited from a correctional residential treatment facility and the community to provide recommendations for treatment development.
METHOD: A total of 119 adults (59 Residential, 60 Community) with at least one DWI offense were administered clinical diagnostic interviews to assess substance use disorders and completed a battery of questionnaires assessing demographic characteristics, legal history, psychiatric diagnoses, medical diagnoses, and health care utilization.
RESULTS: Almost all (96.6%) DWI offenders met clinical diagnostic criteria for an alcohol use disorder, approximately half of the sample also met diagnostic criteria for co-morbid substance use disorders and a substantial proportion also reported psychiatric and medical co-morbidities. However, a high percentage were not receiving treatment for these issues, most likely as a result of having limited access to care as the majority of participants had no current health insurance (64.45%) or primary care physician (74.0%). The residential sample had more extensive criminal histories compared to the community sample but was generally representative of the community in terms of their clinical characteristics. For instance, the groups did not differ in rates of substance use, psychiatric and medical health diagnoses or in the treatment of such issues, with the exception of alcohol abuse treatment.
CONCLUSIONS: DWI offenders represent a clinical population with high levels of complex and competing treatment needs which are not currently being met. Our findings demonstrate the need for standardized screening of DWI offenders and call for the development of a multi-modal treatment approach in efforts to reduce recidivism.
Language: en |