The Experience of Therapeutic Community: Emotional and Motivational Dynamics of People with Drug Addiction Following Rehabilitation

Abstract

The present study aims at exploring the emotional and motivational dynamics of people with drug addiction following rehabilitation. Seventy-eight individuals with substance use disorder (89.2% male) aged from 18 to 63 years completed a questionnaire exploring their experience with treatment and the therapeutic community context and Short Form Health Survey assessing health-related quality of life. Cluster analysis and multiple correspondence analysis allowed the detection of different groups of respondents and of the main synthetic factors affecting their experiences. Results identified three groupings of respondents, conceived along two main latent dimensions: expectations of change to recovery (delegation/effort) and perceived usefulness of treatment (denial of dependence/emotional investment). The second dimension was associated with some quality indicators of rehabilitation process (reported motivation at the entry, mental quality of life, and length of time following the treatment), which might potentially affect both treatment retention and success on the long run.