Predicting successful completion of an aftercare program following treatment for alcoholism: the role of dispositional optimism

In this study we investigated several variables as potential predictors of success in completing a transition program after treatment for alcoholism. Subjects were 54 men who had completed a 30-day treatment program and who were subsequently admitted to a 90-day inpatient aftercare program. The outcome measure was successful completion of this latter program. Predictor variables were dispositional optimism, hassles, uplifts, and several demographic variables. Optimism was positively associated with successful outcome. The simple association between uplifts and outcome also approached significance, but in the opposite to expected direction. Discriminant analyses used both of these variables, as well as age and education level, as predictors of successful outcome. There was no evidence of a role for hassles. Discussion centers on the importance of dispositional optimism as a predictor of successful adaptation in a variety of behavioral domains.