The research aims to develop a measurement technology to indicate perceptual and attitudinal dispositions characteristic of clients who leave treatment prematurely, and those who relapse to drug use following the completion of a treatment program. Based on the recent success of the Associate Group Analysis (AGA) as an instrument of process evaluation, the research will:(1) test two alternative strategies of assessment (structured and unstructured),(2) develop a short and easy to administer diagnostic instrument for routine use, and(3) test the effectiveness of this instrument to identify clients who are likely to drop out of treatment or relapse across various treatment modalities and treatment populations.Awardee's statement of the potential commercial applications of the research:Potential commercial applications include developing and marketing new instruments designed to identify psychological dispositions for leaving treatment prematurely and for relapsing to drug use; marking unstructured, nondirective methods to identify perceptual and motivational factors involved in drop out and relapse; and providing instruments of process evaluation providing feedback on variables relevant to program success.National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
