IDENTIFYING THE LEGACY IN PATIENTS WITH CO-OCCURRING DISORDERS AND EXAMINING CHANGES IN LIFE SATISFACTION AND SELF-EFFICACY

Roughly 50 percent of individuals diagnosed with severe mental disorders are affected by substance abuse, with 29 percent abusing alcohol or drugs. Social isolation, discrimination, physical illness, and financial worries place adults at risk for addiction and mental illness, and interventions focused on legacy with adults with co-occurring disorders may help to alleviate these concerns. The word legacy as related to this study means a set of past glories and memories that can be explicitly passed to a person’s next generations including genetics, materials, values, culture, and life stories. Published literature on legacy of adults with co-occurring disorders is nonexistent. The purpose of this study was to uncover the legacy adults with co-occurring disorders possess to manage life stresses. A framework utilizing existential, gestalt, and narrative theory will serve to discuss the theoretical importance of legacy. An experimental study was conducted to test a Legacy intervention’s impact on life satisfaction and self-efficacy. Seventy patients with co-occurring disorders were randomly selected into two groups: ordinary partial hospital program (PHP) intervention or Legacy intervention (which combines PHP with Legacy intervention). Both interventions included 10 sessions over 5 weeks and were offered for three cohorts (about 10-15 patients each). The outcome measures included: sense of legacy, life satisfaction and self-efficacy. The legacy definition for the intervention subsample was consistent with existing literature; however, several unique themes were also identified within this population. Life satisfaction and self-efficacy scores increased overtime and were statistically significant within the experimental group; however, not significantly different statistically when compared to the control group changes over time.