Harmen Beurmanjer

39 Illness Perception in Patients with GUD 3 or suicidal tendencies. Comorbiditywas assessedby treating counsellorswhenparticipants were asked to participate in the study and by the interviewers on inclusion, based on clinical judgement. All counsellors were experienced with screening for psychopathology in patients with GUD. No participants were excluded from the study. To determine if participants were still abstinent in the period before and during the interviews self-report was used, though GHB can be reliably detected in urine within a window of about 12 hours (Abanades et al., 2007; Brenneisen et al., 2004). Participants were rewarded with a €20,- gift voucher after the interview. Analysis All interviews were recorded and transcribed. The analysis was performed based on the principles of Grounded Theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Strauss & Corbin, 1994) by the two interviewers (HB & EA) and one independent researcher (LO) specialized in qualitative analysis. During this process a theory is build based on systematically gathered and analysed reports of the participants, without trying to test pre-existing theories. This allows the data to better resemble the reality of the participants and offer a better insight in and understanding of their perceptions. The analysis started with identifying recurring concepts using “open coding” after the first five interviews. In this analytic process the concepts are identified and their properties and dimensions are discovered in the interview data. Each of three analysts did this separately, after which the concepts were compared. Based on these results, questions were added to the topic list of the next fifteen interviews. The concepts found with open coding were then related to categories and subcategories and used to identify similarities and dissimilarities between the participant’s stories. Then the interviews were analysed using “selective coding”, focusing on the identified concepts and categories relevant for answering the main research questions on illness perception and treatment needs. The results formed a conceptual framework for formulating answers on the research questions. The team met on a regular basis to discuss both the cluster analysis and proposed thematic categories. Results Description of participants Participants were between 25 and 35 years ( μ =31 years) old, 60% were male (n=12). They had a GHB use history of two to ten years and had been admitted for GHB treatment with an average of four times (range 2-30). The treatment consisted of detoxification in a clinic followed by either inpatient or outpatient programs, based on cognitive behavioural therapy for GUD. All participants had also received prior treatment for other comorbid psychiatric disorders, mainly anxiety, (unipolar) mood and personality disorders. Out of twenty participants, eighteen reported to be abstinent for GHB at the time of the interview,