NCJ Number
141555
Journal
Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education Volume: 38 Issue: 2 Dated: (Winter 1993) Pages: 14-22
Date Published
1993
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Using a sample of 30 prisoners incarcerated in the Melbourne (Australia) Metropolitan Prison, this study examined whether computerized drug treatment could increase the self- efficacy of inmates undergoing treatment for heroin addiction. All the subjects had at least a 3-year history of drug dependency and had been convicted of a drug-related crime.
Abstract
The subjects were randomly assigned to the standard drug unit treatment program or to the program plus a single exposure to a computerized relapse prevention package, which teaches coping skills in an interactive manner. The findings showed that, while the addition of the interactive computer program to the standard treatment did produce significantly greater gains in self-efficacy in the short term, by the time of the 3-month follow-up session, there was no longer any difference between the two groups either in level of self-efficacy or in self-reported heroin use. The results confirm earlier research suggested that computer-aided instruction is most useful in accelerating learning time. 2 tables and 28 references