Title: The Impact of Exercise Program Participation on Recidivism and Relapse Among Drug Court Participants

Name: Jayme Warner
Mentor: Scott Deberard

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of exercise program participation on recidivism and relapse among drug court participants. By replacing harmful habits with healthy habits, and harmful friend groups with supportive, healthy friend groups, as well as providing a safe space to fully recover, this study looked at whether or not exercise had an impact on persons struggling with substance abuse as they worked to overcome their substance abuse issues. This study was a self-report survey study. The research questions specifically looked at in this project were: 1) What are the characteristics of the Drug Court Sample participating in the study? 2) What are the number and amount of time they engage in other recommended Drug Court activities in addition to the running program? 3) What are the mental and physical health-related quality of life outcomes among Drug Court Participants including those that are currently engaging in the program and program graduates? 4) What are the self-reported recidivism rates among Drug Court participants and how do these compare with state and national norms? 5) What are the relationships between participation in the exercise program within the Drug Court Program and the participant cravings, relapse and self-reported recidivism? Data was collected through December, 2019. This study is a self-report survey study. Data analysis is on-going, however, early results are indicating that exercise, especially exercise program participation, does indeed have a positive impact on recovery and lowering recidivism rates. Analysis will be done through SPSS in December, 2020, and we suspect that these early findings will continue to solidify as data analysis continues. If the end results match the early results that have been collected so far, this concept has the ability to change our approach to substance abuse and likely lower recidivism rates.

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