Predicting Patients' Withdrawal against Medical Advice from an Alcoholism Treatment Center

34 male street alcoholics completed the Drinking-related Locus of Control Scale before entering a 30-day residential treatment program for alcoholism. Their locus of control scores significantly correlated .36 with the number of days they remained in treatment. Patients reporting more perceived control over both interpersonal and intrapersonal pressures to drink (internal scorers) remained in treatment reliably longer than patients (external) who felt their sobriety was a function of forces outside their control.