This is a request for continuation of an ADAMHA Research Scientist Development Award. The goal of the research proposed is to develop specific treatments for specific addictions, and to test the efficacy of these treatments in controlled outcome experiments. The research is guided by hypotheses that may lead to a more general understanding of the mechanisms of effectiveness of these treatments. The research focuses on cross-drug generalities and relapse prevention. Three lines of research are proposed, all of which are continuations of the ongoing work. They are: (1) treatment of tobacco dependence; (2) studies of relapse; (3) treatment of abuse of illicit drugs. Five tobacco treatment experiments are proposed. Experiment 1 crosses two levels of psychological treatment with active vs. placebo nicotine gum. In experiment 2, food intake and activity level during baseline, cessation and follow-up will be studied in subjects treated with nicotine and placebo gum and in a waiting list control. In experiment 3, subjects at high risk for weight gain participate in smoking treatment and then are randomly assigned to weight management, weight placebo or no weight treatment. In experiment 4, treatment failures are treated with a combination of brief psychotherapy and nicotine gum, and compared to a low contact nicotine gum control. In experiment 5, weight change, food intake and activity level before and after quitting smoking are studied in hospitalized smokers. A study of factors related to relapse following treatment for heroin addiction, alcoholism, and cigarette smoking is proposed, where both the initial relapse episode and return to daily use are studied. Variables are social support, coping skills, sex, situational characteristics, withdrawal symptoms and commitment to abstinence. A treatment experiment for cocaine abusers is proposed. Antidepressant treatment (trazodone vs. placebo) is crossed with two kinds of psychological treatments (behavioral vs. peer self-help). Measures in studies generally include both self-report, biochemical indicators, and measures of the change process. Long term follow-up data are obtained where appropriate. Goals for professional growth include continued work in psychopharmacology, studies of the biological basis of weight and measurement of factors contributing to it, and continued work in statistics and psychometrics.
| Ginsberg, D; Hall, S M; Rosinski, M (1991) Partner interaction and smoking cessation: a pilot study. Addict Behav 16:195-202 |
| Hall, S M; Hall, R G; Ginsberg, D (1990) Pharmacological and behavioral treatment for cigarette smoking. Prog Behav Modif 25:86-118 |
