Nine-Year Psychiatric Trajectories and Substance Use Outcomes: An Application of the Group-Based Modeling Approach
In: Evaluation review: a journal of applied social research, Band 32, Heft 1, S. 39-58
ISSN: 1552-3926
This study identifies longitudinal psychiatric trajectories of 934 adult individuals entering chemical dependency treatment in a private, managed care health plan and examines the relationship of these trajectories with substance use (SU) outcomes. The authors apply a group-based modeling approach to identify trajectory groups based on repeated measures of psychiatric severity for 9 years and identify four distinct groups. Results of multivariate logistic generalized estimating equation models find an association between psychiatric trajectories and long-term SU. Older cohorts and life course measures of marital status and employment status as individuals changed over time are related to drug and some alcohol outcomes.