Most first-time offenders for driving while intoxicated need help for more than just alcohol

• Driving while intoxicated (DWI) is a significant public-health problem in the US.
• New findings indicate that many first-time DWI offenders also have high rates of other substance-use disorders as well as other psychiatric disorders.
• Intervention programs may need to provide enhanced services to help this more severe subtype of DWI offenders.

Driving while intoxicated (DWI) is a significant public-health problem in the US. In 2005, according to the Department of Transportation, there were 16,885 alcohol-related fatalities; roughly 40 percent of all fatal car accidents are alcohol-related. New findings indicate that because most first-time DWI offenders also have high rates of other substance-use disorders as well as other psychiatric disorders, intervention programs may need to provide enhanced services to help this more severe subtype of DWI offenders.

Results are published in the April issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

"While other studies have examined symptoms of depression as a predictor of change during interventions for DWI offenders, ours is the first to examine formal diagnoses of drug use and other psychiatric problems," said Rebekka S. Palmer, associate research scientist at Yale University School of Medicine and corresponding author for the study. Palmer and her colleagues wanted to know if a history of psychiatric disorders and drug abuse or dependence among first-time DWI offenders could affect their treatment outcomes.

Researchers recruited study participants (n=290) between October 1992 and September 1994 from referrals to Connecticut group-counseling intervention services for first-time DWI offenders. Participants were assessed at program admission for two subgroups of diagnostic variables drug abuse or dependence, and mood or anxiety disorder as well as fo
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26-Mar-2007

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