Efficacy of a Self-Help Treatment for At-Risk and Pathological Gamblers.

Available evidence suggests that self-help treatments may reduce problem gambling severity but inconsistencies of results across clinical trials leave the extent of their benefits unclear. Moreover, no self-help treatment has yet been validated within a French Canadian setting. The current study therefore assesses the efficacy of a French language self-help treatment including three motivational telephone interviews spread over an 11-week period and a cognitive-behavioral self-help workbook. At-risk and pathological gamblers were randomly assigned to the treatment group (n = 31) or the waiting list (n = 31). Relative to the waiting list, the treatment group showed a statistically significant reduction in the number of DSM-5 gambling disorder criteria met, gambling habits, and gambling consequences at Week 11. Perceived self-efficacy and life satisfaction also significantly improved after 11 weeks for the treatment group, but not for the waiting list group. At Week 11, 13% of participants had dropped out of the study. All significant changes reported for the treatment group were maintained throughout 1, 6 and 12-month follow-ups. Results support the efficacy of the self-help treatment to reduce problem gambling severity, gambling behaviour and to improve overall functioning among a sample of French Canadian problem gamblers over short, medium and long term. Findings from this study lend support to the appropriateness of self-help treatments for problem gamblers and help clarify inconsistencies found in the literature. The low dropout rate is discussed with respect to the advantages of the self-help format. Clinical and methodological implications of the results are put forth.

Addiction severity index profile of persons who reenter treatment for substance use disorders.

BACKGROUND: Despite a growing interest in persons with multiple treatment reentries, few studies have defined their clinical profile. The aim of this study was to compare the severity profile of substance use disorder and related problems of persons who reenter treatment with the profile of those who come in for treatment for the first time. METHODS: A data bank containing 6651 Addiction Severity Index (ASI) interviews from 3 rehabilitation centers was used for the analyses. RESULTS: All the ASI composite scores were significantly higher among persons who reentered treatment than among those who came for the first time. CONCLUSION: The results support the hypothesis of a more severe ASI profile and substance use-related problems among persons who reenter treatment compared with those who come for the first time. Consequently, they have greater needs, and the treatment offered should be adjusted accordingly.

"Alcochoix+": controlled drinking within a structured programme - a cohort study in Switzerland.

AIMS OF THE STUDY: Controlled drinking as a therapy goal for problematic alcohol use is still a matter for debate, especially with regard to dependent drinkers. Furthermore, few structured controlled drinking programmes have been evaluated. The aim of this study was to observe the evolution of excessive and dependent drinkers in a French-language six-step controlled drinking programme called “Alcochoix+”. METHODS: This was a cohort study of patients in four centres in the French-speaking part of Switzerland who were enrolled between May 2010 and September 2011, and evaluated before and up to 1 year after completion of the programme, according to criteria such as drinking habits, evolution of the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) score and quality of life indicators. We considered the patients who chose not to be followed up to have unchanged alcohol consumption. RESULTS: Recruitment was slow: 60 persons were enrolled, mostly middle-aged men, with excessive alcohol use / moderate alcohol dependence (median AUDIT score 20.5, median weekly alcohol consumption 350 g). Thirty-four participants (56.7%) completed the programme and their median weekly alcohol reduction was 160 g. The mean AUDIT score decreased to 14.1 points. Several aspects of quality of life improved. Changes were stable 1 year after the programme. Expressed satisfaction with the programme was high. CONCLUSIONS: This six-step structured controlled drinking programme designed for excessive drinkers also attracted moderately dependent drinkers. Those who had participated fully in the study significantly reduced their alcohol consumption, with a slight improvement in their quality of life. Future studies should identify the barriers to problem drinkers integrating controlled drinking programmes, and to underline the role of these programmes for moderately dependent drinkers.

Efficacy of extensive intervention models for substance use disorders: A systematic review.

ISSUES: Despite a growing trend towards considering addiction as a chronic disease, the development of intervention models addressing the chronicity of substance use disorder is relatively new, and no literature review on this topic is available. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate the efficacy of intervention models designed within the perspective of addiction as a chronic disease and those tailored to persons with substance use disorder who revolve in and out of treatment. APPROACH: Electronic databases were searched to identify articles published between 2000 and 2015 reporting an empirical study of an intervention model with data on its effectiveness. Study selection, data extraction and quality appraisal were performed independently by two reviewers. KEY FINDINGS: The selection process yielded 16 studies meeting all the inclusion criteria. The intervention models were classified into four groups according to the duration, frequency and components of the interventions. In general, the models showed potential therapeutic effects. The outcomes tended to be positive immediately after the end of the treatment. However, months after, the benefits obtained during treatment did not persist. IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSION: The review highlights that models designed specifically for persons with multiple treatment re-entries are scarce, but promising. Further research is needed to determine the best match between the clinical profile of persons with substance use disorder and a model's components, intensity and duration. [Simoneau H, Kamgang E, Tremblay J, Bertrand K, Brochu S, FleuryM-J. Efficacy of extensive interventionmodels for substance use disorders: A systematic review. Drug Alcohol Rev 2017;00:000-000].

Addiction Severity and Suicidal Behaviors Among Persons Entering Treatment.

The aim of this study was three-fold: to compare the rates for suicidal behaviors based on the problem substance, to look at the association between addiction severity and suicidal behaviors, and to identify the components of addiction severity associated with suicidal behaviors. Addiction Severity Index databases from three public rehabilitation centers were merged for analyses, yielding 6,551 evaluations. The rates for suicidal behaviors among those who have a problem with both alcohol and a drug are higher than for those who have a problem with any single substance. The effect of addiction severity on suicidal behaviors persists even when other problem areas are taken into account. Thus, clinicians must pay closer attention to persons with both alcohol and drug problem.

Factors affecting motivation during the first six weeks of treatment.

Since the new conceptualization of motivation as a product of interpersonal exchanges, clinicians and researchers have shown a growing interest in understanding the process of and identifying factors increasing motivation for treatment. Elaborated from the self-determination theory, a motivational model was tested among 140 participants (recruited in a public outpatient readaptation center for substance-related disorders) who persevered in treatment for at least 6 weeks. The results support the usefulness of the self-determination theory in the field of motivation for treatment of substance-related disorders, and suggest some recommendations to enhance motivation: therapists must pay attention to the progression toward goal attainment and foster the perception of competence of their clients; treatment centers should offer a context that supports autonomy and that involves significant others.