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Employment-based Reinforcement to Motivate Drug Abstinence in the Treatment of Drug Addiction. - 2

A Therapeutic Workplace for Drug Abusers

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT00249457
Enrollment
40
Registered
2005-11-07
Start date
1996-10-31
Completion date
2006-01-31
Last updated
2017-10-30

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Behavior, Addictive, Cocaine Abuse, Cocaine Dependence, Heroin Dependence, Opioid Dependence

Keywords

Behavior Therapy, Cocaine Abuse, Cocaine Dependence, Contingency Management, Heroin Dependence, Methadone, Opioid Dependence

Brief summary

The purpose of this study is to determine whether long-term exposure to the Therapeutic Workplace intervention could sustain drug abstinence over an extended period of time in heroin- and cocaine-dependent, unemployed, treatment-resistant young mothers.

Detailed description

The current study is a continuation of the research into the development and evaluation of a novel treatment designed to address the chronic, persistent nature of drug addiction. This treatment, called the Therapeutic Workplace, integrates abstinence reinforcement contingencies of proven efficacy into a model supported work program. Participants were paid to work or to train in the Therapeutic Workplace but had to provide drug-free urine samples to gain daily access. Forty participants were randomly assigned to a Therapeutic Workplace or usual care control group. Therapeutic Workplace participants could work for about 5 years. This study reports the effects of the intervention over a follow-up period of 8 years after treatment initiation.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALContingency management

Invited to attend the Therapeutic Workplace 3 hr per day, Monday through Friday. Each day when a participant reported to the workplace, she was required to provide a urine sample. If the sample tested negative for opiates and cocaine, she was allowed to work that day. Participants who gained entrance to the workplace participated in basic skills education and job skills training throughout each 3-hr work shift.

Sponsors

Johns Hopkins University
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
18 Years to 50 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* When originally enrolled in the study, participants were at least 18 years old, unemployed, and methadone maintenance patients of the Center for Addiction and Pregnancy (CAP) who continued to use opiates or cocaine during CAP treatment.

Exclusion criteria

* Participants were excluded if they were at risk for suicide at the time of intake or if they had serious psychiatric illness (e.g., schizophrenia).

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Percentage of urine samples at the assessments that were negative for cocaineevery 30 days throughout fourth year(total number of monthly urine samples negative for cocaine/total number of possible urine samples) x 100
Percentage of urine samples at the assessments that were negative for opiatesevery 30 days throughout fourth year(total number of monthly urine samples negative for opiates/total number of possible urine samples) x 100
Percentage of urine samples at the assessments that were negative for cocaine and opiatesevery 30 days throughout fourth year(total number of monthly urine samples negative for cocaine and opiates/total number of possible urine samples) x 100

Secondary

MeasureTime frame
HIV risk behaviorsevery 30 days throughout fourth year
Percentage of participants to self-report abstinence at all time pointsevery 30 days throughout fourth year
Percentage of participants employed each monthevery 30 days throughout fourth year
Number of days employed each monthevery 30 days throughout fourth year

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026