Perspectives on contingency management for alcohol use and alcohol-associated conditions among people in care with HIV.

Background: Contingency management (CM) is an evidence-based approach for reducing alcohol use; however, its implementation into routine HIV primary care-based settings has been limited. We evaluated perspectives on implementing CM to address unhealthy alcohol use and associated conditions for people with HIV in primary care settings.

Methods: From May 2021 to August 2021, we conducted two focus groups with staff involved in delivering the intervention (n = 5 Social Workers and n = 4 Research Coordinators) and individual interviews (n = 13) with a subset of participants involved in the multi-site Financial Incentives, Randomization, and Stepped Treatment (FIRST) trial.

A Pilot Study of Youth With Type 1 Diabetes Initiating Use of a Hybrid Closed-Loop System While Receiving a Behavioral Economics Intervention.

Objective: Many youth do not use the hybrid closed-loop system for type 1 diabetes effectively. This study evaluated the impact of financial incentives for diabetes-related tasks on use of the 670G hybrid closed-loop system and on glycemia.

Methods: At auto mode initiation and for 16 weeks thereafter, participants received a flat rate for wearing and calibrating the sensor ($1/day), administering at least 3 mealtime insulin boluses per day ($1/day), and uploading ($5/week).

Randomized clinical trial of exercise for nontreatment seeking adults with alcohol use disorder.

The vast majority of individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD) do not seek professional help despite its significant consequences upon the individual and society. Current interventions for nontreatment seeking individuals with AUD (e.g.

Gambling disorder.

Gambling disorder is characterized by a persistent, recurrent pattern of gambling that is associated with substantial distress or impairment. The prevalence of gambling disorder has been estimated at 0.5% of the adult population in the United States, with comparable or slightly higher estimates in other countries.

Individualized assessment and treatment program (IATP) for cannabis use disorder: Randomized controlled trial with and without contingency management.

This study tested a new approach to the treatment of cannabis use disorder (CUD). CUD is difficult to treat, and achieving abstinence is particularly difficult. The individualized assessment and treatment program (IATP) was intended to address this problem by providing a highly individualized approach to the training of coping skills most relevant for each individual.

Glucose management for rewards: A randomized trial to improve glucose monitoring and associated self-management behaviors in adolescents with type 1 diabetes.

Background: This randomized, controlled trial evaluated a monetary-based reinforcement intervention for increasing self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) among youth with poorly controlled type 1 diabetes.

Methods: After a 2-week baseline, 60 participants were randomized to enhanced usual care (EUC) or Reinforcers. The Reinforcers group earned monetary rewards for SMBG and associated behaviors such as uploading glucose meters.

Objective continuous monitoring of alcohol consumption for three months among alcohol use disorder treatment outpatients.

Background: Transdermal alcohol sensing technology allows for objective continuous monitoring of alcohol use. The purpose of this study was to characterize alcohol consumption measured with this technology among alcohol use disorder treatment outpatients in two clinical trials.

Methods: Participants were community-based alcohol treatment outpatients in usual care (N = 63) during the first three years of studies that monitored drinking with the secure continuous remote alcohol monitor (SCRAMx®) ankle bracelet.

A cohort study of patients seeking Internet gaming disorder treatment.

Background And Aims: Although Internet gaming disorder (IGD) is included as a condition in the fifth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, little is known about its nature or treatment response. This study is a follow-up of 755 patients who received professional treatment for IGD over a 5-year period.

Methods: The initial recommended treatment course lasted for 8 weeks, with additional care provided as needed.

Monitoring alcohol use in heavy drinking soup kitchen attendees.

Rates of heavy alcohol use in soup kitchen attendees range from 30% to 38%, but these data are based entirely on self-reported drinking. Little is known about the intensity or frequency of drinking in this population. We assessed alcohol use transdermally every 30 min over a 3-week period among heavy drinkers who attended local soup kitchens.

A randomized trial of contingency management reinforcing attendance at treatment: Do duration and timing of reinforcement matter?

Objective: Contingency management (CM) interventions that reinforce attendance have rarely been evaluated in terms of reducing drug use. Using a sequential randomized design, this study examined the efficacy of three attendance CM conditions compared to usual care (UC) on drug use outcomes. It evaluated whether the duration (6 vs.

Substance Use in Adults With Type 1 Diabetes in the T1D Exchange.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to evaluate frequency of use and problem use of psychoactive substances in adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D).

