Comparative Effects of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy and Narcotics Anonymous Participation on Craving Among Men with Opioid Use Disorders
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Objective: This study compared the effectiveness of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy and Narcotics Anonymous participation in reducing craving among men with opioid use disorders.
Methods and Materials: This quasi-experimental study used a pretest–posttest control-group design with a three-month follow-up. Participants were men with opioid use disorders referred to addiction treatment camps supervised by the Tehran Province Welfare Organization and Narcotics Anonymous groups in Tehran. Participants were assigned to an Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy group, a Narcotics Anonymous group, or a control group. Craving was assessed using the Momentary Craving Questionnaire at pretest, posttest, and follow-up. Data were analyzed using mixed repeated-measures ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc tests in SPSS.
Findings: Craving scores showed little change in the control group from pretest to follow-up. In contrast, craving decreased from 74.40 ± 16.21 to 60.33 ± 15.80 at posttest and 60.13 ± 15.70 at follow-up in the Narcotics Anonymous group, and from 73.27 ± 13.45 to 66.93 ± 19.34 at posttest and 67.87 ± 19.78 at follow-up in the Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy group. The time × group interaction was significant (F = 4.55, p = 0.01, η² = 0.19), and the between-group effect was also significant (F = 4.95, p = 0.01, η² = 0.21).
Conclusion: Both Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy and Narcotics Anonymous participation significantly reduced craving compared with no intervention. These approaches may be useful components of addiction treatment programs for men with opioid use disorders.
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