Drug-abusing offenders with comorbid mental disorders: problem severity, treatment participation, and recidivism

This study examined problem severity, treatment participation, and recidivism among 1,016 offenders with co-occurring mental disorders who participated in California's Proposition 36. Participants were assessed using the Addiction Severity Index (ASI) at baseline, and their records on mental health diagnoses, drug treatment participation, and arrests were also obtained. Participants' co-occurring disorder (COD) severity was classified as mild or severe based on specific mental health diagnoses. Predictors of recidivism were examined among mild-COD and severe-COD participants separately using ordinal logistic regression. Results indicate that although previous arrests, education, and treatment retention length are predictors of recidivism generally, gender, age, primary drug, ASI drug severity score, and treatment modality are differentially important depending on COD status. These results underscore the need for COD-focused intervention strategies among offenders, taking into consideration the severity of their COD status.