2016 Honors Theses (Fall)

Honors Thesis Advisor, Dr. Clyde Roberts.

The comorbidity of Substance Use Disorder (SUD) and other mental disorders is common, with estimated 50-75% of patients entering SUD treatment presenting other psychiatric disorders as well (Bergman, Greene, Slaymaker, Hoeppner, & Kelly, 2014). These individuals typically require more extensive treatment, and have a poorer prognosis than individuals with only one disorder. There has been research that demonstrates that integrated treatment is more effective for this population (Drake, Mueser, Brunette, and McHugo, 2004), but the feasibility is questionable and many facilities do not implement it, thusthese patients receive inadequate care. There continues to be research on the effectiveness of integrated care, and this paper reviews 18 studies that were published or reported from 2004 to 2016. It includes randomized controlled studies, quasi-experimental, as well as repeated measure and pilot studies. Significant results published in these studies were analyzed with ameta-analysis calculator to determine effect sizes using Cohen's d, where .2 is small, .5 is medium, and .8 is a large effect size.(Cohen, 1988). Although these studies have methodological weaknesses, this meta-analysis demonstrates cumulative evidence supporting the effectiveness of integrated care for comorbid SUD and mental illness. With this continued support of integrated care, research is moving on to combinations of therapies for combinations of disorders, as well as studying the feasibility of implementation.,Honors Thesis Advisor, Dr. Rueben Brock.