Higher perceived stress during admission is associated with shorter retention in short-term residential substance use disorder treatment

Orrin D Ware; Paul Sacco; John G Cagle; Jodi J Frey; Fernando A Wagner; Alexandra S Wimberly; Bernard Gyebi-Foster; Mayra Diaz; Kisun Peters; Sarah E Zemore

doi:10.1016/j.abrep.2023.100502

Higher perceived stress during admission is associated with shorter retention in short-term residential substance use disorder treatment

Addict Behav Rep. 2023 Jun 8:18:100502. doi: 10.1016/j.abrep.2023.100502. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work, United States.
² University of Maryland School of Social Work, United States.
³ Tuerk House Inc, United States.
⁴ Alcohol Research Group, United States.

Abstract

Introduction: Over one million people in the U.S. received residential treatment for a substance use disorder (SUD) in 2020. Longer treatment retention is associated with better outcomes (e.g., reduced substance use). Entering treatment with higher stress may be associated with shorter retention. This paper examines the impact of perceived stress at admission on SUD treatment retention in short-term residential treatment.

Methods: A sample of 271 treatment episodes with admissions between October 2019 and February 2020 were collected from de-identified records of an urban mid-Atlantic adult 28-day short-term residential SUD treatment facility. Treatment completion involved finishing 28 days. Sociodemographic, substance use, perceived stress, and treatment discharge variables were analyzed. Bivariate analyses examined differences between treatment completion and early discharge, and Cox regression investigated the effect of perceived stress on treatment retention with covariates.

Results: The sample was primarily male (73.8%) and non-Hispanic Black (71.6%). A majority used heroin as their primary substance (54.6%) and reported polysubstance use (72.3%). About half (51.3%) completed treatment, and completed an average of 18.7 (SD = 10.7) days. Those who prematurely discharged from treatment stayed an average of 8.9 (SD = 7.0) days. The Cox regression model found that higher perceived stress (adjusted hazard ratio (AHR) = 1.028; 95% CI = [1.005, 1.053], p =.019) and a race/ethnicity other than non-Hispanic Black (AHR = 1.546, 95% CI = [1.037, 2.305], p =.033) predicted premature discharge.

Conclusions: Perceived stress at admission is associated with shorter treatment retention. Early stress management interventions may help increase treatment retention.

Keywords: Perceived stress; Residential; Retention; Short-term; Substance use disorder; Treatment completion.