Testing the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral treatment for substance abuse in a community setting: Within treatment and posttreatment findings

This study evaluated the short-term effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) for substance abuse delivered in a community setting. At entry into outpatient community substance abuse treatment, participants (N = 252) were randomly assigned to 3 conditions: high-standardization CBT, low-standardization CBT, and treatment as usual. Treatment consisted of 12 weekly individual therapy sessions. There was a significant decrease in substance use from baseline, with participants reporting being abstinent on 90% of within-treatment days and 85% of days during the 6 months posttreatment. However. there were no significant differences in outcomes across conditions. Findings do not support the hypothesis that disseminating CBT to community settings will improve outcomes and suggest that standard substance abuse counseling may be more effective than previously thought.