The proposed project is based on data collected over the last 15 years as part of the Drug Abuse Reporting Program (DARP). Its primary focus is on a national sample of opioid addicts (n=490) interviewed during 1982-83 as part of a 12-year follow-up study of addiction careers and long-term outcomes. The overall objectives are to (1) extend the prospective longitudinal DARP research by carrying out a series of studies on special issues, (2) develop another DARP Data Book to provide descriptive tabulations of the follow-up results, and (3) prepare a comprehensive final report on the various studies. The first studies from this research phase have examined behavioral outcomes over time and the antecedent factors associated with them, as well as addiction cycles and the influences of family, friends, and other factors on beginning, sustaining, and terminating daily opioid use. The proposed project extends this research into the systematic study of the stability of outcomes (e.g., termination of daily opioid use) over time, historical patterns of drug use (the order, preferences, and duration of drug use; diffusion of opioid drug use to friends and associates; history and consequences drug overdoses; and alcoholism), death rates and causes of death, and life style adaptation over time (involving leisure, use of community services, physical health, and psychological well-being). Findings from these and previous DARP follow-up studies will be used in the development of the fourth edition of the DARP Data Book. This document will serve as a major resource for nontechnical descriptive tabulations of information collected in the 12-year follow-up interview. It will include straightforward distributions of all questionnaire responses, and data will be formatted to highlight the empirical findings of the special issues studies. Its primary purpose will be to provide NIDA personnel and interested researchers with a ready resource for responding to general information inquiries which can be addressed by the DARP data base. Finally, the span of DARP studies based on the 12-year follow-up data will be integrated into a comprehensive final report to help provide an overview and closure of findings. This will be a nontechnical report, although it will cite and illustrate from the original and more technical reports.
| Simpson, D D; Friend, H J (1988) Legal status and long-term outcomes for addicts in the DARP followup project. NIDA Res Monogr 86:81-98 |
| Simpson, D D; Marsh, K L (1986) Relapse and recovery among opioid addicts 12 years after treatment. NIDA Res Monogr 72:86-103 |
