Integrated CBT for Cannabis Dependence With Co-occurring Anxiety Disorders
Condition: Cannabis Dependence; Anxiety Disorders; Cannabis Use Disorder; Cannabis Abuse
MeSH terms: Marijuana Abuse; Anxiety Disorders
Study type: Interventional
Phase: Phase 1

Summary: 
      This project tests the feasibility and utility of a novel, integrated approach to treatment
      of patients with cannabis use disorder (CUD) and anxiety disorders.
    

Detailed description: 
      Cannabis use disorder (CUD) is the most common illicit substance dependence and people with
      CUD are highly vulnerable to anxiety disorders. The co-occurrence of anxiety disorders among
      those with CUD is a pressing public health matter given elevated anxiety is related to poorer
      cannabis treatment outcomes. Cannabis-related problems among those with anxiety disorders may
      be maintained by a reliance on cannabis to manage anxiety. Investigations of the treatment of
      these conditions when they co-occur have been virtually absent. Motivation enhancement
      therapy (MET) combined with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is an efficacious intervention
      for cannabis CUD, yet outcomes are highly limited for anxious patients. Transdiagnostic
      anxiety treatments can facilitate the treatment of patients with anxiety psychopathology
      regardless of the specific type of anxiety disorder. One such treatment, False Safety
      Behavior Elimination Treatment (FSET), may be particularly useful with anxious patients with
      CUD as it focuses on the elimination of behaviors that may be effective in decreasing anxiety
      in the short-term, but can maintain and even exacerbate anxiety in the long-term (i.e., false
      safety behaviors). The use of cannabis to manage anxiety can, therefore, be targeted in such
      a treatment. This project tests the feasibility and utility of a novel, integrated approach
      to treatment of patients with CUD and anxiety disorders. Phase I of the project includes
      development and refinement of a specialized group protocol (i.e., Integrated Cannabis and
      Anxiety Reduction Treatment or ICART) for integrating MET-CBT for CUD with FSET. The initial
      protocol will be modified based on the experience gained during group treatment with the
      integrated treatment. Phase II will be a randomized controlled trial examining the relative
      efficacy of the refined ICART treatment versus MET-CBT alone. After post-treatment
      assessments, the ICART group will be followed for 3 months to examine maintenance of gains;
      the participants originally assigned to the control condition will be offered ICART. It is
      hypothesized that ICART will produce better outcomes than the control.
    

Intervention name(s): Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy; Motivation Enhancement Therapy; Integrated Cannabis and Anxiety Reduction Treatment; False Safety Behavior Elimination Therapy
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral; Behavioral; Behavioral
Other intervention name(s): Transdiagnostic anxiety disorder treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: cannabis; marijuana; anxiety; transdiagnostic; dual diagnosis; cannabis abuse; cannabis dependence; cannabis use disorder