CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 25Substance Abuse Treatment and OutcomesDigital Mental Health InterventionsAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes

Computerized Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Substance Use Disorders: A Summary of the Evidence and Potential Mechanisms of Behavior Change

Open access
Kiluk, Brian D.·2019·Perspectives on Behavior Science
DOI 10.1007/s40614-019-00205-2PMC PMC6768920
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the most evaluated behavioral interventions for substance use disorders, with considerable empirical evidence supporting its efficacy. However, despite CBT's strong support from efficacy trials, broad dissemination and implementation have been challenging. Furthermore, there remains limited understanding regarding CBT's mechanisms of behavior change; the theory-driven assumption that individuals acquire new skills for coping with triggers for substance use has notoriously lacked statistical support. The emergence of computer-delivered interventions has the potential to address dissemination and implementation challenges, as well as offer advantages toward understanding treatment mechanisms. This article will provide a summary of the current evidence supporting one particular computerized CBT program, CBT4CBT. Multiple clinical trials in different treatment settings have indicated CBT4CBT's efficacy at reducing rates of alcohol and drug use when provided as an add-on to standard addiction treatment, as well as when provided with minimal clinical monitoring (i.e., virtual stand-alone). These effects have also been relatively durable after treatment termination, consistent with findings of traditional CBT. It is important to note that the evaluation of individuals' cognitive and behavioral coping skills prior and following treatment has indicated the acquisition/improvement of these skills may be a mechanism of behavior change for those who engage with CBT4CBT. Thus, computerized delivery may be a strategy for enhancing individuals' learning of cognitive and behavioral skills for successfully avoiding substance use. Future work should aim to identify the optimal type of setting, clinician role, and patient characteristics for targeted dissemination and implementation.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1007/s40614-019-00205-2

Cites

85 of 85 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Studies found significant reductions in substance use and improved treatment retention with CBT4CBT relative to in-person CBT.

    “studies have found significant reductions in substance use and improved retention in treatment using CBT4CBT relative to in-person CBT.81,83”

    From The ASAM/AAAP Clinical Practice Guideline on the Management of Stimulant Use Disorder (2024) · cites this paper as [81]

    The “Efficacy as a Virtual Stand-Alone Treatment” section reports that CBT4CBT had the best outcomes for retention and substance use in a trial that included therapist-delivered CBT. But it says the trial was not powered for a direct comparison between those treatments; the reported greater reduction in substance use was relative to treatment as usual, not in-person CBT. No page number is supplied in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.89)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • CBT4CBT has been shown effective as a standalone treatment in a few studies, but evidence is insufficient to recommend it as standalone.

    “CBT4CBT has been shown to be effective as a standalone treatment in a few studies, but this is insufficient evidence to recommend it as a standalone treatment.81,83,92”

    From The ASAM/AAAP Clinical Practice Guideline on the Management of Stimulant Use Disorder (2024) · cites this paper as [81]

    The ‘Efficacy as a Virtual Stand-Alone Treatment’ section describes two trials in which CBT4CBT was the principal treatment, accompanied by brief weekly clinical monitoring. The Summary and Discussion calls this virtual stand-alone approach efficacious, but the paper does not say the evidence is insufficient to recommend it. Nor do the trials establish efficacy without monitoring. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 86 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Chaney, E. F., O'Leary, M. R., & Marlatt, G. A. (1978). Skill training with problem drinkers. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 46, 1092-1104.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Kiluk, B. D.
Affiliations
Yale University (US)
Corresponding author
Kiluk, Brian D.
ORCID
Kiluk, Brian D.
Venue
Perspectives on Behavior Science
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2019-06-05
Volume
42
Issue
3
Pages
465-478
ISSN
  • 2520-8969 (ISSN-L)
  • 2520-8977
DOI
10.1007/s40614-019-00205-2
PMC
PMC6768920
OpenAlex
W2949037148
Cited by
25
References
86
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1
FWCI
1.33
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Perspectives on Behavior Science (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (R01AA024122)
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (P50DA09241)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
Keywords
computerized cognitive behavioral therapy, substance use disorders, computer-based intervention, behavior change mechanisms, coping strategies, alcohol consumption, drug use, adjunctive therapy, dissemination and implementation, treatment durability

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review