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Treatment outcomes for female offenders: Relationship to number of Axis I diagnoses
Author(s) -
Sacks Joann Y.,
McKendrick Karen,
Hamilton Zachary,
Cleland Charles M.,
Pearson Frank S.,
Banks Steven
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
behavioral sciences and the law
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.649
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1099-0798
pISSN - 0735-3936
DOI - 10.1002/bsl.828
Subject(s) - medical diagnosis , poison control , medical emergency , injury prevention , medicine , human factors and ergonomics , psychology , pathology
This article describes a study that examined the relationship between multiple Axis I mental health diagnoses and treatment outcomes for female offenders in prison substance abuse treatment programs. Preliminary findings of the effectiveness of therapeutic community (TC) treatment, modified for female offenders, relative to a control cognitive behavioral treatment condition, are presented. The hypothesis—that participants who fit into multiple diagnostic categories have more dysfunctional symptoms and behaviors at baseline—was confirmed; however, a hypothesized relationship between the number of Axis I diagnoses and 6 month treatment outcomes across five domains (mental health, trauma exposure, substance use, HIV needle risk behaviors, and HIV sexual risk) was not supported. Across all Axis I mental health groups, TC treatment was significantly more effective than the control condition overall, as well as on measures of mental health symptoms and HIV sexual risk. These findings suggest that this TC treatment program, as modified, is an effective model for women with varied diagnoses and diagnostic complexities. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.