The change of the sense of coherence and self-efficacy of drug dependent persons treated in therapeutic community

Abstract

Introduction : The sense of coherence and self-efficacy are the main of generalised resistance resources of the human being and can be treated as health factors. The main aim of this paper was an attempt to answer how the sense of coherence and self-efficacy change in drug dependent persons being treated with the therapeutic community method. Material and methods : Fifty-nine drug dependent patients aged 19-34 were undergoing therapeutic community treatment, 28 of whom in the detoxification centre in Smażyno and 31 in a similar centre in Grabowo. They were examined twice within a year by filling in the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-29), Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES) and a sociodemographic survey. Some of the patients (14 persons) dropped out of therapy so finally the data of 45 patients was analysed. Results : Patients got significantly higher results in the second measurement of sense of coherence but the results were still lower than healthy population standards. Patients also revealed higher results in the second measurement of self-efficacy. Conclusions : The gained results indicate a significant improvement in the health functioning of patients during the course of treatment in the therapeutic community. However, the results need to be treated with caution due to the small research sample and lack of uniformity in the group as regards gender, age and time of use of narcotics, which hinders the formulation of generalisations.

Keywords

• Sense of coherence
• Self-efficacy
• Therapeutic community
• Drug dependent persons