Stages of change, treatment motivation, and self-efficacy for abstinence among Thai adolescents with methamphetamine use

Abstract

Background. Over the last decade, methamphetamine (yabaa) has become a drug of choice for Thai youths. There were 19,253 people with substance use disorders treated at the legal treatment center in 2000. After completing the treatment program, a high percentage (80-90%) relapse to their previous drug use behavior. However, measuring the stages of change, treatment motivation, and abstinence self-efficacy among adolescents with methamphetamine use have not been studied in Thailand. Purpose. To determine whether the boot camps for Thai adolescents with yabaa use history affect their stages of change, treatment motivation, and self-efficacy for abstinence and to examine predictors of change in the stages of change, treatment motivation, and self-efficacy for abstinence. Methodology. A pretest-posttest design was conducted on Thai adolescents with yabaa use. Four hundred and thirty-eight adolescents, between 12 to 21 years of age, who entered to boot camp in Thailand answered questionnaires which consisted of four parts: (1) background information; (2) the Stage of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale (SOCRATES) assessing stage of change, (3) the Texas Christian University Treatment Motivation Scale (TMS) assessing motivation for treatment; and (4) the Drug Taking Confidence Questionnaire (DTCQ) assessing self-efficacy for abstinence. The entire questionnaire was translated into Thai.;Results. The findings showed that the adolescents' mean scores of Recognition and Ambivalence subscales of SOCRATES significantly decreased while the mean score of Taking Steps subscale significantly increased as a result of participation in boot camp. In addition, the boot camp also significantly increased participants' treatment motivation and self-efficacy for abstinence. Adolescents' age, education, and pressure to get rehabilitation influenced changes in stage of change and treatment motivation. Also the number of drugs used influenced changes in self-efficacy for abstinence. Moreover, there was significant variation among the study sites for the stages of change, treatment motivation, and self-efficacy for abstinence. Conclusion/implication. The results of this study will be useful for nurses and other health care providers to better assess the stage of change, treatment motivation, and the self-efficacy for abstinence before, during, and after the drug treatment program. Moreover, the results from the study could be used to help staff identify interventions that will promote movement toward behavior changes.