Treatment Retention Predictors of Drug Court Participants in a Rural State

Abstract

Factors distinguishing clients who complete drug court treatment from those who do not complete drug court have been documented, but differences between urban and rural drug court participants have not been examined. The present study focuses on examining mental health, drug use, criminal activity, and education/employment as factors that are associated with treatment retention, which is measured by graduation from a rural and urban drug court. Study findings indicate that for the urban drug court, marital status, employment, drug use, and criminal activity predicted graduation. For the rural drug court, however, graduation was only predicted by age and juvenile incarceration. Findings from this study suggest there are different factors associated with drug court retention/graduation between urban and rural drug court settings. It is suggested that drug court administrators and other could use this information to better assess potential participants and to target services.