Rationale-Craving is often assumed to cause ongoing drug use and relapse and is a major focus of addiction research. However, its relationship to drug use has not been adequately documented.Objectives-The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between craving and drug use in real time and in the daily living environments of drug users. Methods-In a prospective, longitudinal, cohort design (Ecological Momentary Assessment), 112cocaine-abusing individuals in methadone maintenance treatment rated their craving and mood at random times (two to five times daily, prompted by electronic diaries) as they went about their everyday activities. They also initiated an electronic-diary entry each time they used cocaine. Drug use was monitored by thrice-weekly urine testing.Results-During periods of urine-verified cocaine use, ratings of cocaine craving increased across the day and were higher than during periods of urine-verified abstinence. During the five hours prior to cocaine use, ratings of craving significantly increased. These patterns were not seen in ratings of heroin craving or mood (e.g., feeling happy or bored).Conclusions-Cocaine craving is tightly coupled to cocaine use in users' normal environments. Our findings provide previously unavailable support for a relationship that has been seriously questioned in some theoretical accounts. We discuss what steps will be needed to determine whether craving causes use. Keywordscraving; Ecological Momentary Assessment; cocaine; mood; addiction; psychological theory Craving-a conscious, reportable urge-is a frequently discussed aspect of drug addiction (Lowman et al. 2000;Pickens and Johanson 1992), but its exact role in addiction, particularly its relationship with drug use and relapse, has been disputed from both theoretical and clinical perspectives. Across the spectrum of addiction theories, craving is given varying degrees of importance as a driver of drug use (Drummond 2001). NIH Public AccessAuthor Manuscript Psychopharmacology (Berl). Author manuscript; available in PMC 2010 September 20. Published in final edited form as:Psychopharmacology (Berl Clinical studies of the relationship between craving and drug use have had mixed results. Some studies have shown that craving before or during treatment predicts post-treatment cocaine use (Baer et al. 1989;Hartz et al. 2001;Paliwal et al. 2008;Rohsenow et al. 2007;Weiss et al. 2003), while others have shown no relationship (Kranzler et al. 1999;Walton et al. 2003;Weiss et al. 1995). In laboratory studies, the amount of cocaine craving induced by stressors in experimental sessions predicts time to resumption of cocaine use in daily life ; similar findings have been reported for tobacco smokers, with either stress-induced (al'Absi et al. 2005) or cue-induced craving . However, during an experimental session, reductions in craving do not necessarily lead to reductions in drug selfadministration (Haney and Spealman 2008;Leyton et al. 2005;Sofuoglu et al. 2009).In spite of the mixed clinical data, muc...

Background Maladaptive behaviors may be more fully understood and efficiently prevented by ambulatory tools that assess people’s ongoing experience in the context of their environment. Methods To demonstrate new field-deployable methods for assessing mood and behavior as a function of neighborhood surroundings (Geographical Momentary Assessment; GMA), we collected time-stamped GPS data and Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) ratings of mood, stress, and drug craving over 16 weeks at randomly prompted times during the waking hours of opioid-dependent polydrug users receiving methadone maintenance. Locations of EMA entries and participants’ travel tracks were calculated for the 12 hours before each EMA entry were mapped. Associations between subjective ratings and objective environmental ratings were evaluated at the whole neighborhood and 12-hour track levels. Results Participants (N=27) were compliant with GMA data collection; 3,711 randomly prompted EMA entries were matched to specific locations. At the neighborhood level, physical disorder was negatively correlated with negative mood, stress, and heroin and cocaine craving (ps <.0001 to .0335); drug activity was negatively correlated with stress, heroin and cocaine craving (ps .0009 to .0134). Similar relationships were found for the environments around respondents’ tracks in the 12 hours preceding EMA entries. Conclusions The results support the feasibility of GMA. The relationships between neighborhood characteristics and participants’ reports were counterintuitive and counter-hypothesized, and challenge some assumptions about how ostensibly stressful environments are associated with lived experience and how such environments ultimately impair health. GMA methodology may have applications for development of individual- or neighborhood-level interventions.

Rationale Knowing how stress manifests in the lives of people with substance-use disorders could help inform mobile “just in time” treatment. Objectives To examine discrete episodes of stress, as distinct from the fluctuations in background stress assessed in most EMA studies. Methods For up to 16 weeks, outpatients on opioid-agonist treatment carried smartphones on which they initiated an entry whenever they experienced a stressful event (SE) and when randomly prompted (RP) three times daily. Participants reported the severity of stress and craving and the context of the report (location, activities, companions). Decomposition of covariance was used to separate within-person from between-person effects; reffect sizes below are within-person. Results Participants (158 of 182; 87%) made 1,787 stress-event entries. Craving for opioids increased with stress severity (reffect = 0.50). Stress events tended to occur in social company (with acquaintances, 0.63, friends, 0.17, or on the phone, 0.41) rather than with family (spouse, −0.14; child, −0.18), and in places with more overall activity (bars, 0.32; outside, 0.28; walking, 0.28) and more likelihood of unexpected experiences (with strangers, 0.17). Being on the internet was slightly protective (−0.22). Our prior finding that being at the workplace protects against background stress in our participants was partly supported in these stressful-event data. Conclusions The contexts of specific stressful events differ from those we have seen in prior studies of ongoing background stress. However, both are associated with drug craving.

EMA did not support the idea that stress is a necessary or sufficient trigger for cocaine or heroin use after accounting for the base rates of stress and use. But EMA did show that stressful events can increase in severity in the days preceding cocaine use.

