Combination of Psychosocial Intervention and Slow Prosecutions for the Treatment of Methamphetamine Abuse/Dependence

Combination of Psychosocial Intervention and Slow Prosecutions for the Treatment of Methamphetamine Abuse/Dependence

The hospital where this study will be conducted is responsible for the one-year contingency management treatment for methamphetamine drug offenders referred from the Yunlin District Prosecutors Office. Completing the one-year treatment is prerequisite for offenders to get slow prosecutions.

It is an open-label, parallel-group trial comparing the combination of psychosocial intervention and slow prosecutions with psychosocial intervention alone in treating subjects with methamphetamine dependence

Study Hypothesis

1. Psychosocial interventions in combination with slow prosecutions is more effective than psychosocial interventions alone to achieve abstinence for subjects with methamphetamine abuse/dependance.
2. Inclusion of telephone reminding before each visit will enhance the retention rate and abstinence rate.

Inclusion Criteria:

• DSM-IV-TR criteria for amphetamine/methamphetamine abuse or dependence
• 18 - 65 years old
• For TSTSU-N and TSTSU-T arms: methamphetamine offenders referred by the Yunlin District Prosecutors Office
• For OPD arm: psychiatric outpatients referred from the psychiatry clinics in National Taiwan University Hospital, Yunlin Branch

Exclusion Criteria:

• Concurrent use of other illicit substances
• Co-morbidity with major psychotic disorders (schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, other psychotic disorder), mental retardation, acute episodes of major depressive disorder or bipolar affective disorder) or serious personality disorders.