An evaluation of a behaviour therapy programme as an intervention treatment for the fear of withdrawal with heroin-dependent persons.

A methadone withdrawal programme (MWP) and a behaviour therapy programme (BTP) were compared in terms of their effectiveness to prevent relapse of heroin addicts after methadone treatment. The BTP incorporated systematic desensitization to effect a decrease in levels of fear of both physical and environmental withdrawal, in addition to assertive training to effect an increase in coping and social skills.Twenty-three voluntary ambulatory patients were allocated in four groups, one group receiving only the MWP (M), one only the BTP (BT), a third, a combination of the two treatments (MBT), and the fourth, a control group of no treatment (C). Analysis of data revealed a significant difference between the four groups over the duration of the eight-week programmes, both in improvement of social skills and in the decrement of fear levels. On each of the dependent measures clients undergoing the BTP performed significantly better than those receiving the MWP. Relapse was prevented in BT, decreased in MBT, but was not prevented in M. No significant difference occurred between M and C. Associations were revealed between fear of withdrawal, fear of negative evaluation, social avoidance and distress, lack of interpersonal assertiveness and the rate of relapse, giving some indication of the possible factors underlying recidivism.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes