The University of New Mexico Center for Research on Addictive Behaviors offers to be a collaborating Clinical Research Unit for the proposed cooperative agreement. We can implement a wide range of treatment modalities and client/treatment matching protocols in two clinical settings well-suited to research on matching: a large publicly-funded outpatient and day treatment Alcohol and Drug Treatment Program (ADTP), and the Lovelace Scientific Resources Comprehensive Screening Program (LCSP) which screens and refers DWI offenders for Bernalillo County. Together these programs assess more than 4,000 alcohol abusers each year. As examples of matching designs which can be implemented by our research group, two separate studies will be described. One is built around a randomized clinical trial (at ADTP) of Azrin's community reinforcement approach (CRA) versus traditional alcoholism counseling. Within this design, the impact of therapist styles and characteristics is also assessed. A multivariate statistical model is proposed to develop profiles of optimal responders to each of the two treatments, and to study simultaneously the interaction of client and therapist variables. The second example seeks to implement (at LCSP) Glaser's core/shell model. A broad range of client characteristics are assessed, and patients are allocated to a finite set of definable treatment--experiences. The Cleveland criteria are used as an initial strategy for assignment of clients to treatments. Multivariate statistical methods are used to provide continual corrective feedback in developing improved algorithms for matching. Both initial and actuarially-enhanced models are compared, in a randomized clinical trial, with a simpler procedure of allowing clients to match themselves to treatments.
