The Treatment for Substance Use Disorder Patients and Their Changes of Psychosocial Functioning in Dynamics. Summary of the Doctoral Thesis

Abstract

The Doctoral Dissertation „The treatment for substance use disorder patients and their changes of psychosocial functioning in dynamic” has been conducted with the aim to assess and describe the doctors and patients experience and viewpoint about the position of substance use disorders (SUD) treatment methods, and the psychosocial functionality of patients (their emotional and social intelligence ability) in a changing dynamic following detoxification and treatment after Program of Minnesota model (MP). The research sample contains: (1) 586 medical doctors specializing in various fields from different regions in Latvia aged 24 to 74, average age – 46,8 (SD±10,8); 78% of the respondents were female. (2) 620 SUD patients aged from 18 to 69, average age – 39,7 (SD±11,2); 67,1% of them were male; according to type of addiction: 133 were alcoholics (61,9%), 82 were drug addicts (38,1%); 405 in-patients participants took part in repeated test-measurements six months after the treatment. (3) The control group consisted of 110 university student respondents. Scientific literature and researches were analyzed about SUD epidemiology and its consequences in the theoretical part of the dissertation. The feasibility of treatment for SUD was also evaluated. Literature and researches were also analyzed according to emotional intelligence (EI), social intelligence (SI) referring to SUD manifestations in psychosocial functionality. In order to achieve the research aim and to test its hypothesis, quantitative research methods were implemented using several research instruments: Questionnaire for Doctors, Questionnaire for Patients, Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (Bar-On, 1997), The Tromso Social Intelligence Scale (Silvera, et al., 2001). The research results indicate that (1) doctors most often recommended Detoxification and the MP, (2) patients themselves more often chose the detoxification and suggestive methods; (3) doctors experienced a lack of information in the areas of SUD treatment possibilities and effectiveness; (4) the emotional and social intelligence of SUD patients was lower than that of the control group; (5) the EI un SI indicators had a statistically significant increase after six month past the treatment in the MP department, when compared to detoxification patients.