There has been marked progress in recent years in the development of effective behavioral therapies for substance use disorders and in the largely independent development of behavioral therapies for mood disorders. Until recently, however, there were few well-specified behavioral approaches that incorporated an integrated approach for individuals in whom these disorders cooccur. The emerging literature on the efficacy of several types of behavioral therapy for engaging individuals with co-occurring mood and substance use disorders in treatment, reducing substance use and affective symptoms, enhancing adherence, and preventing disengagement and relapse is reviewed, followed by discussion of the challenges likely to be met in integrating these behavioral approaches into clinical practice.
KeywordsCo-occurring disorders; substance use; behavioral therapies; review As described in detail in other articles in this special issue, there is ample evidence that rates of comorbidity between substance use, depression, and bipolar disorders are elevated (Kessler et al 1997;Regier et al 1990), that these dual disorders place considerable stress on the service delivery system (Dickey et al 2002;Drake et al 2004;Rosen et al 2002), and that the risk of poor outcome is higher among individuals with both substance use and mood disorders compared with those that have a single disorder (Brady and Sonne 1995;Brown et al 1998;Feinman and Dunner 1996;McKay et al 2002;Rounsaville et al 1986Rounsaville et al , 1987Thase et al 2001;Tohen et al 1990). What is also becoming clear is that a number of behavioral therapies can play a major role in several aspects of treatment for individuals with these complex disorders. This article will provide an overview of the roles that behavioral therapies (the term behavioral therapy is used here to refer to well-defined, manualized nonpharmacologic interventions rather than broader psychosocial or programmatic approaches) can play in the treatment of co-occurring substance use and mood disorders. Behavioral approaches that have been developed or adapted for these populations will be described, with a brief summary of findings from clinical trials evaluating their effectiveness, followed by a discussion of some of the challenges that will be faced as investigators and clinicians attempt to incorporate these empirically supported behavioral therapies into clinical practice.
Roles of Behavioral TherapiesBehavioral therapies may play a range of roles in the treatment of individuals with cooccurring mood and substance use disorders. First, behavioral therapies may be used to directly target and reduce ongoing substance use. Because substance use may play a role in the perpetuation or exacerbation of psychiatric symptoms, the principal rationale for this strategy is that reductions in substance use are likely to reduce symptom severity as well as facilitate accurate assessment and appropriate treatment of the comorbid affective disorder. Second, behavioral therapies can be used to directly addres...