OBJECTIVESThe authors examined the impact of a voice bulletin board on the following: (1) participation in self-help efforts, (2) expression of emotional support, (3) development of solidarity within the group, (4) utilization of health-care services, and (5) health status of subjects.METHODSSubject

Electronic self-help and support groups.

Computer-assisted therapy: harbinger of the 21st century?

In recent years, the psychological treatment of drug addiction has been dominated by an emphasis on learning theory and an interest in minimal and self-administered treatment. The computer provides the consummate medium for bringing these components together. This paper reports on two computer-assisted learning programs, one for the prevention of relapse in former heroin users and the other for the promotion of controlled drinking in early-stage problem drinkers. The need for this type of technology is supported by mounting evidence that drug and alcohol misusers prefer self-help to psychotherapy and that most addicts who manage to overcome their addiction do so on their own.

Barber Jg

Papers

Microcomputers and prevention of drug abuse.