A Cox proportional hazards regression analysis of gender differences in treatment retention among clients in a faith-based residential drug treatment program in Taiwan

Abstract

Faith-based treatment programs have played a visible and acclaimed role in Taiwan's long struggle against drug abuse and its social consequences. Christian organizations have been the main sponsors of faith-based recovery services based on a treatment model that emphasizes the transformative benefits of religious conversion. Despite its conceptual appeal, this therapeutic mechanism remains untested and very little is known about gender differences in faith-based treatment performance. This study bridges this research gap by exploring how men and women differ in their treatment retention, and by examining the association between in-treatment religious conversion and treatment retention. The sample comprises 707 clients admitted to Operation Dawn, a faith-based residential treatment, between December 2000 and March 2009. Gender differences in client background characteristics and substance abuse history, probability of religious conversion during treatment, and dropout hazards were identified. Overall, women encountered more challenges in faith-based treatment settings. A robust positive relationship between religious conversion and treatment retention was also found. The high treatment attrition rate, however, proved faith-based treatment to be a modality of high therapeutic specificity. Further research into the dynamics of in-treatment religious conversion is needed to allow informed matching of faith-based services with suitable clients and to identify best practices within this particular clinical framework.