To examine the effect of reinforcer density in prize-based abstinence reinforcement, heroin/cocaine users (N = 116) in methadone maintenance (100 mg/day) were randomly assigned to a noncontingent control group (NonC) or to 1 of 3 groups that earned prize draws for abstinence: manual drawing with standard prize density (MS) or computerized drawing with standard (CS) or high (CH) density. Probabilities (prizes/draw) were standard (50%) and high (78%); prize density was double blind. Mean prize values were CH, $286; CS, $167; MS, $139; and NonC, $171. Outcomes were % opioid/ cocaine-negative urines during the 12-week intervention and then 8 weeks postintervention as well as diagnosis of dependence up to 6 months poststudy. CH had significantly more negative specimens than did NonC during intervention and had more than all groups during postintervention treatment: Mean % negative (95% confidence interval) during postintervention treatment adjusted for baseline drug use and dropout were CH, 55% (14%-90%); CS, 7% (1%-27%); MS, 4% (1%-12%); and NonC, 3% (1%-10%). Current cocaine dependence diagnoses after treatment were significantly lower in contingent compared with noncontingent groups. Computerized drawing with higherdensity prizes enhanced reduction of cocaine use; abstinence reinforcement had long-term therapeutic benefits. Keywords contingency management; opiate; cocaine dependence; opiate dependence; methadone maintenance One of the most robust means of inducing behavioral change in patients with heroin and cocaine dependence is a set of behavioral techniques called contingency management (CM;Higgins et al., 1991;Higgins & Silverman, 1999). An especially powerful component of CM is a voucherbased escalating-reinforcement schedule developed by Higgins et al. (1991), in which reinforcement increases with each consecutive drug-negative urine sample. This procedure has repeatedly been shown effective in the treatment of cocaine abuse and dependence, with or without concurrent dependence on heroin (Higgins et al., 1991;Silverman et al., 1996). Compared with a control procedure in which equivalent values of vouchers are given independent of cocaine use, the escalating-reinforcement procedure reduces the frequency of cocaine use, increases the mean duration of abstinence, reduces patients' ratings of their desire for cocaine, and increases the frequency with which abstainers report engaging in coping behaviors .Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Udi E. Ghitza, Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics Branch, Treatment Section, IRP, NIDA, NIH, 5500 Nathan Shock Drive, Baltimore, MD 21224. E-mail: ghitzau@intra.nida.nih.gov. NIH Public Access NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptThe voucher reinforcers used in the escalating-reinforcement procedure are certificates presented immediately on provision of a drug-negative urine sample; monetary values indicated on the certificates accrue and are redeemable later for a variety of goods and services. The use...

Although treatment outcome in prize-based contingency management has been shown to depend on reinforcement schedule, the optimal schedule is still unknown. Therefore, we conducted a retrospective analysis of data from a randomized clinical trial (Ghitza et al., 2007) to determine the effects of the probability of winning a prize (low vs. high) and the size of the prize won (small, large, or jumbo) on likelihood of abstinence until the next urine-collection day for heroin and cocaine users (N=116) in methadone maintenance. Higher probability of winning, but not the size of individual prizes, was associated with a greater percentage of cocaine-negative, but not opiate-negative, urines.

Behavioral adjustment plays an important role in the treatment and relapse of drug addiction. Nonetheless, few studies have examined behavioral adjustment and its plasticity following error commission in methamphetamine (METH) dependence, which is detrimental to human health. Thus, we investigated the behavioral adjustment performance following error commission in long-term METH addicts and how it varied with the application of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Twenty-nine male long-term METH addicts (for > 3 years) were randomly assigned to high-frequency (10 Hz, n = 15) or sham (n = 14) rTMS of the left DLPFC during a two-choice oddball task. Twenty-six age-matched, healthy male adults participated in the two-choice oddball task pretest to establish normal performance for comparison. The results showed that 10 Hz rTMS over the left DLPFC significantly decreased the post-error slowing effect in response times of METH addicts. In addition, the 10 Hz rTMS intervention remarkably reduced the reaction times during post-error trials but not post-correct trials. While the 10 Hz rTMS group showed a more pronounced post-error slowing effect than the healthy participants during the pretest, the post-error slowing effect in the posttest of this sample was similar to that in the healthy participants. These results suggest that high-frequency rTMS over the left DLPFC is a useful protocol for the improvement of behavioral adjustment after error commission in long-term METH addicts.

Issues-A challenge in treatment research is the necessity of adhering to protocol and regulatory strictures while maintaining flexibility to meet patients' treatment needs and accommodate variations among protocols. Another challenge is the acquisition of large amounts of data in an occasionally hectic environment, along with provision of seamless methods for exporting, mining, and querying the data.Approach-We have automated several major functions of our outpatient treatment research clinic for studies in drug abuse and dependence. Here we describe three such specialized applications: the Automated Contingency Management (ACM) system for delivery of behavioral interventions, the Transactional Electronic Diary (TED) system for management of behavioral assessments, and the Protocol Workflow System (PWS) for computerized workflow automation and guidance of each participant's daily clinic activities. These modules are integrated into our larger information system to enable data sharing in real time among authorized staff.Key Findings-ACM and TED have each permitted us to conduct research that was not previously possible. In addition, the time to data analysis at the end of each study is substantially shorter. With the implementation of the PWS, we have been able to manage a research clinic with an 80-patient capacity having an annual average of 18,000 patient-visits and 7,300 urine collections with a research staff of five. Finally, automated data management has considerably enhanced our ability to monitor and summarize participant-safety data for research oversight.Implications and conclusion-When developed in consultation with end users, automation in treatment-research clinics can enable more efficient operations, better communication among staff, and expansions in research methods.