Scientifically Based Approches to Drug Addiction Treatment

Multisystemic Therapy (MST) addresses the factors associated with serious antisocial behavior in children and adolescents who abuse drugs. These factors include characteristics of the adolescent (for example, favorable attitudes toward drug use), the family (poor discipline, family conflict, parental drug abuse), peers (positive attitudes toward drug use), school (dropout, poor performance), and neighborhood (criminal subculture). By participating in intense treatment in natural environments (homes, schools, and neighborhood settings) most youths and families complete a full course of treatment. MST significantly reduces adolescent drug use during treatment and for at least 6 months after treatment. Reduced numbers of incarcerations and out-of-home placements of juveniles offset the cost of providing this intensive service and maintaining the clinicians' low caseloads.

References:

Henggeler, S.W.; Pickrel, S.G.; Brondino, M.J.; and Crouch, J.L. Eliminating (almost) treatment dropout of substance abusing or dependent delinquents through home-based multisystemic therapy. American Journal of Psychiatry 153: 427-428, 1996.

Henggeler, S.W.; Schoenwald, S.K.; Borduin, C.M.; Rowland, M.D.; and Cunningham, P. B. Multisystemic treatment of antisocial behavior in children and adolescents. New York: Guilford Press, 1998.

Schoenwald, S.K.; Ward, D.M.; Henggeler, S.W.; Pickrel, S.G.; and Patel, H. MST treatment of substance abusing or dependent adolescent offenders: Costs of reducing incarceration, inpatient, and residential placement. Journal of Child and Family Studies 5: 431-444, 1996.

Combined Behavioral and Nicotine Replacement Therapy for Nicotine Addiction consists of two main components:

• The transdermal nicotine patch or nicotine gum reduces symptoms of withdrawal, producing better initial abstinence.
• The behavioral component concurrently provides support and reinforcement of coping skills, yielding better long-term outcomes.

Through behavioral skills training, patients learn to avoid high-risk situations for smoking relapse early on and later to plan strategies to cope with such situations. Patients practice skills in treatment, social, and work settings. They learn other coping techniques, such as cigarette refusal skills, assertiveness, and time management. The combined treatment is based on the rationale that behavioral and pharmacological treatments operate by different yet complementary mechanisms that produce potentially additive effects.

References:

Fiore, M.C.; Kenford, S.L.; Jorenby, D.E.; Wetter, D.W.; Smith, S.S.; and Baker, T.B. Two studies of the clinical effectiveness of the nicotine patch with different counseling treatments. Chest 105: 524-533, 1994.

Hughes, J.R. Combined psychological and nicotine gum treatment for smoking: a critical review. Journal of Substance Abuse 3: 337-350, 1991.

American Psychiatric Association: Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Patients with Nicotine Dependence. American Psychiatric Association, 1996.

Community Reinforcement Approach (CRA) Plus Vouchers is an intensive 24-week outpatient therapy for treatment of cocaine addiction. The treatment goals are twofold:

• To achieve cocaine abstinence long enough for patients to learn new life skills that will help sustain abstinence.
• To reduce alcohol consumption for patients whose drinking is associated with cocaine use.

Patients attend one or two individual counseling sessions per week, where they focus on improving family relations, learning a variety of skills to minimize drug use, receiving vocational counseling, and developing new recreational activities and social networks. Those who also abuse alcohol receive clinic-monitored disulfiram (Antabuse) therapy. Patients submit urine samples two or three times each week and receive vouchers for cocaine-negative samples. The value of the vouchers increases with consecutive clean samples. Patients may exchange vouchers for retail goods that are consistent with a cocaine-free lifestyle.

This approach facilitates patients' engagement in treatment and systematically aids them in gaining substantial periods of cocaine abstinence. The approach has been tested in urban and rural areas and used successfully in outpatient detoxification of opiate-addicted adults and with inner-city methadone maintenance patients who have high rates of intravenous cocaine abuse.

