PP8

Therapeutic Approach for Treating Patients with Addiction

Name

Institutional Affiliation

Date

1 Overview of the Article: 2 Evaluation of an Integrated Intensive Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Treatment Within Addiction Care

The population in the research article focused on group based treatment

3 The intervention used was cognitive behavioral therapy

The author claims that the integration of intensive CBT tends to have positive impact for patients suffering from substance abuse disorder.

4 The study aimed to evaluate an integrated intensive cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) group treatment for people with substance-related syndrome in outpatient care and to identify eventual gender differences. 2 The study population consisted of 35 outpatients (18 male, 17 female) at a clinic in Western Sweden. The patients completed a four-month period of intensive group therapy and participated in the data collection at admission and discharge. The author asserted that it may be concluded that the integration intensive CBT treatment had significant and strong (high effect size) positive effects for patients with substance-related syndrome, which supports the findings of previous research

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Findings/ Outcome Cont.

measures of vulnerability of the clients

Measures the strength of mind of the clients

The findings achieved from the research study tends to translate to my clients as it tends to point out the different reactions or experiences patient have during their treatment period. 2 For the evaluation of this specific treatment program we chose psychological measures that asses the patient’s level of vulnerability (i.e., anxiety [BAI], depression [BDI] and feelings of hopelessness [HS]) and strength of mind (i.e., self-esteem [RSES] and hope [THS]). 5 It is shown that motivation factors to remain free from use of substances include increased self-esteem and the experience of meaningfulness and hope, while anxiety, depression, and even the feeling of hopelessness are risk factors for substance use(Bador & Kerekes, 2019). 6 Therefore, any significant decrease in substance use risk factors and increase in protective factors indicate the success of the treatment program. Fundamentally, the research study will allow one to achieve a detailed understanding of the clients and be able to motivate them to live a drug free life.

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4 Findings/ Outcomes of the Study

7 Study Population characteristics

Impact of integrating intensive CBT treatment

Alterations during the integration of intensive treatment based on gender

7 Characteristics of the study population

2 Of the 50 clients who took contact with the clinic during the study period, 35 individuals (18 male, 17 female) completed the four-month intensive treatment program. The participants’ average age was 45.6 years (SD = 11.79, range = 24–65). Fourteen participants were in a relationship and 21 were single. Twenty-four participants were parents and 11 had no children. All of the participants had previous healthcare system and/or social services records. Before admission to treatment each participant underwent clinical screening establishing their substance use and dependence.

7 Effect of integrated intensive CBT treatment

2 The analysis showed significant effects for treatment (p < 0.001, Eta2 = 0.77, power > 0.99), and for the interaction of treatment × gender (p = 0.005, Eta2 = 0.50, power = 0.94), but not for gender by itself (p = 0.24, Eta2 = 0.27, power = 0.49). Univariate F tests showed significant treatment effects for all the dependent variables: RSES [F (1, 33) = 57.13, p < 0.001]; 2 THS [F (1, 33) = 37.07, p < 0.001]; 2 BDI [F (1, 33) = 50.34, p < 0.001]; 2 BAI [F (1, 33) = 42.77, p < 0.001]; 2 and HS [F (1, 33) = 9.85, p = 0.004]. As regards the interaction effect of treatment × gender the univariate F tests showed no significant interactions.

7 Changes during integrated intensive treatment by gender

2 At the pre-treatment assessment, there were no significant differences measured between male and female patients’ mental health variables. The strongest but not significant difference was measured in the level of depression between male and female patients (BDI 20.39 for male patients and 26.35 for female patients, p = 0.15).

At the post-treatment assessment one significant difference was measured between the genders in the assessed mental health parameters, namely the Pathway THS subscale (p = 0.027), where female patients scored higher.

