Predicting Acceptance of XR-Naltrexone Treatment among Offenders with Opioid Use Disorder

Date of Submission

2020

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Department

Psychology

Department Chair

Stephanie Felgoise, PhD, ABPP

First Advisor

David Festinger, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Bruce S. Zahn, Ed.D., ABPP

Third Advisor

Jacquelyn D'Amico, Psy.D

Abstract

The United States is facing a public-health crisis of almost unparalleled magnitude: an epidemic of opioid use disorder and associated overdose deaths.  Historically, opioid dependency has been challenging many countries for hundreds of years, but its magnitude has risen exponentially in recent decades.  Medication-assisted treatment is the use of medications with counseling and behavioral therapies to treat substance use disorders and is largely viewed as the first line of treatment for opioid use disorder.  This study investigated baseline and historical factors that predict criminal justice system offenders’ resistance to accepting XR-naltrexone as a treatment for opioid use disorder.  Prior research has isolated a variety of variables that predict nonadherence and failure to succeed in criminal-justice-based addictions treatment, but to date there is no research on predictors of acceptance of medication-assisted treatment. It was hypothesized that a combination of drug use factors, criminogenic factors, and demographic factors would influence opioid-using offenders’ decisions to reject XR-naltrexone treatment. The findings in this study indicated the younger the offenders were, the more likely they were to engage in XR-naltrexone treatment. Implications of this study may help in the development of specific treatment and educational strategies for enhancing benefits of XR-naltrexone and other promising treatments for offenders with opioid use disorder in the criminal justice system.

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS