|
A Meth
addiction treatment program that combines the
Matrix Model of psychosocial therapy with rewards for patients who
produce clean urine samples works better than therapy alone, according to
researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
The
contingency management (CM) program gave patients who had drug-free urine
tests plastic chips that could be exchanged for prizes; those who did not
follow program rules could lose chips. Past studies have shown CM programs
to be effective with cocaine users, and the latest research concludes that
CM also can promote abstinence among Meth addicts.
The CM
patients produced more drug-free urine samples, and also were abstinent
for more consecutive days than a control group.
The
research, led by John Roll of Washington State University, was published
in the November 2006 issue of the American
Journal of Psychiatry. The full article is available through paid
subscriptions. You can access a free copy of the
study’s abstract here.
|
