Effects of attention control training on drug abusers' attentional bias and treatment outcome.
OBJECTIVE
Attentional bias for drug-related stimuli (Drug-AB) has been shown to play an important role in drug abuse, drug treatment, and relapse. This study sought to retrain Drug-AB using the Drug Attention Control Training Program (Drug-ACTP) on a sample of Iranian drug abusers.


METHODS
The experimental group (n = 24) received 3 sessions of training with the Drug-ACTP in addition to treatment as usual; the control group (n = 24) received only treatment as usual. All participants completed a demographic questionnaire, the drug-Stroop test, measures of physiological cue reactivity, the Personal Concerns Inventory (a measure of motivational structure), Persian Temptation Scale, Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), Situational Confidence Questionnaire (SCQ), and Readiness to Change Questionnaire (RTCQ). All participants were tested at baseline, posttraining, and a 2-month follow-up. A brief, 6-month telephone follow-up was also conducted to monitor their temptation, SCQ, RTCQ, PANAS, and PSS scores; doses of medicine taken; and number of lapses.


RESULTS
The results showed that, compared to the control group, the experimental group showed (a) reductions in Drug-AB, temptations to use, doses of medicine, and number of lapses; and (b) increases on the RTCQ and 2 subscales of the SCQ. Regardless of group membership, adaptive motivation was positively correlated with success in achieving therapeutic goals, and negatively associated with doses of methadone taken and number of relapses.


CONCLUSIONS
It seems that attentional training can be an important addition to methadone maintenance therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record
Department of Psychology.
Seyedeh Soleil
SS
Ziaee
Department of Psychology.
Javad Salehi
JS
Fadardi
School of Psychology, Bangor University.
W Miles
WM
Cox
Department of Psychology.
Seyed Amir Amin
SA
Yazdi
D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal; D001288:Attention; D000070379:Attentional Bias; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D008691:Methadone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D011930:Reaction Time; D057190:Stroop Test; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers; D013813:Therapy, Computer-Assisted
D008691:Methadone