Type of Setting, Employee Substance Abuse, and Hypothetical Supervisors' Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Referrals

• NCJ Number: 157388
• Journal: Journal of Drug Issues Volume: 21 Issue: 4 Dated: (1991) Pages: 817-824
• Author(s): L H Gerstein; D Lynn; P Brown
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 8 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: DCC

Annotation

This study explored hypothetical supervisors' employee assistance program (EAP) referral behaviors toward three types of subordinates: cocaine abusers, alcohol abusers, and nonsubstance abusers who exhibited similar work behaviors.

Abstract

The study also examined supervisors' behaviors across the three work environments of a manufacturing company, a school system, and a hospital. The results showed that the supervisors referred cocaine abusers more often to an EAP than alcohol or nonsubstance abusers. The findings indicate that the subjects fond cocaine abuse to be a more severe problem than the other two impairments. Alcohol abuse, in turn, was considered to be a more severe problem than a job impairment by itself. However, contrary to expectations, supervisors associated with a school setting were no more likely to refer employees than those affiliated with a hospital or manufacturing company. 1 table and 13 references