An examination of the construct validity of the Transtheoretical Model in three longitudinal substance-abuse treatment studies.
Published: 2004
Language: eng
Number of pages: 175
Description: An application of the Transtheoretical Model to 3 longitudinal studies of substance-abuse treatment, this dissertation aimed to evaluate its internal and external validity: the central claims that stage-related process-use is associated with stage-transition, that the stage-of-change construct can identify those most at-risk of treatment dropout, and that progressive movement through the stages-of-change can mark clinical improvement. Concerning the internal validity of the Model, Study 1 and Study 2 demonstrated that longitudinal process-use endorsement was not related to forward or backward stage-transition. In addition, the external validity of Transtheoretical Model did not receive clear support. Study 1 found that the stage-of-change substages did not predict dropout among adults engaged in substance-abuse treatment, but Study 3 demonstrated that those adolescents reporting higher Precontemplation scores were more likely to dropout of inpatient substance-abuse treatment. In addition, Study 2 found that forward stage-transition to the next higher stage was associated with improvement in drinking-related variables. In light of these results, this dissertation provides a strong empirical critique of the fundamental claims of the Transtheoretical Model.
Notes: Adviser: John Cunningham.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Toronto, 2004.

Electronic version licensed for access by U. of T. users.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 65-05, Section: B, page: 2615.