Craving Management Program for Substance Use Disorders

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

Craving Management and Alternative Behavior Enhancement Program: Eight 50-minute group sessions delivered twice weekly over approximately four weeks. Session 1: how craving arises. Session 2: craving regulation strategies I (the pause between impulse and action). Session 3: craving regulation strategies II (from automatic reactions to chosen responses). Session 4: anticipating high-risk situations and building a personal coping card. Session 5: identifying alternative behaviors that fit one's own life. Session 6: building small but reliable routines. Session 7: noticing positive moments and cultivating gratitude. Session 8: creating a personal recovery practice manual. Core techniques are motivational interviewing, acceptance and commitment therapy, behavioral activation, and group therapy.

Study summary

This study examines whether a newly developed eight-session psychosocial treatment program, called the Craving Management and Alternative Behavior Enhancement Program, can be delivered in real-world hospital settings to people receiving inpatient care for substance use disorders in Korea, and whether it shows early signs of benefit. The program combines motivational interviewing, acceptance and commitment therapy, behavioral activation, and group activities, and is delivered twice a week over about four weeks (eight 50-minute sessions). About 20 adults will take part at two psychiatric hospitals.

Participants complete brief questionnaires and a short interview about their craving, motivation to change, behavioral activation, positive and negative affect, mindfulness, and drug use history before the program, immediately before and after each session, within one week after the program ends, and again at 1 month and 3 months after completion. After the program, some participants also join a small group discussion (focus group interview) to share their experience of the program.

Because this is a small, single-group preliminary (pilot) study without a comparison group, its primary purpose is to assess feasibility, that is, whether the program and the assessment approach work well enough, and to obtain preliminary effect and variability estimates to inform the design of a future large-scale randomized controlled trial.

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• Feasibility: Program Completion (Retention) Rate — From enrollment through the end of the 8-session intervention (approximately 4 weeks)
  Proportion of enrolled participants who complete all eight sessions of the Craving Management and Alternative Behavior Enhancement Program. Feasibility is further characterized by recruitment rate, session attendance, and assessment completion rates.
• Change in Craving (VAS-C) — Immediately before and immediately after each of the 8 sessions (over approximately 4 weeks); baseline (within 1 week before the program); within 1 week post-intervention; 1 month and 3 months after completion
  Craving measured by the Visual Analog Scale for Craving (VAS-C), ranging from 0 to 100 mm (0 = no craving, 100 = constant craving); higher scores indicate greater craving (worse outcome). Change from baseline is assessed at post-intervention and follow-up.

Trial sites (2)

More The Catholic University of Korea trials in South Korea

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