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This paper replicates and extends previous analyses supporting the dimensionality of a new measure of spirituality-religiosity designed for largely minority participants in substance abuse treatment. Data are presented from participants in explicitly faith-based substance abuse treatment programs (Teen Challenge), and multi-group confirmatory factor analysis techniques are applied to assess the invariance of the factor structure, comparing data from the new Teen Challenge validation sample with the correlation matrix from the initial scale development sample. Model fit in the present analyses reached acceptable levels with the addition of error covariances. Further, invariance tests comparing scale development and Teen Challenge validation samples did not suggest systematic variation in loadings between groups. The present comparisons support the originally proposed four-dimensional structure while supporting the use of the measure in both traditional and faith-based programs. Strengths of the present analyses include: use of diverse treatment programs in several states as well as increased precision of the present CFA findings, as program level effects (i.e., intra-class correlations) have been removed through use of residualized data in the analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on spiritual mechanisms underlying substance abuse behavior change in faith-based substance abuse treatment. Several definitions of faith-based organizations are being discussed. An integrative conceptual framework articulating connections between spiritual intervention components, behavior change processes and substance abuse outcomes is presented. Faith-based substance abuse treatment programs concerns the distinction between religion and spirituality. The article states that the ecological perspective and the model of social work practice provide for the incorporation of the element of personal spirituality, and therefore spiritual change, in viewing any individual presenting for services. A number of human and social service organizations have been addressed by faith-based programs. It has been found that religious or spiritual involvement may serve as a protective factor against the development of substance abuse problems. During substance abuse treatment some spiritual changes occur and substance abuse interventions may be effective for those for whom religion or spirituality is salient.

The predictive validity of a treatment readiness measure designed for out-of-treatment drug users, tapping dimensions of perceived problem severity, perceived need for formal treatment, motivation for treatment, and negative attitudes toward treatment is examined using data from a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-funded HIV outreach intervention in San Antonio, Texas. Logistic regression is used to predict use of substance abuse treatment services three months after program intake on the basis of readiness scores, controlling for demographic and drug history variables. Analyses of data from 673 drug users in an HIV outreach intervention indicated that treatment readiness dimensions accounted for a 12% increase in variation in "use of any modality" and 14% for "use or attempted service use". Only Motivation to Quit was a significant predictor of "use of any modality" and both Perceived Need for Treatment and Motivation to Quit were significant predictors of "use or attempted use". Findings support the importance of the individual's perception of "readiness" to change their substance-abusing behavior and enter treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous rural studies have indicated that life events are most strongly related to depressive symptoms among abstainers and heavy drinkers, and least strongly among moderate drinkers. The generalizability of possible stress-buffering properties of moderate alcohol use were evaluated using data from 554 white residents of 9 rural counties around Nashville, Tennessee, and from 314 white and 306 black residents of Nashville. Information on typical quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption was used to classify respondents as abstainers, occasional, moderate, or heavy drinkers. The event-by-drinking pattern interaction was significant only for the rural sample. There was some suggestive evidence of buffer effects among urban whites, though events were fairly consistently related to depressive symptoms among urban black drinkers. Further controls for religious identification/commitment did not account for the specificity of buffer effects to rural communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]