The Effectiveness of Cognitive- Behavioral Therapy on Drug Beliefs and Addiction Memory in Opioid Addicts Undergoing Methadone Maintenance Treatment

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD student, Department of Health Psychology, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Iran.

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Iran.

3 Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Iran.

Abstract

The present study was conducted to investigate the the effectiveness of cognitive- behavioral therapy on drug beliefs and addiction memory in opioid addicts undergoing methadone maintenance treatment. In terms of the objective, this research was of an applied type and in terms of the method of conducting the research, it was a semi-experimental design with a pre-test and post-test design with a control group and a 2-month follow-up period. The statistical population of this research included opiate addicts undergoing maintenance treatment with methadone in Bushehr city in the second six months of 2021. In this research, 28 drug addicts were selected using the available sampling method and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (14 people in the experimental group and 14 people in the control group). The people in the experimental group received cognitive-behavioral therapy during 12 weeks in 12 sessions of 90 minutes. The applied questionnaire included Drug Beliefs Questionnaire (DBQ), and Addiction Memory Scale (AMS). The results showed that cognitive- behavioral therapy has significant effect on the drug beliefs (F=32.92; Eta=0.56; P<0001) and addiction memory (F=27.66; Eta=0.51; P<0001) in opioid addicts undergoing methadone maintenance treatment. Based on this, it can be concluded that cognitive-behavioral therapy with the recognition of spontaneous thoughts, logical errors, objectification of thoughts and methods of avoiding generalization and examining schemas and fundamental cognitions can lead to the acquisition of new cognitive skills and behavioral techniques in addicts. And in this way, to change the drug beliefs and addiction memory.

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History

  • Receive Date: 28 June 2023
  • Revise Date: 14 July 2023
  • Accept Date: 23 August 2023

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