The effects of craving on implicit cognitive mechanisms involved in risk behavior: can dialectical behavior therapy in therapeutic communities make a difference? A pilot study
Therapeutic Communities: The International Journal of Therapeutic Communities
ISSN: 0964-1866
Article publication date: 11 June 2018
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine pre- to post-change in two components of implicit cognitive functioning following craving induction – attentional bias (AB) and executive control – of patients in a long-term drug-free residential treatment center that incorporated dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) with usual therapeutic community (TC) practices.
Design/methodology/approach
Three groups of alcohol and cannabis dependent female adolescents were compared: pre-treatment (n=12), following four months of treatment (n=11), and following 12 months of treatment (n=7).
Findings
The results indicate significantly lower AB (as measured by visual probe task) and improved response inhibition (as measured by stop signal task) under craving conditions, after 12 months of DBT.
Research limitations/implications
Naturalistic character of the study did not allow the use of repeated measures design, drug using control groups, randomized clinical trial, or performing a longitudinal follow-up. However, the findings show that DBT for drug abusing female adolescents in a long-term residential setting may be an effective intervention to enhance cognitive and executive functions critical to the risk chain involved in relapse and recidivism, supporting the implementation of DBT in TC residential settings.
Originality/value
This is the first research paper that examined effects of DBT+TC on substance dependent female adolescents’ cognitive mechanisms using well-validated behavioral tasks. The research provides some empirical evidence for the improvement in AB and response inhibition under craving conditions following treatment.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The present study has been partially supported by the Israel Anti-Drug Authority (IADA). IADA had no involvement in study design, in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data, in the writing of the report or in the decision to submit the paper for publication. The authors are extremely grateful to all the patients who took part in this study, as well as the therapists and counselors of Malkishua Treatment and Rehabilitation Center.
Citation
Rabinovitz, S. and Nagar, M. (2018), "The effects of craving on implicit cognitive mechanisms involved in risk behavior: can dialectical behavior therapy in therapeutic communities make a difference? A pilot study", Therapeutic Communities: The International Journal of Therapeutic Communities, Vol. 39 No. 2, pp. 83-92. https://doi.org/10.1108/TC-12-2017-0034
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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