Aims: Substance use disorders (SUD) are associated with cognitive deficits that are not always addressed in current treatments, and this hampers recovery. Cognitive training and remediation interventions are well suited to fill the gap for managing cognitive deficits in SUD. We aimed to reach consensus on recommendations for developing and applying these interventions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Current treatments for cocaine use disorder (CUD) are not very effective and better treatments are needed. This study investigates the effectiveness of a combined intervention that targets the assumed underlying glutamate pathology in cocaine users. To this end, the combined effects of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and working memory (WM) training on glutamate concentrations in the dorsal and rostral ACC were investigated in a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled design.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Attachment theory predicts that patients who are not securely attached may benefit less from psychological treatment. However, evidence on the predictive role of attachment in the effectiveness of treatment for depression is limited.
Methods: Explicit attachment styles, levels of attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance, as well as implicit relational self-esteem and implicit relational anxiety were assessed in 67 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) receiving Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).
The current study investigated the combined effects of N-acetylcysteine and working memory (WM) training on behavioral and neural mechanisms of cue reactivity and WM in cocaine users in a randomized, double-blind design. Twenty-four of 38 cocaine-using men completed a 25-day treatment with either 2400 mg/day NAC or placebo. Both groups performed WM-training.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Working memory capacity has been found to be impaired in adolescents with various psychological problems, such as addictive behaviors. Training of working memory capacity can lead to significant behavioral improvements, but it is usually long and tedious, taxing participants' motivation to train.
Objective: This study aimed to evaluate whether adding game elements to the training could help improve adolescents' motivation to train while improving cognition.
Introduction: Effective treatment for cocaine use disorder should dampen hypersensitive cue-induced motivational processes and/or strengthen executive control. Using a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled intervention, the primary aim of this study was to investigate the effect of N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) and working memory (WM)-training to reduce cocaine use and craving and to improve inhibition assessed in the laboratory and during Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA). The second aim was to examine correspondence between laboratory and EMA data.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Effective treatment for cocaine use disorder should dampen hypersensitive cue-induced motivational processes and/or strengthen executive control. Using a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled intervention, the primary aim of this study was to investigate the effect of N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) and working memory (WM)-training to reduce cocaine use and craving and to improve inhibition assessed in the laboratory and during Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA). The second aim was to examine correspondence between laboratory and EMA data.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Risk taking, such as heavy alcohol use, is commonplace among adolescents. Nevertheless, prolonged alcohol use at this age can lead to severe health problems. The goal of this study was to develop and evaluate a serious game training ("The Fling"), aimed at increasing behavioral control in adolescents and thereby helping them to improve control over their alcohol use.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Young adults often experiment with heavy use of alcohol, which poses severe health risks and increases the chance of developing addiction problems. In clinical patients, cognitive retraining of automatic appetitive processes, such as selective attention toward alcohol (known as "cognitive bias modification of attention," or CBM-A), has been shown to be a promising add-on to treatment, helping to prevent relapse.
Objective: To prevent escalation of regular use into problematic use in youth, motivation appears to play a pivotal role.
Objective: Heavy drinking among young adults poses severe health risks, including development of later addiction problems. Cognitive retraining of automatic appetitive processes related to alcohol (so-called cognitive bias modification [CBM]) may help to prevent escalation of use. Although effective as a treatment in clinical patients, the use of CBM in youth proves more difficult, as motivation in this group is typically low, and the paradigms used are often viewed as boring and tedious.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Dual process models posit that problem drinking is maintained by an imbalance between relatively strong automatic processes and weak controlled processes, a combination of executive functions and motivation. Few studies have examined how the interplay between automatic processes and executive functions is affected by motivation to change. This study examined this relationship in problem drinkers seeking online help to change their alcohol use.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry
December 2015
Background And Objectives: Excessive use of psychoactive substances and resulting disorders are a major societal problem, and the most prevalent mental disorder in young men. Recent reviews have concluded that Cognitive Bias Modification (CBM) shows promise as an intervention method in this field. As adolescence is a critical formative period, successful early intervention may be key in preventing later substance use disorders that are difficult to treat.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: To prospectively predict the onset of use of alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana among Dutch adolescents, using behavioral and self-report measures of impulsivity-related facets. Specifically, we investigated whether behavioral measures of impulsivity predicted the onset of substance use above and beyond self-report measures of impulsivity and sensation seeking in an online sample.
Methods: Self-report and behavioral data from 284 adolescents (195 girls, mean age = 14.