Predictors of successful completion of a halfway-house program for chemically-dependent women

Female substance abusers' attributions about the stability and globality of positive and negative life events were used as predictors of successful completion of a halfway-house treatment program. Instead of the typical beneficial effects associated with a self-serving attributional style, subjects who attributed their own recent negative life events to global (wide influence on life) and stable (always present) causes were more likely to successfully complete the treatment program. Subjects who perceived the cause of their first substance abuse (whether alcohol or another drug of abuse) as global and likely to affect substance abuse in the future also were more successful in completing the program. Not surprisingly, subjects who indicated that the cause of their quitting substance abuse was likely to lead them to stay off their drug of abuse in the future were more successful in completing the program. Finally, the amount and helpfulness of social support provided by a subject's AA sponsor were both significantly correlated with program completion. These results are interpreted as consistent with the program's Alcoholics Anonymous philosophical orientation.