References:

Higgins, S.T.; Budney, A.J.; Bickel, H.K.; Badger, G.; Foerg, F.; and Ogden, D. Outpatient behavioral treatment for cocaine dependence: one-year outcome. Experimental & Clinical Psychopharmacology 3(2): 205-212, 1995.

Higgins, S.T.; Budney, A.J.; Bickel, W.K.; Foerg, F.; Donham, R.; and Badger, G. Incentives improve outcome in outpatient behavioral treatment of cocaine dependence. Archives of General Psychiatry 51: 568-576, 1994.

Silverman, K.; Higgins, S.T.; Brooner, R.K.; Montoya, I.D.; Cone, E.J.; Schuster, C.R.; and Preston, K.L. Sustained cocaine abstinence in methadone maintenance patients through voucher-based reinforcement therapy. Archives of General Psychiatry 53: 409-415, 1996.

Voucher-Based Reinforcement Therapy in Methadone Maintenance Treatment helps patients achieve and maintain abstinence from illegal drugs by providing them with a voucher each time they provide a drug-free urine sample. The voucher has monetary value and can be exchanged for goods and services consistent with the goals of treat-ment. Initially, the voucher values are low, but their value increases with the number of consecutive drug-free urine specimens the individual provides. Cocaine- or heroin-positive urine specimens reset the value of the vouchers to the initial low value. The contingency of escalating incentives is designed specifically to reinforce periods of sustained drug abstinence.

Studies show that patients receiving vouchers for drug-free urine samples achieved significantly more weeks of abstinence and significantly more weeks of sustained abstinence than patients who were given vouchers independent of urinalysis results. In another study, urinalyses positive for heroin decreased significantly when the voucher program was started and increased significantly when the program was stopped.

References:

Silverman, K.; Higgins, S.; Brooner, R.; Montoya, I.; Cone, E.; Schuster, C.; and Preston, K. Sustained cocaine abstinence in methadone maintenance patients through voucher-based reinforcement therapy. Archives of General Psychiatry 53: 409-415, 1996.

Silverman, K.; Wong, C.; Higgins, S.; Brooner, R.; Montoya, I.; Contoreggi, C.; Umbricht-Schneiter, A.; Schuster, C.; and Preston, K. Increasing opiate abstinence through voucher-based reinforcement therapy. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 41: 157-165, 1996.

Day Treatment With Abstinence Contingencies and Vouchers was developed to treat homeless crack addicts. For the first 2 months, participants must spend 5.5 hours daily in the program, which provides lunch and transportation to and from shelters. Interventions include individual assessment and goal setting, individual and group counseling, multiple psychoeducational groups (for example, didactic groups on community resources, housing, cocaine, and HIV/AIDS prevention; establishing and reviewing personal rehabilitation goals; relapse prevention; weekend planning), and patient-governed community meetings during which patients review contract goals and provide support and encouragement to each other. Individual counseling occurs once a week, and group therapy sessions are held three times a week. After 2 months of day treatment and at least 2 weeks of abstinence, participants graduate to a 4-month work component that pays wages that can be used to rent inexpensive, drug-free housing. A voucher system also rewards drug-free related social and recreational activities.

This innovative day treatment was compared with treatment consisting of twice-weekly individual counseling and 12-step groups, medical examinations and treatment, and referral to community resources for housing and vocational services. Innovative day treatment followed by work and housing dependent upon drug abstinence had a more positive effect on alcohol use, cocaine use, and days homeless.

References:

Milby, J.B.; Schumacher, J.E.; Raczynski, J.M.; Caldwell, E.; Engle, M.; Michael, M.; and Carr, J. Sufficient conditions for effective treatment of substance abusing homeless. Drug & Alcohol Dependence 43: 39-47, 1996.

Milby, J.B.; Schumacher, J.E.; McNamara, C.; Wallace, D.; McGill, T.; Stange, D.; and Michael, M. Abstinence contingent housing enhances day treatment for homeless cocaine abusers. National Institute on Drug Abuse Research Monograph Series 174, Problems of Drug Dependence: Proceedings of the 58th Annual Scientific Meeting. The College on Problems of Drug Dependence, Inc., 1996.

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