Resistance to drug abuse treatment: A comparison of drug users who accept or decline treatment referral assessment

Many drug abusers do not seek help in formal treatment settings and little is known about their resistance to treatment. In this study, we offered a treatment referral assessment to a sample of 283 drug users. Only 58 subjects (or 20.5% of the sample) accepted this offer. We explored differences between those who accepted the treatment referral assessment and those who declined the opportunity. Logistic regression identified predictors of acceptance related to higher levels of severity in drug use and higher scores on a motivation and readiness scale. Among those who declined the assessment, 43.1% denied drug use, 37.3% thought their drug use was not a problem, and 16.4% expressed no interest in treatment Further analysis showed that scores on motivation and readiness were positively related to a higher level of severity in employment problems, family problems, and drug use, and to having a history of prior treatment.