Interventions for addiction Flashcards
Biological intervention for heroin?
methadone is a synthetic drug used for heroin addiction, it mimics the effects of heroin but is led addictive. The drug abuser is perscr4ibed an increasing dose to increase tolerance, and the dose is then slowly decreased until neither methadone or heroin is needed.
Biological intervention for gambling?
no drug has yet been approved in the UK, however there is evidence that gamblers can be treated with SSRIs to increase serotonin levels. Naltrexone which reduces the dopamine receptors, help reduce the rewarding and reinforcing properties of gambling.
Problems with methadone
some drug addicts turn their addiction onto methadone. In 2007 methadone was responsible for the deaths of 300 people in the UK. It also creates a black market where people sell doses for as little as £2.
Evaluation for burg treatment of gambling
the role of SSRIs was supported with a study by Hollander et al, however there were only 10ps and it only lasted 16 weeks. Blanco et al repeated the study with 32 gamblers over 6 months and found no difference with SSRIs and a placebo. However, naltrexone has been found to be effective after just 6 weeks.
Psychological intervention for heroin?
Sindelar et al randomly assigned ps on methadone either a reward or no-reward condition. In the reward group drug use dropped significantly as the number of negative urine samples were 60% higher compared to the control condition.
Psychological intervention for gambling?
the main aim of this is to change the way people think about their addiction. For example gamblers often think they have control over their behaviour, CBT aims to change this.
Limitations of reinforcement
although it has been proven effective, it doesn’t change the underlying problem which means they could become addicted to something else. For example alcohol or even a dependant relationship.
Research support for CBT
Ladouceur et al randomly assigned 66 pathological gamblers to either cognitive therapy or a waiting list. After treatment, 86% no longer fit the DSM criteria. They also had an increased self-efficacy which was maintained up to a 1 year follow up. Sylvain also found support for cognitive and behavioural therapy (cognitive therapy, social skills training, relapse prevention) in male gamblers.
NIDA study
487 ps randomly assigned group counselling alone, CBT and GDC, supportive-expressive psychotherapy and GDC, individual counselling and GDC. The last group worked the best .
Quitline
a meta-analysis by Stead et al with over 18000 ps found that people who had repeated phone calls from a counsellor were 50% more likely to quit smoking compared to ps who had self-help info and/or brief counselling.
Youth Gambling public intervention
Messerlian et al (2005) proposed an intervention model for young adults. It applies denormalisation, protection, prevention, and harm-reduction principles.
Evaluation for public health interventions
the NIDA study also found a lower risk of HIV as there was a reduction in unprotected sex usually associated with cocaine use. Quitline has also been shown to be effective for returning army troops. Beckham et al found that out of 24 US troops, 11 had quit with quitline by their ‘target date’.
Evaluation for youth gambling interventions
Gupta (2004) found a correlation between youth gambling and adverse outcomes such as crime, strained relationships, delinquency etc. therefore showing the importance of intervention programmes.
