Co-occurring risk factors for arrest among persons with opioid abuse and dependence: implications for developing interventions to limit criminal justice involvement
Fisher, William H. ; Clark, Robin E. ; Baxter, Jeffrey D. ; Barton, Bruce A ; O'Connell, Elizabeth ; Aweh, Gideon
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Keywords
Age Factors
Cohort Studies
Crime
Criminal Law
Female
Humans
Male
Mental Disorders
Opioid-Related Disorders
Risk Factors
Sex Factors
Socioeconomic Factors
Substance-Related Disorders
Co-occurring psychiatric illness
Criminal justice involvement
Opioid dependency and abuse
Criminology
Health Law and Policy
Medical Jurisprudence
Mental Disorders
Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance
Substance Abuse and Addiction
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Abstract
Persons who abuse or are dependent on opioids are at elevated risk for arrest. Co-occurring behavioral health problems may exacerbate that risk, although the extent of any such increase has not been described. This study examines such risk factors among 40,238 individuals with a diagnosis of opioid abuse or dependence who were enrolled in the Massachusetts Medicaid program in 2010. Medicaid data were merged with statewide arrest data to assess the effects of co-existing mental illness, substance abuse, and previous arrests on arrest during 2010. Persons with serious mental illnesses (psychotic and bipolar disorders) and those with two or more pre-2010 arrests had significantly increased greater odds of arrest. We believe this to be the first study examining effects of co-occurring risk factors on arrest in a large population with opioid dependency/abuse. These findings identify predictors of arrest that could be used to design interventions targeting specific co-occurring risk factors.
Source
J Subst Abuse Treat. 2014 Sep;47(3):197-201. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2014.05.002. Epub 2014 Jun 14. Link to article on publisher's site