ARTICLE INFO

Article Type

Original Research

Authors

Mohammadi   M. (1)
Kargar Shaker   A. (*)






(*) Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Garmsar Branch, Islamic Azad ‎University, Garmsar, Iran
(1) Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Garmsar Branch, Islamic Azad ‎University, Garmsar, Iran

Correspondence

Address: Faculty of Psychology, Garmsar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Daneshjoo Avenue, ‎University Sqaure, Garmsar, Iran‎
Phone: +98 (23) 34205009
Fax: +98 (23) 34205841
amirkaregar55@gmail.com

Article History

Received:  April  13, 2017
Accepted:  February 27, 2018
ePublished:  March 25, 2018

BRIEF TEXT


Addiction is a horrific disaster that needs to receive particular attention unless it will bring about dire ‎consequences, such as the destruction of socio-economic resources and the threat of social security [1]. ... [2]. In ‎the contemporary Iranian society, there is a growing tendency for industrial substances over traditional ones. ‎Methamphetamine is known as a class of hallucinogenic substance that has a higher rate of absorption than ‎amphetamines due to high fattiness [3]. Although therapists believe that there is no single biological treatment ‎for substance abuse, therapeutic focus is currently on psychological interventions.‎

Previous studies have shown that cognitive-behavioral therapies help patients deal with the reality of drug abuse, ‎get to know about the negative results of drug abuse, and get a strong incentive for quitting drug abuse [4]. ... [5-‎‎12]. Today, the use of matrix treatment for Methamphetamine use disorders has been widely studied in the ‎United States [13]. This treatment has been developed by the experts of Los Angeles Institute of Pharmacy to ‎contribute to prevention of substance use and has been used as a treatment for methamphetamine use disorder in ‎many studies [14]. This treatment method also takes into account the families of patients [15]. The matrix ‎treatment model is one of the most comprehensively documented methods with crystal-clear impact on ‎addiction treatment [14-17]. Previous studies have shown that matrix treatment plays an effective role in ‎improving stress coping strategies in addicts [18]. This type of treatment has proved to be more effective than ‎other cognitive-behavioral therapy groups in improving stress coping strategies among drug users [19]. The ‎matrix treatment also affects the quality of life [18], reduces anxiety [20], reduces the emotional self-regulation ‎problems [16, 17, 21], methamphetamine use rate [21-23] and increases self-efficacy for drug abstinence [16] ‎this phenomenon reduces the risk of drug abuse relapse after treatment [17, 21, 24]. Studies have shown that ‎matrix treatment is more effective for methamphetamine-dependent addicts as compared to other drug addicts ‎‎[13]. ... [25-39].‎

This research could be useful for controlling and preventing substance abuse, and help planners, police force and ‎law enforcement agencies prevent the spread of drug abuse offenses. In addition, due to the increasing number of ‎studies on the treatment of stimulant drug abusers, especially methamphetamine abusers and a short history of ‎this such studies in the country, the present study was an attempt to evaluate the effect of the matrix treatment ‎model on the usage craving variable, hardiness and psychological well-being of methamphetamine –dependent ‎addicts.‎

This research is a pre-test-post-test semi-experimental research with control group.‎

This study was performed on all methamphetamine abusers who referred to the addiction treatment centers of ‎Tehran in the summer of 2016.‎

‎108 out of the 150 patients referred to selected addiction treatment centers in Tehran, were randomly selected ‎using the Morgan table. 60 individuals were selected according to the high usage craving, low hardiness and ‎psychological well-being criteria, and finally 30 individuals were selected according to convenience sampling. ‎Samples were divided into two groups: experimental and control groups (15-membered groups).‎

‎... [40, 41]. Drug craving questionnaires with Cronbach's alpha coefficient 0.73, [10], Ahwaz hardiness inventory ‎with Cronbach's alpha coefficient 76.0 [42], ... [43], the Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-Being with a Reliability ‎coefficient of 0.82 for the total Questionnaire, were used for data collection [44]. The experimental group ‎received structural matrix training in 1-2 forty-five-minute sessions (32 sessions in total), but no intervention ‎was performed in the control group. 6 months later, the post test was performed in both groups. Data were ‎analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariate covariance analysis (MACOVA) in SPSS 21 software.‎

The weighted mean of drug craving, hardiness and psychological well-being were 52.87±0.55, 53.84±0.46, ‎‎248.44±0.50 in the experimental group and 59.99±0.55, 45.23±0.32 and 243.15±0.50 in the control group ‎respectively. The differences in the mean of indices in the control and experimental groups were in favor of the ‎experimental group (Table 1). Based on the results of multivariate covariance analysis, structural matrix ‎treatment has a significant effect on the composite variable (F(2,23)=90.38; p<0.0001).‎

In the process of addiction treatment and relapse prevention, negative, positive and obsessive emotional states ‎are the main relapse risk factors [30]. The present study is consistent with the study of Jafari et al. in terms of ‎reduction of drug craving through matrix treatment. In their study, Jafari et al. concluded that matrix treatment ‎can increase self-efficiency for drug abstinence [16]. Other studies have shown that the matrix treatment can ‎affect methamphetamine abuse, drug abuse relapse and temptation to consume drugs [21, 24]. The matrix ‎treatment has led to reduction of methamphetamine abuse [22, 23]. This treatment also helps addicts develop a ‎negative attitude towards drugs [20]. In another comparative study of trans-theoretical model and matrix ‎treatment model effectiveness on self-regulation and continuous change among male methamphetamine –‎dependent addicts, the authors concluded that the matrix treatment can reduce drug abuse relapse through ‎reduction of emotional self-regulation problems [17]. Studies increasingly show deficits in executive functioning ‎of methamphetamine –dependent addicts and clearly show the need for using trans-theoretical-based approaches ‎rather than reformation of ineffective beliefs [12]. According to the findings, the structured matrix treatment can ‎play an effective role in this field. Previous studies have shown that the matrix treatment also leads to reduction ‎of anxiety [20] improved mental health [23, 45], and improved psychological well-being among ‎methamphetamine –dependent addicts [23]. This finding is also consistent with the findings of the present study. ‎The matrix treatment leads to improvement of stress coping strategies among narcotic abusers [19]. High ‎psychological hardiness leads to development of positive feelings in stressful situations and confidence in stress ‎controlling capabilities in most life situations. This treatment also reduces the potential risks and threats [38]. ‎Anxiety could serve as a good predictor of drug abuse carving among addicts [29].‎

The authors are advised to conduct new studies on the effect of this treatment technique on methamphetamine –‎dependent women.‎

The convenience sampling is seen as one of the limitations of this study. But considering the significant impact ‎of structured matrix treatment, promotion of this treatment technique and introduction of that to other therapists ‎and researchers is highly recommended.‎

The structured matrix treatment technique leads to reduction of drug carving and increase hardiness and ‎psychological well-being of methamphetamine –dependent addicts.‎

The authors would like to express their thankfulness to the applied research center of department of health, ‎rescue and treatment of Iran police force for their support throughout the course of this study

The present study is derived from Kargar Shaker’s study, Islamic Azad University, Garmsar branch

‎…‎

The author used no external financial resources for conduction of this study

TABLES and CHARTS

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