Research Design And Methods: Standardized instruments for assessing tobacco, alcohol, and other psychoactive substance use were emailed to 4311 adult participants at 69 T1D Exchange Registry Exchange Registry centers. A total of 936 respondents (61% female, 90% non-Hispanic white, age 38 ± 16 years) completed the survey.

Policy and prevention efforts for gaming should consider a broad perspective.

Internet gaming disorder is gaining attention around the world. Some efforts have been directed toward preventing gaming problems from developing or persisting, but few approaches have been empirically evaluated. No known effective prevention intervention exists.

Including gaming disorder in the ICD-11: The need to do so from a clinical and public health perspective.

The proposed introduction of gaming disorder (GD) in the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) has led to a lively debate over the past year. Besides the broad support for the decision in the academic press, a recent publication by van Rooij et al. (2018) repeated the criticism raised against the inclusion of GD in ICD-11 by Aarseth et al.

Behavioral Addictions as Mental Disorders: To Be or Not To Be?

Should excessive and problematic engagement in nonsubstance use behaviors be mental disorders? The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) repositioned gambling disorder in the substance use disorders section and introduced Internet gaming disorder in the research appendix; the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) is also considering it. This article outlines pros and cons of considering behavioral addictions as mental disorders and also reviews the DSM-5 decision-making processes. It focuses on three conditions: gambling disorder, Internet gaming disorder (IGD), and Internet addiction (IA).

Implementing single-item screening for drug use in a Veterans Health Administration outpatient setting.

Background: Unhealthy drug use is a concern in many settings, including military and veteran populations. In 2013, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) medical center in Bedford, Massachusetts, started requiring routine screening for unhealthy drug use in outpatient primary care and mental health settings, using a validated single question.

Methods: This study used descriptive and multivariable analyses of VHA electronic records for patients eligible for the screening program (N = 16,118).

The national implementation of Contingency Management (CM) in the Department of Veterans Affairs: Attendance at CM sessions and substance use outcomes.

Background: In 2011, the Department of Veterans Affairs launched an initiative to expand patients' access to contingency management (CM) for the treatment of substance use disorders, particularly stimulant use disorder. This study evaluates the uptake and effectiveness of the VA initiative by presenting data on participation in coaching, fidelity to key components of the CM protocol, and clinical outcomes (CM attendance and substance use).

Methods: Fifty-five months after the first VA stations began offering CM to patients in June 2011, 94 stations had made CM available to 2060 patients.

A randomized trial of contingency management for smoking cessation in the homeless.

Smoking-cessation services are an unmet need among the homeless, who smoke at rates more than 4 times the national estimate. Successful interventions have high potential for improving tobacco-related health disparities among homeless smokers. Contingency management (CM) is a behavioral intervention with efficacy in a number of substance-use disorder populations, including smokers.

Alcohol use disorders are associated with increased HIV risk behaviors in cocaine-dependent methadone patients.

People who inject drugs (PWID) are at increased risk of HIV infection. Although methadone maintenance therapy can help lower this risk, many methadone patients continue to engage in HIV risk behaviors, especially patients who use cocaine and alcohol. The purpose of the current study was to investigate relations between alcohol use disorders and HIV risk behavior in 239 cocaine-dependent methadone patients participating in a randomized controlled trial of a behavioral intervention to promote cocaine abstinence.

Internet Gaming Disorder in Children and Adolescents.

The American Psychiatric Association recently included Internet gaming disorder (IGD) as a potential diagnosis, recommending that further study be conducted to help illuminate it more clearly. This paper is a summary of the review undertaken by the IGD Working Group as part of the 2015 National Academy of Sciences Sackler Colloquium on Digital Media and Developing Minds. By using measures based on or similar to the IGD definition, we found that prevalence rates range between ∼1% and 9%, depending on age, country, and other sample characteristics.

Treatments for Internet gaming disorder and Internet addiction: A systematic review.

Problems related to excessive use of the Internet and video games have recently captured the interests of both researchers and clinicians. The goals of this review are to summarize the literature on treatment effectiveness for these problems and to determine whether any treatments meet the minimum requirement of an evidence-based treatment as defined by Chambless et al. (1998).

Contingency management treatment in cocaine using methadone maintained patients with and without legal problems.

Background: Legal difficulties and cocaine use are prevalent in methadone maintenance patients, and they are related to one another, as well as to poor response to methadone treatment. Contingency management (CM) is efficacious for decreasing cocaine use, but the relation of CM treatment to criminal activities has rarely been studied.

Methods: This study evaluated whether baseline legal problems are related to subsequent substance use and illegal activities for cocaine using methadone maintained patients and whether CM differentially improves outcomes depending on baseline legal problems.