About the Study

The study, published in June, 1999, is a comparison of treatment effectiveness in drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, and was conducted by Aaron T. Bicknese, then a Ph.D. student at Northwestern University, in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Political Science. Dr. Bicknese conducted his study with an experimental group, the clients of Teen Challenge (TC), and a comparison group, the clients of Short Term Inpatient Programs (STIs). (This group is commonly referred to as the "STI/AA" group because the clients of STIs are encouraged to attend Alcoholics Anonymous upon graduation.) Only graduates from both groups were compared.

The Teen Challenge graduates were selected from a nationwide sample comprised of adult non-adolescent male graduates of the three largest Teen Challenge programs: Rehrersburg, Pennsylvania, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and Riverside, California. While there is variation between these three centers, the curriculum, rules and general program structure between the sites are uniform.

The comparison group consisted of publicly funded clients of STIs who had been interviewed by New Standards, Inc. (NSI), 1080 Montreal Ave., Suite 300, St. Paul, Minnesota. All pretest and posttest comparison group data were collected by NSI, and NSI granted Bicknese access to its CATOR database for purposes of his study.

Using many survey items and procedures from NSI, Dr. Bicknese collected pretest and posttest Teen Challenge data to ensure the Teen Challenge dataset and the CATOR/NSI dataset were as comparable as possible. Teen Challenge subjects were matched with subjects from the aggregate dataset of Medicaid or Medicare-funded clients on five variables: (1) gender (males only), (2) ethnicity, (3) age, (4) severity of addiction, and (5) whether the individual was court-referred to substance abuse treatment.

Fifty-nine Teen Challenge survey respondents were interviewed. The median length of the interviews conducted with the Teen Challenge graduates was 57 minutes. The bulk of the interviews were conducted during October 1995. The Teen Challenge graduation cohorts of October 1993, April 1994, and October 1994 (a total of 150 students), were sampled in order to provide three interview cohorts of 12, 18, and 24 months post-treatment. The respondents sampled from the aggregate CATOR dataset matched for comparison with the Teen Challenge data were likewise collected into 12-month, 18-month, and 24-month follow-up cohorts.

About this Review

Teen Challenge International is very grateful to Dr. Bicknese for his dedication and research. Dennis Griffith, Executive Director of Teen Challenge International, Southern California, saw the need for a written review of the original 330-page doctoral dissertation. Andrew Kenney, a professor at Vanguard University, was commissioned to write the review.

The study shows conclusively that Teen Challenge graduates, whether returning to a productive lifestyle or living in society in a healthy way for the first time, are far more successful than their publicly funded STI/AA counterparts. Despite the fact that those entering Teen Challenge are generally far less equipped to deal with the daily issues of life, are far more addicted to a greater range of substances, often come from groups that are extremely difficult to treat, and have few or no productive relationships of quality and depth, after treatment, Teen Challenge graduates score as high or higher compared to their STI/AA counterparts in every area of the study. The study shows that, in contrast to their STI/AA counterparts, most Teen Challenge students lead normal lives after graduating, holding down full-time jobs and very rarely needing to return to treatment. The study also noted that Teen Challenge graduates, unlike their STI/AA counterparts, are free from the constraints of having to attend frequent AA meetings, though 84% of Teen Challenge graduates do attend church.

The study demonstrates that while STIs are far better funded, with highly trained doctors on staff, the Teen Challenge student experiences a far greater sense of community, with the "cure" to their addictions made real to them through caring and committed live-in staff who are graduates of the program. The study found that addicted individuals attempting to fill an emptiness in their lives are not likely to possess social capital (healthy and productive relationships), or the ability to exercise it. The study shows that, while STI/AA programs are lacking in the ability to rebuild in this crucial area, the Teen Challenge environment provides individuals who complete the program with a rich abundance of social capital. The students learn to exercise trust, so that once out of the program, they can find or create a network of healthy and productive relationships. Equipped with such a network, the graduate's functioning in the broader society is much more effective and rewarding.

Many individual survey respondents testified to changes having taken place in their lives in revolutionary-sounding language, crediting Jesus Christ as the primary factor in overcoming their previous feelings of emptiness and loneliness. When asked what worked for them in the program, a response about Jesus filling a void in their lives was given more frequently than any other response category. Responses to the "what worked?" question also indicated that the loving dedication of Teen Challenge staff, the discipline of the program, and the friends made while in the program were vital factors in their success.

Finally, the study found Teen Challenge to be far more effective in working with the whole person. Teen Challenge's holistic approach to treatment was often cited by graduates as something that stood out from other programs they had tried. Respondents said things like Teen Challenge dealt with "the whole man," helped them to lay "a foundation," worked on "what's inside," and challenged them with "biblical teaching" to place their faith in Jesus Christ, the only true answer to the drug problem.