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Impulsivity, Trauma History, and Interoceptive Awareness Contribute to Completion of a Criminal Diversion Substance Use Treatment Program for Women

Year: 2022

Type: article

Abstract: In the US, women are one of the fastest-growing segments of the prison population and more than a quarter of women in state prison are incarcerated for drug offenses. Current substance use criminal diversion programs can be effective, but it would be beneficial to identify who is most likely to be successful versus who may need additional or unique programming. Prior research investigating prediction of success in these programs has primarily focused on non-modifiable demographic factors in predominantly male samples. In the current study, we aimed to use a predictive framework to examine other non-demographic factors relating the likelihood of completing a substance use criminal diversion program for women. 176 women who were enrolled in a criminal diversion program consented to participate and completed neuropsychological, self-report symptom measures, criminal history and demographic surveys at baseline. These measures were entered into a machine learning (ML) ensemble model, using repeated, nested cross-validation, predicting subsequent graduation versus termination from the program. Although the ML models did not significantly predict graduation better than chance (AUC = .59 [SE = .08] and .54 [SE = .13]), post-hoc analyses indicated that measures of impulsivity, trauma history, and interoceptive awareness related to treatment completion (p < 0.05; ds = -0.53 to .29). Results point towards the complexity involved in attempting to predict treatment completion but also provide potential treatment targets to inform future research aiming to reduce recidivism.

Source: Frontiers in Psychology

DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.4234848