Psychological and behavioural factors associated with relapse among heroin abusers treated in therapeutic communities

The authors carried out a comparative study on two groups of heroin abusers treated in several therapeutic communities: One group consumed heroin on at least three occasions between the fifth and sixth months of treatment (n = 130), and the other continued without consuming heroin after 7 months of treatment (n = 130). The instruments used for data collection were a structured interview and urine analysis. The relapsed group includes older patients with more medical problems, lower educational and occupational level, and major chronicity in heroin consumption. The collection of retrospective data referring to the treatment period shows that relapsed patients more frequently consumed alcohol, hashish, cocaine, and amphetamines; suffered more heroin cravings; used fewer coping strategies to overcome the craving; and justified the craving or the heroin consumption in more situations than those who abstained. The last heroin craving during the treatment period arose in different temporal, social, and physical contexts in the two groups, and it was accompanied more frequently by inadequate responses in the relapsed group: psychophysiological alterations, depressed feelings, negative thoughts, and coping behaviours. The two groups are different in their attitudes toward heroin abstinence. The authors discuss the findings from a cognitive-behavioural perspective and come to the conclusion that various models need to be integrated.