First-Time DWI Offenders Often Have Multiple Problems

Besides alcohol use, they often abuse drugs, have psychiatric ills, study finds.

By Kathleen Doheny
HealthDay Reporter
Thursday, March 29, 2007; 12:00 AM

Copyright © 2007 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.

THURSDAY, March 29 (HealthDay News) -- Most drivers arrested for the first time for driving while intoxicated are also likely to have drug abuse problems or psychiatric disorders, a new study finds.

That suggests that intervention programs for first-time DWI offenders should focus on more than just stopping their alcohol abuse, said lead researcher Dr. Stephanie O'Malley, professor of psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine.

Another expert agreed.

"If you just deal with the alcohol and not the other conditions, this study shows that relapse is quick," said David Rosenbloom, a professor of public health at the Boston University School of Public Health and director of Join Together, an organization that supports community-based efforts for alcohol and drug prevention and treatment programs.

Rosenbloom was not involved in the study, which is published in the April issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

In the study, O'Malley's team looked at 290 first-time DWI offenders treated at group counseling services between October 1992 and September 1994 in the state of Connecticut.

They found that 42 percent had a lifetime history of drug abuse or dependence, usually marijuana. And 30 percent had a lifetime history of anxiety or mood disorders, usually social phobia or depression.

"There was some overlap," O'Malley added. Many of the offenders had both mood or anxiety problems and drug dependence problems.

Other studies also have found that first-time DWI offenders are likely to have drug and psychiatric problems, O'Malley noted. "What's different about our study is that we have complete, formal diagnoses [of drug use and other psychiatric problems] rather than just [self-reported] symptoms." Her team also evaluated whether having drug or psychiatric problems affected treatment outcomes once the offenders were sent to group counseling programs after their arrests.

Driving while intoxicated is a serious problem in the United States. According to O'Malley, Department of Transportation statistics show that more than 40 percent of all fatal car accidents are alcohol-related.