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Biomedical subjects

A J Jaffe

Publications and source records attributed to A J Jaffe.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Six-month follow-up of naltrexone and psychotherapy for alcohol dependence.

BACKGROUND: The goal of this study was to examine the persistence of naltrexone's effects on drinking outcomes among alcoholics following discontinuation of treatment and to determine whether coping skills therapy improves long-term outcomes compared with supportive therapy. METHODS: Eighty of 97 alcohol-dependent subjects randomized to receive naltrexone or placebo and either coping skills therapy or supportive therapy for 12 weeks were assessed at a 6-month off-treatment follow-up. RESULTS: Subjects who received naltrexone were less likely to drink heavily or to meet criteria for alcohol abuse or dependence than subjects who received placebo. The effect of naltrexone therapy on abstinence rates persisted only through the first month of follow-up. Coping skills therapy was associated with decreased levels of drinking among subjects who received placebo. Psychotherapy condition, however, did not predict alcohol diagnosis at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Some but not all of the benefits resulting from short-term naltrexone treatment persist after discontinuation of treatment. The findings suggest that continued treatment with naltrexone may be beneficial for some patients.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1996

Naltrexone, relapse prevention, and supportive therapy with alcoholics: an analysis of patient treatment matching.

Alcohol-dependent patients (N = 97) were randomly assigned to receive either naltrexone or placebo and either relapse prevention therapy or supportive therapy. The present report explored the hypothesis that patients could be matched to the above treatments on the basis of specific pretreatment characteristics. Treatment matching variables explored included craving, alcohol dependence severity, and cognitive measures of learning and memory. Results of linear regression analyses tentatively suggest that patients experiencing higher levels of craving and poorer cognitive functioning may derive the greatest benefit from naltrexone versus placebo. For psychotherapy, lower levels of verbal learning were associated with poorer drinking outcomes for relapse prevention therapy but not for supportive therapy. Conversely, higher levels of verbal learning were associated with better outcomes for relapse prevention therapy but not for supportive therapy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Experience of a "slip" among alcoholics treated with naltrexone or placebo.

OBJECTIVE: This study tested the hypothesis that naltrexone reduces relapse rates among alcoholics by modifying the reinforcing effects of initial alcohol consumption and alcohol-induced craving. METHOD: Sixteen alcoholic patients treated with naltrexone and 27 treated with placebo who participated in a 12-week clinical trial reported retrospectively on their subjective responses to their first episode of a lapse into alcohol consumption and on their reasons for terminating the drinking episode. RESULTS: Compared to the subjects who received placebo, the subjects who received naltrexone reported lower levels of craving for alcohol and were more likely to give reasons for terminating drinking that were consistent with decreased incentive to drink. CONCLUSIONS: These findings support the hypothesis that a central effect of naltrexone is the modification of alcohol-induced craving.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1992

Naltrexone and coping skills therapy for alcohol dependence. A controlled study.

Ninety-seven alcohol-dependent patients were treated for 12 weeks in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluating naltrexone and two manual guided psychotherapies in the treatment of alcohol dependence. Patients were randomized to receive either naltrexone or placebo and either coping skills/relapse prevention therapy or a supportive therapy designed to support the patient's own efforts at abstinence without teaching specific coping skills. Naltrexone proved superior to placebo in measures of drinking and alcohol-related problems, including abstention rates, number of drinking days, relapse, and severity of alcohol-related problems. Medication interacted with the type of psychotherapy received. The cumulative rate of abstinence was highest for patients treated with naltrexone and supportive therapy. For those patients who initiated drinking, however, patients who received naltrexone and coping skills therapy were the least likely to relapse.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1986

Taste dimensions in cigarette discrimination: a multidimensional scaling approach.

This study was designed to uncover the fundamental psychological taste dimensions underlying people's ability to discriminate among commercial cigarettes, determine the roles that nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide play in such taste dimensions, determine whether subjects can distinguish among cigarettes in general, and determine whether they can choose their own brand from among others. Similarities data were collected in a pairwise comparisons task. A multidimensional scaling analysis of the data revealed two dimensions, flat-sharp and high nicotine-low nicotine. Ratings of cigarette sweetness were highly related to ratings of satisfaction and pleasantness, while nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide had moderate to low correlations with the flat-sharp dimension, sweetness, satisfaction, and pleasantness. While smokers can make distinctions among cigarettes, they generally were not able to choose their own brand from among others. Implications of the study for therapeutic intervention, for constructing more palatable low nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide cigarettes, as well as for explaining weight gain upon smoking cessation were discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Multidimensional subtypes and treatment outcome in first-time DWI offenders.

The concurrent and predictive validity of Type A and B alcoholism subtypes was evaluated in 246 first-time driving-while-intoxicated (DWI) offenders. K-means analysis indicated that a two-cluster solution was optimal with Type Bs (28%) exhibiting greater premorbid risk factors, alcohol and psychosocial severity, drinking consequences, psychopathology, higher stage of change, and less coping confidence in comparison to less severe Type As (72%). After baseline assessment, participants were randomly assigned to one of three 10-week group treatments (DWI Education, Coping Skills, Interactional), and reassessed at termination, and at 6-month and 1-year follow-ups. Type B was associated with more severe symptoms after treatment, but there was no evidence for patient-treatment matching effects. Although Type A/B may be an important theoretical model for guiding alcoholism research, it usefulness and efficiency for treatment matching, planning, or placement purposes is questioned.

Adult↗