Identifying components of recovery capital that support substance use disorder treatment completion

Purpose

Individuals who do not complete substance use disorder treatment (SUDT) have similar outcomes to the untreated. Recovery capital (RC) is the collection of one’s resources that contribute to the initiation and maintenance of sobriety. The aim of this paper was to identify individual measures of RC that are associated with SUDT completion.

Methods

RC data for 69 residents from a men’s recovery center was obtained from questionnaires administered to residents at intake and after SUDT graduation or dismissal. Participant data was divided into two groups, Graduates (n = 39, age 35.87±10.83) and Non-Graduates (n = 30, age 34.35±14.44), and retrospectively analyzed to compare RC between groups at various points during SUDT and which RC measures are associated with SUDT completion.

Results

At baseline all participants reported limited RC and there was no significant difference in RC between groups. At graduation, Graduates reported significantly more RC in all measures when compared to baseline and Non-Graduates at dismissal. Non-Graduates reported a significant increase in Checking and Savings at dismissal but no other measure.

Conclusion

Baseline levels of RC in both groups were limited and not significantly different which limited the capacity of the study to identify measures of RC associated with SUDT completion. A lack of RC at onset of SUDT did not preclude SUDT completion and obtaining RC during SUDT was associated with completion as only Graduates reported increases in RC. Future study designs should include participants with variable amounts of RC when entering SUDT.