RESEARCH BRIEFS

Substance Abuse Treatment Back to Top

Alcoholism and Reduced Cortical Thickness: Even among those who are now abstinent, researchers observed widespread reductions in cortical brain thickness as a consequence of chronic alcoholism.

Women In Drug Court: Current but not past major depression appears to be associated with risk of crack use among women attending drug court.

Alcoholics Anonymous: Reductions in pro-drinking and increases in pro-abstinence network members, and enhancements in self-efficacy in high-risk social situations, appear to be of primary importance in explaining why AA participation facilitates recovery.

Buprenorphine Treatment in Medicaid: study finds the evidence doesn’t support rationing buprenorphine to save State money or ensure safety. 

Extended Release Naltrexone (XR-NTX) for Alcohol Dependence: XR-NTX patients persisted longer with treatment than oral medication patients and had lower inpatient and ER costs.

Medication Assisted Alcohol Treatment: Patients who received medication had lower healthcare utilization and total costs than those who did not. 

Problems of Concerned Family Members: Family members, spouses, and partners of substance-using individuals experience frequent problems in a wide range of live domains.

Barriers to Implementing Individualized Substance Abuse Treatment: In studies to replicate CASPAR findings (Computer Assisted System of Patient Assessment and Referral), key components of individualized care needed to support problem-to-services matching are found to be missing in a number of substance abuse treatment programs.

Computer-Based Therapy in Community Treatment: Computerized therapies show promise for improving clinical outcomes but further research is needed to find the correct balance of incentives and training.

MOTHER Study: As opposed to methadone treatment, babies born to mothers treated with buprenorphine during pregnancy showed significantly fewer withdrawal symptoms and left the hospital more quickly.

Alcoholism Medications & Healthcare Utilization: Patients treated with an alcoholism medication had lower healthcare utilization than those that did not. 

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