For the considered outcomes, it seems that adding any psychosocial support to standard maintenance treatments do not add additional benefits. Data do not show differences also for contingency approaches, contrary to all expectations. Duration of the studies was too short to analyse relevant outcomes such as mortality. It should be noted that the control intervention used in the studies included in the review on maintenance treatments, is a program that routinely offers counselling sessions in addition to methadone; thus the review, actually, did not evaluate the question of whether any ancillary psychosocial intervention is needed when methadone maintenance is provided, but the narrower question of whether a specific more structured intervention provides any additional benefit to a standard psychosocial support. These interventions probably can be measured and evaluated by employing diverse criteria for evaluating treatment outcomes, aimed to rigorously assess changes in emotional, interpersonal, vocational and physical health areas of life functioning.
A cognitive-behavioral versus nondirective group treatment program for opioid-addicted persons: an adjunct to methadone maintenance.
Fourteen methadone maintenance individuals participated in a 10-week program comparing the relative effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral (CB) versus discussion-type (DISC) group in developing adaptive behavioral skills and self-evaluations. Posttreatment and follow-up results indicated that the CB group was significantly more successful than the DISC group in lowering reported levels of anxiety, depression, and situational non-assertiveness. These data are discussed in terms of a comprehensive, social rehabilitation program that involves multiple treatment techniques and measurement criteria.