Research in social work: methods and applications

Social Work: Is Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Effective in Treating Addictions

The topic I selected was the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy in the treatment of addicted patients. Given the intractability of the problem of addiction, it seemed like a relevant and pertinent topic. In my study the independent variable would be remission from drug and alcohol abuse and the dependent variable would be cognitive-behavioral therapy vs. other forms of addiction. To research my topic, I selected the ProQuest database because of its notable amount of psychologically-based, quantitative research articles.

Carroll, K.M. (et al. 2008). Computer-assisted delivery of cognitive-behavioral therapy for addiction: A randomized trial of CBT4CBT. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 165(7), 881-8.

A study by Carroll (et al. 2008) discussed the use of CBT therapy to treat addicted patients via the computer. The study was a randomized clinical trial assessing the effectiveness of a CBT computer training program in cognitive-behavioral coping mechanisms. 77 patients were either assigned standard substance abuse treatment or standard treatment with the CBT computer (CBT4CBT) skill program. Participants assigned to the CBT grouping had a significantly lower likelihood of testing positive for controlled substances during outpatient treatment, indicating the efficacy of the program. The fact that CBT could be useful even when disseminated via computer was noteworthy because this suggested a cost-effective approach to providing the treatment was feasible as well as effective.

Carroll, K.M., Nich, C., Ball, S.A., McCance, E., & Rounsavile, B.J. (1998). Treatment of cocaine and alcohol dependence with psychotherapy and disulfiram. Addiction, 93(5), 713-27.

Another study examined the impact of the drug disulfiram on the treatment of cocaine addicts in conjunction with various psychotherapies. 122 addicts were assigned to a variety of groups: "cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) plus disulfiram; Twelve Step facilitation (TSF) plus disulfiram; clinical management (CM) plus disulfiram; CBT plus no medication; TSF plus no medication" (Carroll et al. 1998). The use of the drug was associated with enhanced retention in treatment and reduced recidivism but also, significantly, CBT was shown to be more effective than CM, either when paired with the drug or when compared as treatments without the drug.

Hepner, K.A., Hunter, S.B., Paddock, S.M., Zhou, A.J., & Watkins, K.E. (2011). Training

addiction counselors to implement CBT for depression. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 38(4), 313-23. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10488-011-0359-7

Addiction and depression are strongly associated and one pilot study of five addiction counselors examined whether training the counselors in CBT would result in high treatment fidelity to the principles of CBT. Counselors were trained and sessions with their clients were observed: high compliance, according to the study was achieved, based upon observations and there was 80% retention of the 113 clients for all sessions. For the clinicians "the average adherence rate was 94% across all coded sessions (N=80), suggesting high adherence to the treatment" (Hepner et al. 2011). This suggests that conjoining depression and addiction counseling using the principles of CBT is feasible even with training programs of relatively short duration.

WestraDavid, H.A. (2006). Preparing clients for cognitive behavioral therapy: A randomized pilot study of motivational interviewing for anxiety. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 30(4), 481-498. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10608-006-9016-y