Scientific advances over the past 20 years have shown that drug addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease that results from the prolonged effects of drugs on the brain. As with many other brain diseases, addiction has embedded behavioral and social-context aspects that are important parts of the disorder itself. Therefore, the most effective treatment approaches will include biological, behavioral, and social-context components. Recognizing addiction as a chronic, relapsing brain disorder characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use can impact society's overall health and social policy strategies and help diminish the health and social costs associated with drug abuse and addiction.

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Addiction is a brain disease, and it matters.

Assessing organizational readiness for change

The effects of multisystemic therapy (MST) in treating violent and chronic juvenile offenders and their families in the absence of ongoing treatment fidelity checks were examined. Across 2 public sector mental health sites, 155 youths and their families were randomly assigned to MST versus usual juvenile justice services. Although MST improved adolescent symptomology at posttreatment and decreased incarceration by 47% at a 1.7-year follow-up, findings for decreased criminal activity were not as favorable as observed on other recent trials of MST. Analyses of parent, adolescent, and therapist reports of MST treatment adherence, however, indicated that outcomes were substantially better in cases where treatment adherence ratings were high. These results highlight the importance of maintaining treatment fidelity when disseminating complex family-based services to community settings.

https://psycnet.apa.org/journals/ccp/65/5/821.pdf

Multisystemic therapy with violent and chronic juvenile offenders and their families: The role of treatment fidelity in successful dissemination.

A conceptual framework for transferring research to practice.

https://psycnet.apa.org/journals/adb/11/4/294.pdf

Treatment retention and follow-up outcomes in the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Study (DATOS).

The 11 original articles that comprise this book are the result of a collaboration between researchers and policymakers that was organized by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Milbank Memorial Fund These article assess research-based knowledge about effective treatment in order to provide guidance to policymakers

Joel A. Egertson

Papers

Treating drug abusers effectively

Linking substance abuse treatment and primary health care