A Twelve-Year Follow-Up of New York Narcotic Addicts: IV. Some Characteristics and Determinants of Abstinence

Thirty urban narcotic addicts who over a 12-year period achieved stable abstinences were compared with 30 chronic addicts. Abstinence was associated with certain changes in defensive style but did not result in emergence of new psychiatric symptomatology. It occurred most often in addicts with a prior history of regular employment and a stable early childhood. Compulsory community supervision, discovery of substitutes for narcotics, and gratifying nonfamily object relationships appeared to be important factors in producing abstinence.