There was a marked nationwide increase in cocaine abuse during the seventies, which has been followed, in the last several years, by an increase in the numbers of cocaine abusers seeking treatment. The treatment field has an urgent need to systematically investigate the value of psychotherapy treatment for these abusers. Two of the four major hypotheses to be investigated are: 1- Persons who receive short-term structural-strategic family therapy and short-term supportive-expressive individual therapy will use significantly less cocaine in the post-treatment period than persons in the control group; 2- Persons who receive short-term structural-strategic family therapy and short-term supportive-expressive individual therapy will show significantly more functional behavior in the post-treatment period than persons in the control group, in five areas of life in which there is often dysfunction associated with cocaine abuse. These five areas are: (a) employment status; (b) medical status; (c) global psychological status; (d) global family relationships; and (e) legal status. Subjects will be 412 male cocaine abusers who have wives willing to enter treatment with them. Clients will be randomly assigned to either family therapy, individual therapy, or a "treatment as usual" control group. Treatment in family and individual therapy will be conducted according to Manual. It is planned that 72 clients will be treated for at least three sessions in both individual and family therapy, and at least 50 clients are expected to remain in treatment in the control group for at least three sessions, for a total of 194 fully engaged clients. Data will be collected from all eligible couples, including early dropouts, at three time periods: 1- entry into treatment; 2- six months after entry; and 3- ten months after entry. Data collection will be by means of standardized measures of psychological and family functioning, standardized coding of videotaped family tasks, open-ended questions in exploratory areas, urine testing, and goal attainment scaling sessions with therapists. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis will be used to test the four major, and fourteen subsidiary, hypotheses. There will be descriptive and exploratory analysis of several additional research questions.
NIH ExPorter
NIH ExPorter