Of note, risk of relapse was highest in the earliest follow-up period and least at 11 years, and this was particularly true for non-problem users, given their more dramatic decrease in hazard for relapse. Future longitudinal research should examine the ideal length of time for which individuals in abstinence treatment need to remain abstinent before successfully moving to long-term non-problem use, and how this differs by patient, treatment, and extra-treatment characteristics.