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7 Strengths and Limitations of the Study

Limitations

4 Moderate size of the study population

Inadequate study information due to absence of previous research studies

Strengths

The patient are closely observed

The study population has an even gender distribution

2 A limitation of this study was the modest size of the study population, which has an effect on the generalizability of the results. This limitation was due to time and clinic capacity constraints. The clinic in question is one of few, possibly the only, clinic providing the studied form of addiction treatment in Sweden, which limited the potential number of participants(Bador & Kerekes, 2019)This is the first published study in Sweden that evaluates a CBT-based integrated intensive addiction care treatment. The absence of previous studies of this kind may be due to a lack of resources to gather evaluation data in similar clinical settings. 4 Two strengths of this study were that the clinical setting provided good opportunities to observe the patients in the course of the clinic’s everyday operations during the four-month treatment period without having to modify the settings or construct artificial experiments, and the even gender distribution of the study’s population(Bador & Kerekes, 2019).

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6 Ability to use the Study Findings

Moderate size for the study population allows detailed observation of the participants

With Moderate size of the study population the study may not be generalized however despite this limitation, the study tends to have a close observation on the vulnerability and the strength of mind of the participants. This aspect allows me to utilize the study findings or outcomes as with its minimal study population the researchers are able to identify various features regarding the participants substance use and dependability the impact integration of intensive CBT has on the patient (Bador & Kerekes, 2019). Furthermore, the findings of the study may be utilized despite its limitations as it tends to identify that male and female have different mental parameters. 5 For instance, The study illustrated that female patients the integrated intensive CBT treatment resulted in significant and dramatic improvements in their scores pertaining to depression and anxiety while In male patients the highest effect size could be measured within the self-esteem and the hope scales

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Supporting Sources

The main goal of the CBT is to aid people to identify thoughts that lead to problematic substance use and also offer skills which enable an individual to live a sober life

CBT contributes in reducing depressive symptoms

CBT targets the affective, cognitive as well as environmental risks of substance use.

The research on the use of CBT to treat substance use disorders (SUD) has generally produced results that support its use Fundamentally, behavioral types of counseling, whether individual or group, are most commonly used in the treatment of substance use disorders(Bayles, 2012). The goal of these

behavioral approaches is to help people become aware of thoughts and feelings that lead to problematic substance use and to develop coping skills that help a person gain and maintain sobriety. 8 Further, the cognitive-behavioral therapy model based on cognitive restructuring techniques has led to significant gains in the reduction of depressive symptoms among the impacted individuals through its three phases approach: identifying and replacing automatic negative thoughts, clarifying the person’s patterns of interaction with others and generating those behavioral changes that will lead to the person’s improved functionality ("efficiency of cognitive-behavioral therapy in the treatment of depression," 2017). In addition cognitive behavioral therapy is a time-limited, multisession intervention that targets cognitive, affective, and environmental risks for substance use and provides training in behavioral self-control skills to help an individual achieve and maintain abstinence or harm reduction (Ray et al., 2020).

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Why Supporting sources are Considered Scholarly

The content of the articles is reviewed by academic peers

The sources contain supportive and in-depth research

The source provide a platform relating research issues, variables as well as events

9 intended for use in support of conducting in-depth research, often containing specialized vocabulary and extensive references to sources. The content has been reviewed by academic peers to ensure the reliability of methods used and the validity of findings. Scholarly sources help answer the "So What?" question in academic writing and lay the foundation for discovering connections between variables, issues, or events.

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References

4 Bador, K., & Kerekes, N. (2019). 2 Evaluation of an integrated intensive cognitive behavioral therapy treatment within addiction care. 4 The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, 47(1), 102-112. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-019-09657-5

Bayles, C. J. (2012). 10 Cognitive behavioral therapy for adults with substance abuse disorders: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials since 2007. PsycEXTRA Dataset. 4 https://doi.org/10.1037/e685842012-203

8 The efficiency of cognitive-behavioral therapy in the treatment of depression. (2017). 8 American Research Journal of Addiction and Rehabilitation, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.21694/2578-5508.17001

Ray, L. 1 A., Meredith, L. R., Kiluk, B. D., Walthers, J., Carroll, K. M., & Magill, M. (2020). 1 Combined pharmacotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy for adults with alcohol or substance use disorders. JAMA Network Open, 3(6), e208279. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.8279