NCT01828307

Exercise: Addressing Stress in Relapse Prevention for Substance Use Disorders

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 147 (actual)
• Sponsor: St. Louis University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Relapse contributes significantly to the chronicity of substance use disorders, one of the most costly medical/mental health problems facing our nation. The incorporation of exercise into relapse prevention efforts will address stress, a critical factor in relapse, provide other health benefits, and improve overall quality of life. Combined, these changes will reduce the risk of relapse to substance use while also lessening the burden of this psychiatric disorder upon society

Detailed description

About half of all individuals who receive treatment for substance use disorders (SUD) relapse within a year. Stress and an individual's biological response to it are significant predictors of relapse. Thus, interventions that decrease stress and normalize an individual's biological response to stress are desperately needed. Exercise decreases stress and improves the body's regulation of stress. The proposed project will utilize exercise as a novel relapse prevention intervention with individuals who have recently completed inpatient SUD treatment. This project will evaluate the efficacy of a motivational intervention for exercise in a randomized clinical trial of 150 SUD patients beginning Aftercare treatment at the VA St. Louis Health Care System. Participants will be randomized to one of two interventions: (1) standard care (SC), or (2) standard care plus a motivational intervention targeting exercise that lasts for six months. Participants are followed every three months for one year. Results from this study will advance exercise as a new strategy for enhancing stress regulation and prevention of relapse in SUD populations.

Conditions

• Substance Use Disorders

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Motivational enhancement therapy (MET)	MET is a client-centered, directive method of enhancing intrinsic motivation for change by exploring and resolving ambivalence. In this intervention MET will focus on exercise.
BEHAVIORAL	Contingency management	Contingency management is a behavioral treatment that utilizes extrinsic motivation by offering individuals tangible rewards such as prizes for completion of specific target behaviors. The target behavior in this study is exercise.
BEHAVIORAL	Standard Aftercare Treatment	Aftercare includes the following topics: substance use, high-risk situations, coping and life skills training, focus groups for depression and anxiety, and AIDS education.

Timeline

• Start date: 2013-04-01
• Primary completion: 2019-03-01
• Completion: 2019-03-01
• First posted: 2013-04-10
• Last updated: 2019-04-04

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States