Introduction and Aims. Although psychiatric symptoms are frequently observed in methamphetamine (MA) users, little is known about the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in MA‐dependent individuals. ...This is the first study to examine the association of psychiatric disorders with substance use and psychosocial functioning in a large sample of MA users 3 years after treatment. We predicted that psychiatric diagnoses and severity would be associated with substance use and poorer overall functioning over the 3 year post‐treatment course. Design and Methods. Participants (N = 526) received psychosocial treatment for MA dependence as part of the Methamphetamine Treatment Project and were reassessed for psychosocial functioning and substance use at a mean of 3 years after treatment initiation. DSM‐IV psychiatric diagnoses were assessed at follow‐up using the Mini‐International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Psychosocial functioning was assessed using the Addiction Severity Index. Results. Overall, 48.1% of the sample met criteria for a current or past psychiatric disorder other than a substance use disorder. Consistent with prior reports from clinical samples of cocaine users, this rate was largely accounted for by mood disorders, anxiety disorders and antisocial personality. Those with an Axis I psychiatric disorder evidenced increased MA use and greater functional impairment over time relative to those without a psychiatric disorder. Discussion and Conclusions. This initial investigation of psychiatric diagnoses in MA users after treatment indicates elevated rates of Axis I and II disorders in this population and underscores the need for integrated psychiatric assessment and intervention in drug abuse treatment settings.Glasner‐Edwards S, Mooney LJ, Marinelli‐Casey P, Hillhouse M, Ang A, Rawson RA, The Methamphetamine Treatment Project Corporate Authors. Psychopathology in methamphetamine‐dependent adults 3 years after treatment. Drug Alcohol Rev 2009
Psychotic symptoms and syndromes are frequently experienced among individuals who use methamphetamine, with recent estimates of up to approximately 40 % of users affected. Although transient in a ...large proportion of users, acute symptoms can include agitation, violence, and delusions, and may require management in an inpatient psychiatric or other crisis intervention setting. In a subset of individuals, psychosis can recur and persist and may be difficult to distinguish from a primary psychotic disorder such as schizophrenia. Differential diagnosis of primary vs. substance-induced psychotic disorders among methamphetamine users is challenging; nevertheless, with careful assessment of the temporal relationship of symptoms to methamphetamine use, aided by state-of-the art psychodiagnostic assessment instruments and use of objective indicators of recent substance use (i.e., urine toxicology assays), coupled with collateral clinical data gathered from the family or others close to the individual, diagnostic accuracy can be optimized and the individual can be appropriately matched to a plan of treatment. The pharmacological treatment of acute methamphetamine-induced psychosis may include the use of antipsychotic medications as well as benzodiazepines, although symptoms may resolve without pharmacological treatment if the user is able to achieve a period of abstinence from methamphetamine. Importantly, psychosocial treatment for methamphetamine dependence has a strong evidence base and is the optimal first-line treatment approach to reducing rates of psychosis among individuals who use methamphetamines. Prevention of methamphetamine relapse is the most direct means of preventing recurrence of psychotic symptoms and syndromes. Long-term management of individuals presenting with recurrent and persistent psychosis, even in the absence of methamphetamine use, may include both behavioral treatment to prevent resumption of methamphetamine use and pharmacological treatment targeting psychotic symptoms. In addition, treatment of co-occurring psychiatric disorders including depression and anxiety is important as a means of preventing relapse to methamphetamine use, which is often triggered by associated symptoms.
Although anxiety is one of the most prominent psychiatric complaints of methamphetamine (MA) users, little is known about the association between anxiety disorders and treatment outcomes in this ...population. Using data from 526 adults in the largest psychosocial clinical trial of MA users conducted to date, this study examined psychiatric, substance use, and functional outcomes of MA users with concomitant anxiety disorders 3 years after treatment. Anxiety disorders were associated with poorer alcohol and drug use outcomes, increased health service utilization, and higher levels of psychiatric symptomatology, including suicidality. Addressing anxiety symptoms and syndromes in MA users may be helpful as a means of optimizing treatment outcomes. (Am J Addict 2010;00:1–6)
Abstract Little is known about the association between psychosis and treatment outcomes in methamphetamine (MA) users. Using data from 526 adults in the largest psychosocial clinical trial of MA ...users conducted to date, this study examined psychiatric, substance use, and functional outcomes of MA users with concomitant psychotic illness 3 years after treatment. The presence of a psychotic disorder was associated with increased health service utilization and higher levels of psychiatric symptomatology across multiple domains over time. MA users with co-occurring psychotic illness may therefore benefit from early psychosocial and/or pharmacologic interventions to address psychiatric symptoms.
Abstract The movement in recent years towards evidence-based practice (EBP) in health care systems and policy has permeated the substance abuse treatment system, leading to a growing number of ...federal and statewide initiatives to mandate EBP implementation. Nevertheless, due to a lack of consensus in the addiction field regarding procedures or criteria to identify EBPs, the optimal processes for disseminating empirically based interventions into real-world clinical settings have not been identified. Although working lists of interventions considered to be evidence-based have been developed by a number of constituencies advocating EBP dissemination in addiction treatment settings, the use of EBP lists to form policy-driven mandates has been controversial. This article examines the concept of EBP, critically reviews criteria used to evaluate the evidence basis of interventions, and highlights the manner in which such criteria have been applied in the addictions field. Controversies regarding EBP implementation policies and practices in addiction treatment are described, and suggestions are made to shift the focus of dissemination efforts from manualized psychosocial interventions to specific skill sets that are broadly applicable and easily learned by clinicians. Organizational and workforce barriers to EBP implementation are delineated, with corresponding recommendations to facilitate successful dissemination of evidence-based skills.
