Effects of attention control training on drug abusers' attentional bias and treatment outcome.

Objective: Attentional bias for drug-related stimuli (Drug-AB) has been shown to play an important role in drug abuse, drug treatment, and relapse. This study sought to retrain Drug-AB using the Drug Attention Control Training Program (Drug-ACTP) on a sample of Iranian drug abusers.

Method: The experimental group (n = 24) received 3 sessions of training with the Drug-ACTP in addition to treatment as usual; the control group (n = 24) received only treatment as usual.

A comparative study of drug-related attentional bias: evidence from Iran.

The Addiction-Stroop test has been widely used to investigate the attentional correlates of alcohol and drug abuse; however, the majority of the studies have been conducted with European and American participants. The present study tested whether Iranian drug abusers show higher attentional bias for drug-related stimuli. Participants included drug abusers (N = 53; 100% male), with a clinical history of opium and heroin abuse, who were in a Methadone Maintenance Therapy program.