Campbell, A.N.C., Nunes, E.V., Matthews, A.G., Stitzer, M., Miele, G.M., Polsky, D., Turrigiano, E., Walters, S., McClure, E.A., Kyle, T.L., Wahle, A., van Veldhuisen, P., Goldman, B., Babcock, D., Stabile, P.Q., Winhusen, T., & Ghitza, U.E. (2014). Internet-delivered treatment for substance abuse: A multisite randomized controlled trial. American Journal of Psychiatry. Advance online publication. PMID: 24700332.
This study examined the effects of the web-based Therapeutic Education System (TES) for patients with substance use disorders. Patients at ten community-based addiction treatment programs were randomly assigned to continue receiving standard care, or to receive weekly online TES sessions and reduced standard care. After completing treatment, the TES group was more likely to be abstinent from substances than the standard care group and stayed in treatment longer. For participants who were using substances at the start of the program, TES led to less substance use than standard treatment alone. While the TES group had better outcomes immediately after treatment, groups had comparable outcomes after treatment. Results of this study support the effectiveness of web-based TES for patients in substance abuse treatment. The addition of TES may especially benefit patients who are using substances upon entry to treatment.