In a randomized trial, this study compared the longitudinal outcome patterns of veterans (N = 66) with substance use disorders and major depressive disorder receiving standard pharmacotherapy and ...either 12-Step Facilitation Therapy (TSF) or disorder-specific Integrated Cognitive Behavioral Treatment (ICBT). Depression and substance use were assessed at intake, during and after treatment using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and the Time Line Follow Back. Reductions in depression during treatment were comparable between the two treatment groups; however, their posttreatment patterns were distinct. While ICBT participants evidenced a steady linear decline in depression through six months posttreatment, a quadratic trend characterized TSF participants, for whom depression declined during treatment, but increased throughout posttreatment follow-up. During treatment, TSF participants used substances less frequently relative to those in ICBT; however, reductions in substance use were more stable through six months posttreatment among those in ICBT relative to TSF. While both interventions produced improvement in depression and substance use during treatment, ICBT may yield more stable clinical outcomes once treatment ceases.
The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors for suicide attempts (SA) in methamphetamine (MA)-dependent patients. MA-dependent adults (N = 526) who participated in the Methamphetamine ...Treatment Project were interviewed before and three years after treatment. Baseline psychiatric, medical, demographic, and substance use characteristics were assessed using the Addiction Severity Index and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Lifetime history of SA was assessed at follow-up. Risk factors for SA included gender, intravenous MA use, BDI > 20 at baseline, and clinically significant psychiatric history. Psychiatric characteristics of MA users are strongly associated with SA, warranting careful assessment of psychiatric history.
In light of the known associations between stress, negative affect, and relapse, mindfulness strategies hold promise as a means of reducing relapse susceptibility. In a pilot randomized clinical ...trial, we evaluated the effects of Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP), relative to a health education control condition (HE) among stimulant-dependent adults receiving contingency management. All participants received a 12-week contingency management (CM) intervention. Following a 4-week CM-only lead in phase, participants were randomly assigned to concurrently receive MBRP (
n
= 31) or HE (
n
= 32). The primary outcomes were stimulant use, measured by urine drug screens weekly during the intervention and at 1 month post-treatment, negative affect, measured by the Beck Depression Inventory and Beck Anxiety Inventory, and psychiatric severity, measured by the Addiction Severity Index. Medium effect sizes favoring MBRP were observed for negative affect and overall psychiatric severity outcomes. Depression severity changed differentially over time as a function of group, with MBRP participants reporting greater reductions through follow-up (
p
= 0.03; effect size = 0.58). Likewise, the MBRP group evidenced greater declines in psychiatric severity (
p
= 0.01; effect size = 0.61 at follow-up). Among those with depressive and anxiety disorders, MBRP was associated with lower odds of stimulant use relative to the control condition (odds ratio (OR) = 0.78,
p
= 0.03 and OR = 0.68,
p
= 0.04). MBRP effectively reduces negative affect and psychiatric impairment, and is particularly effective in reducing stimulant use among stimulant-dependent adults with mood and anxiety disorders.
The association between alcohol use and sleep problems is well established and clinically meaningful, particularly as predictors of relapse. This study aims to elucidate the relationship between ...sleep disturbances and alcohol problems in a non-treatment-seeking community sample using an alcoholism problem severity factor.
Participants were problem drinkers (N = 295) from the Los Angeles community who had a breath alcohol content (BrAC) of 0.00 g/dl when they completed an in-person assessment battery comprised of measures of sleep quality, anxiety and depression, cigarette smoking, as well as multiple assessments of alcohol use and alcohol use problems.
A series of hierarchical regressions showed that alcohol problem severity explained a significant amount of variance in sleep disturbance beyond demographic, mood and smoking variables. Alcohol problem severity was predictive of the PSQI global score (B = 1.11, P < 0.001), perceived sleep quality factor (B = 0.18, P < 0.001) and daily disturbance factor (B = 0.28, P < 0.001). However, contrary to study hypothesis, alcohol problem severity was predictive of improved sleep efficiency (B = -0.14, P < 0.05).
In sum, alcohol problem severity may be predictive of sleep disturbances. Given the complex nature of these relationships, further work is needed to develop adequate treatment for sleep disturbance during alcohol recovery. Nonetheless, this study suggests that as alcohol problem severity increases so do sleep problems. Thus, attending to sleep problems at early stages of alcohol problems may be warranted.
Although depression is highly comorbid with substance use disorders, little is known about the clinical course and outcomes of methamphetamine (MA) users with depressive symptoms and syndromes. In ...this study of MA-dependent individuals entering psychosocial treatment, we predicted that (1) depressive symptoms would decline during treatment, an effect that would vary as a function of MA use and (2) depression diagnoses post-treatment would be associated with poorer outcomes. Participants (N = 526) were assessed for depression, substance use, and psychosocial outcomes at baseline, treatment discharge, and 3-year follow-up. Depressive symptoms declined significantly during treatment, an effect that was greatest among those who abstained from MA. Major depression at follow-up was associated with poorer MA use outcomes and impairment across multiple domains of functioning. The findings highlight the relationship of depressive symptoms and diagnoses to treatment outcomes, and suggest a need for further studies of depression in populations using MA.
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