TY - JOUR
T1 - Examining the relationship between psychological functioning, childhood trauma, and types of perceived coercion among drug court enrollees
T2 - Results from a pilot study
AU - Cimino, Andrea N.
AU - Mendoza, Natasha S.
AU - Nochajski, Thomas H.
AU - Farrell, Mark G.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism [grant number T32-AA007583].
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.
PY - 2017/1/1
Y1 - 2017/1/1
N2 - Background: Drug court interventions produce positive results—especially among mandated populations. Many criminal justice-involved persons, including drug court enrollees, have co-occurring substance abuse and childhood trauma disorders associated with psychological dysfunction. Given the coercive nature of mandated drug court treatment, it is important to understand whether childhood trauma and psychological functioning influence perceived coercion to enter treatment. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to describe the degree to which adverse childhood trauma and psychological functioning were associated with six domains of perceived coercion—self, family, legal, financial, health, and work—among a population of drug court enrollees. Methods: Data from 54 enrollees in a drug court pilot study were used to examine the relationship between childhood trauma, psychological functioning, and perceived coercion. Results: The pilot study data showed that psychological dysfunction and traumatic experiences in childhood were associated with higher perceived coercion to treatment, explaining 29% of the variance in coercion, controlling for gender and pre-arrest alcohol and drug use. Results indicated that the associations between psychological dysfunction and trauma were driven by non-legal types of coercion. In particular, childhood trauma was correlated with family (r = 0.32), financial (r = 0.32), and health (r = 0.47) types of coercion. Conclusions: Based on these preliminary findings, drug court practitioners are urged to assess perceived coercion, in addition to the behavioral health and childhood trauma of their clients, and to utilize non-legal types of coercion such as family, health, and financial impact to enhance treatment engagement.
AB - Background: Drug court interventions produce positive results—especially among mandated populations. Many criminal justice-involved persons, including drug court enrollees, have co-occurring substance abuse and childhood trauma disorders associated with psychological dysfunction. Given the coercive nature of mandated drug court treatment, it is important to understand whether childhood trauma and psychological functioning influence perceived coercion to enter treatment. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to describe the degree to which adverse childhood trauma and psychological functioning were associated with six domains of perceived coercion—self, family, legal, financial, health, and work—among a population of drug court enrollees. Methods: Data from 54 enrollees in a drug court pilot study were used to examine the relationship between childhood trauma, psychological functioning, and perceived coercion. Results: The pilot study data showed that psychological dysfunction and traumatic experiences in childhood were associated with higher perceived coercion to treatment, explaining 29% of the variance in coercion, controlling for gender and pre-arrest alcohol and drug use. Results indicated that the associations between psychological dysfunction and trauma were driven by non-legal types of coercion. In particular, childhood trauma was correlated with family (r = 0.32), financial (r = 0.32), and health (r = 0.47) types of coercion. Conclusions: Based on these preliminary findings, drug court practitioners are urged to assess perceived coercion, in addition to the behavioral health and childhood trauma of their clients, and to utilize non-legal types of coercion such as family, health, and financial impact to enhance treatment engagement.
KW - PTSD
KW - court-ordered
KW - mandated populations
KW - substance abuse
KW - trauma-informed practice
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U2 - 10.1080/23311908.2017.1320859
DO - 10.1080/23311908.2017.1320859
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85018758770
SN - 2331-1908
VL - 4
JO - Cogent Psychology
JF - Cogent Psychology
IS - 1
M1 - 1320859
ER -