To improve outcomes for treatment of drug abuse, it is necessary to use interventions that can motivate clients to attend treatment and initiate and sustain abstinence. This study in counseling-based drug-free clinics evaluated the effectiveness of abstinence-based incentives considerably lower in cost than those typically used in research clinics. The primary aim was to determine whether introduction of abstinence-based incentives targeting (a) drug abstinence and (b) patient retention into usual care improves these treatment outcomes, compared to usual care alone. 415 cocaine or methamphetamine users from eight counseling-based outpatient drug-free clinics were randomly assigned to receive usual care plus abstinence-based incentives or to receive usual care alone for 12 weeks.
Petry, N., et al. (2005). Effect of prize-based incentives on outcomes in stimulant abusers in outpatient psychosocial treatment programs. Archives of General Psychiatry 62: 1148-1156.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16203960
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