Publication
Cognitive training and remediation interventions for substance use disorders: A Delphi consensus study
Publisher:
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date:
31-07-2022
DOI:
10.1101/2022.07.28.22278144
Abstract: Substance use disorders (SUD) are associated with cognitive deficits that are not always addressed in current treatments, and this h ers recovery. Cognitive training and remediation interventions are well suited to fill the gap for managing cognitive deficits in SUD. We aimed to reach consensus on recommendations for developing and applying these interventions. Delphi approach with two sequential phases: survey development and iterative surveying of experts. Online study. During survey development, we engaged a group of 15 experts from a working group of the International Society of Addiction Medicine (Steering Committee). During the surveying process, we engaged a larger pool of experts (n=53) identified via recommendations from the Steering Committee and a systematic review. Survey with 67 items covering four key areas of intervention development, i.e., targets, intervention approaches, active ingredients, and modes of delivery. Across two iterative rounds (98% retention rate), the experts reached a consensus on 50 items including: (i) implicit biases, positive affect, arousal, executive functions, and social processing as key targets of interventions (ii) cognitive bias modification, contingency management, emotion regulation training, and cognitive remediation as preferred approaches (iii) practice, feedback, difficulty-titration, bias-modification, goal setting, strategy learning, and meta-awareness as active ingredients and (iv) both addiction treatment workforce and specialized neuropsychologists facilitating delivery, together with novel digital-based delivery modalities. Expert recommendations on cognitive training and remediation for SUD highlight the relevance of targeting implicit biases, reward, emotion regulation, and higher-order cognitive skills via well-validated intervention approaches qualified with mechanistic techniques and flexible delivery options.