EVALUATION OF COMPUTER PROGRAM SUBSTANCE ABUSE MONITOR

THE COMPUTER PROGRAM, SUBSTANCE ABUSE MONITOR (SAM), PROVIDES A WAY FOR COUNSELORS AND CLIENTS TO DEFINE OBJECTIVELY FACTORS THAT MAY BE IMPORTANT IN TREATMENT AND THEN TO ASSESS THESE FACTORS ON A DAILY OR WEEKLY BASIS AND RECORD THESE DATA. THIS RESEARCH WILL EVALUATE THE USE OF THE SAM PROGRAM IN DRUG AND ALCOHOL COUNSELING. THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS WILL BE ADDRESSED: (1) DO COUNSELORS AND CLIENTS FIND SAM TO BE AN ACCEPTABLE ADJUNCT TO TREATMENT? (2) ARE THERE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE CONTROL AND EXPERIMENTAL (SAM) GROUP IN PROCESS AND OUTCOME MEASURES RELATED TO DRUG AND ALCOHOL COUNSELING? (3) ARE COUNSELORS WHO USE SAM MORE LIKELY TO SET OBJECTIVE TREATMENT GOALS AND/OR WORK MORE SYSTEMATICALLY TOWARD THESE GOALS IN TREATMENT? (4) DOES THE USE OF SAM PRODUCE DIFFERENTIAL CHANGES IN THE ALCOHOL SEVERITY INDEX FROM PRETREATMENT TO POSTTREATMENT COMPARED WITH THE CONTROL GROUP MEASURES? (5) DO DATA ENTERED IN SAM ON ABSTINENCE CORRELATE WITH OTHER MEASURES OF ABSTINENCE? THE DESIGN USES TWO APPROXIMATELY MATCHED GROUPS OF TREATMENT SITES. ONE GROUP WILL USE SAM, AND THE OTHER WILL NOT.