Psychosocial Treatment for Methamphetamine Use Disorders: A Preliminary Randomized Controlled Trial of Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Abstract

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) incorporates developments in behavior therapy, holds promise but has not been evaluated for methamphetamine use disorders. The objective of this study was to test whether ACT would increase treatment attendance and reduce methamphetamine use and related harms compared to cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). One hundred and four treatment-seeking adults with methamphetamine abuse or dependence were randomly assigned to receive 12 weekly 60-minute individual sessions of ACT or CBT. Attrition was 70% at 12 weeks and 86% at 24 weeks postentry. Per intention-to-treat analysis, there were no significant differences between the treatment groups in treatment attendance (median 3 sessions), and methamphetamine-related outcomes; however, methamphetamine use (toxicology-assessed and self-reported), negative consequences, and dependence severity significantly improved over time in both groups. Although ACT did not improve treatment outcomes or attendance compared to CBT, it may be a viable alternative to CBT for methamphetamine use disorders. Future rigorous research in this area seems warranted.

Reporting of harms in randomized controlled trials of psychological interventions for mental and behavioral disorders: A review of current practice

“…One of these reports [50] stated in the methods section that the treatment was "not deemed harmful". Another report [51] informed that although data on side effects or adverse events data were not formally collected, none of the subjects reported any negative events during the study. A few of the reports provided information about dropout due to deterioration, but did not include information about monitoring of harms in the participants that continued the trial.…”

La terapia de aceptación y compromiso para los trastornos por abuso y dependencia de sustancias psicoactivas: una revisión descriptiva

“…En total se revisaron 100 referencias, de las cuales se seleccionaron 40 para la lectura a texto completo. Finalmente, se incluyeron 9 estudios localizados en las diferentes bases de datos, que cumplían los criterios anteriormente mencionados; dichos estudios fueron de carácter controlado y aleatorizado Gifford et al, 2011;González-Menéndez et al, 2014;Hayes et al 2004;Hernandez-Lopez et al, 2009;Smout et al, 2010;Stotts, Masuda, Sate & Wilson, 2010;Villagrá et al, 2014;Villagrá & Gonzales, 2013).…”

“…Estudios dirigidos a personas con dependencia a la metanfetamina Smout et al (2010) realizaron un estudio en el que comparaban la ACT con la DBT. Esta investigación contó con la participación de 104 personas que presentaban dependencia a la metanfetamina.…”

Buddhist Approaches to Addiction Recovery

“…As a consequence, ACT therapists often techniques taken from other mindfulness-based approaches [38]. ACT has been adapted for use in addiction [39], with a small evidence base for its use [40][41][42][43][44].…”