Lawrence S. Brown

Addiction severity index scores of four racial/ethnic and gender groups of methadone maintenance patients

This report compares the findings for four racial/ethnic and gender groups of methadone maintenance (MM) patients--African-American men (n = 153), African-American women (n = 107), Hispanic men (n = 138), and Hispanic women (n = 70)--administered the Addiction Severity Index (ASI). African-American men had a history of more arrests and incarcerations than Hispanic men. African-Americans had a longer history of drug and alcohol abuse problems than Hispanics and more current alcohol problems. Women reported more medical, psychiatric, family-social, and employment problems than men. Men reported more legal and alcohol-related problems than women. With several exceptions, the study findings were consistent with those based on other instruments. Given the relatively large sample sizes, the data may provide a characteristic ASI profile of the racial/ethnic and gender groups studied. The implications of differential group problem levels for substance abuse treatment efforts are discussed.

Effect of Psychological Factors on Risk Behavior of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection among Intravenous Drug Users (IVDUs)

The effect of psychological factors on drug and sexual behaviors in relation to HIV infection was investigated among 262 IVDUs in methadone clinics in New York City. Among female IVDUs, the HIV positive subjects reported larger numbers of sex partners than those subjects who were HIV negative, and those who had larger numbers of sex partners were more likely to be depressed. The IVDUs who had larger numbers of needle-sharing partners at shooting galleries were more likely to be HIV positive. Intervention programs should focus on IVDUs who are sexually active females, sharing needles at galleries, still using heroin and cocaine, and who began using heroin at an early age.

Enrollment of Drug Abusers in HIV Clinical Trials: A Public Health Imperative for Communities of Color

There is an increasing appreciation of the impact of drug abuse on AIDS in the United States because of the pivotal role of injecting drug use in the prevalence of total AIDS cases and case reporting among ethnic/racial minorities, women, and children. While the participation of injecting drug users (IDUs) in HIV clinical trails has increased steadily, the IDU accrual rate lags unacceptably behind the IDU proportion of AIDS cases. The stigma of drug abuse, issues related to poverty, and the underrepresentation of communities of color are the major obstacles to IDU participation in HIV clinical research. It is critical to overcome these obstacles as the spectrum of HIV disease in IDUs requires the development of an IDU-relevant scientific agenda for HIV clinical trials. This, in turn, is crucial to the development of effective therapies for the treatment of HIV disease in IDUs. To the extent that these endeavors are successful, more relevant therapies to communities of color will be developed, as injecting drug use is disproportionately more prevalent in these communities.

Changes in Locus-of-Control Attitudes about Drug Misuse in a Self-Help Group in a Methadone Maintenance Clinic

Clients of a methadone-maintenance clinic in Brooklyn, New York participating in a clinically-guided self-help (CGSH) program plus standard treatment (methadone maintenance plus individual counseling) demonstrated statistically significant changes in locus-of-control beliefs, from external to internal causation, about personal responsibility for drug misuse. Members of two control groups--one participating in a didactic lecture program plus standard treatment and the other receiving only standard treatment--failed to demonstrate similar changes. This increase in internal locus of control in the CGSH group suggests the potential efficacy of CGSH as a relapse-prevention therapeutic technique.

Conflicting measurements of depression in a substance abuse population

Methadone maintenance patients (N = 217) were administered a computerized screening version of the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Addiction Severity Index (ASI) 2-4 weeks after treatment entry. Few differences were found between African-American, Hispanic, and Caucasian subjects. Only 1.7% of the patients met a lifetime diagnosis of major depressive disorder, and 1.4% qualified for a current diagnosis major depressive disorder. In contrast, 35.8% of the patients reported moderate to serious depression on the BDI during the previous week, and 19.3% reported serious depression during the previous month on the ASI (38.7% lifetime depression). Because moderate correlations were found between the DIS, the BDI, and the ASI measures of depression, there is some indication that they were tapping a similar construct. Therefore the lower rates of depression found with the DIS are probably attributable to its more stringent definition of depression. The findings tend to confirm previous literature indicating that the DIS, as contrasted with other structured psychiatric interviews, underestimates depression.