Risk behaviors among persons civilly committed for opioid use

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Addiction Psychiatry
• Forensic Psychology

Background:

• Civil commitment for opioid use is increasing, yet risk behaviors of committed individuals are poorly understood.
• Judicial decisions for civil commitment often rely on assessing the risk of serious harm associated with opioid use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine risk behaviors considered by judges in civil commitment decisions for individuals with opioid use.
• To identify the prevalence and types of risk behaviors among those civilly committed for opioid use.

Main Methods:

• Recruited 121 participants from Massachusetts civil commitment facilities in 2018.
• Utilized a checklist of court-recognized risk behaviors for opioid-related civil commitment.
• Assessed participant demographics, opioid use disorder severity, and endorsed risk behaviors.

Main Results:

• Participants averaged 28 years old, 56% male, with 91% meeting criteria for severe opioid use disorder.
• On average, participants endorsed 9 out of 27 risk behaviors.
• Endorsed behaviors included danger to self (3/6), inability to care for self (4/11), and danger to others (2/10).

Conclusions:

• The majority of individuals civilly committed for opioid use engage in multiple high-risk behaviors.
• These behaviors present a significant risk of harm to themselves.
• Further research is needed to understand the long-term implications and effective treatment strategies.