The use of contingency management and motivational/skills-building therapy to treat young adults with marijuana dependence.
Marijuana-dependent young adults (N = 136), all referred by the criminal justice system, were randomized to 1 of 4 treatment conditions: a motivational/skills-building intervention (motivational enhancement therapy/cognitive-behavioral therapy; MET/CBT) plus incentives contingent on session attendance or submission of marijuana-free urine specimens (contingency management; CM), MET/CBT without CM, individual drug counseling (DC) plus CM, and DC without CM. There was a significant main effect of CM on treatment retention and marijuana-free urine specimens. Moreover, the combination of MET/CBT plus CM was significantly more effective than MET/CBT without CM or DC plus CM, which were in turn more effective than DC without CM for treatment attendance and percentage of marijuana-free urine specimens. Participants assigned to MET/CBT continued to reduce the frequency of their marijuana use through a 6-month follow-up.
Carroll
Kathleen M
KM
Division of Substance Abuse, Yale University School of Medicine, West Haven, CT 06516, USA. Kathleen.carroll@yale.edu
Easton
Caroline J
CJ
Nich
Charla
C
Hunkele
Karen A
KA
Neavins
Tara M
TM
Sinha
Rajita
R
Ford
Haley L
HL
Vitolo
Sally A
SA
Doebrick
Cheryl A
CA
Rounsaville
Bruce J
BJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D003416:Criminal Law; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D002189:Marijuana Abuse / Q000628:therapy*; D009042:Motivation; D012932:Social Facilitation