The Impact of Psychopathic Traits on the Efficacy of a Substance Use Intervention

NCT ID: NCT01532934

Last Updated: 2016-12-12

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: PHASE2
• Total Enrollment: 105 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2009-08-31
• Study Completion Date: 2014-07-31

Brief Summary

Substance use among criminal offenders constitutes a major public health problem and is tied to negative consequences for offenders, their families, and their communities. One of the direst of these consequences is repeated incarceration; thus, interventions that reduce criminal recidivism are needed. Forensic populations are often viewed with considerable therapeutic pessimism. However, offenders exhibit heterogeneity in personality traits, and the assessment of individual differences among offenders may provide valuable information that guides the use of psychotherapeutic interventions. Among offenders, psychopathy has emerged as an important personality construct for the understanding of violence and criminal recidivism. Moreover, core traits of psychopathy such as lack of empathy, deceitfulness, and lack of remorse may have negative implications for the efficacy of psychosocial interventions. A foundational premise of the present work is that understanding the moderating role of psychopathic traits on substance use treatment outcomes among offenders is essential to determining what works, and for whom. The current proposal is a Phase II randomized clinical trial that aims to examine the impact of psychopathic traits on the efficacy of a brief substance use intervention for offenders in a jail diversion program. Hypotheses that will be examined include: 1) that a Motivational Interviewing (MI) - based treatment will reduce substance use and related consequences relative to a Standard Care only condition, 2) that the reduction in substance use in the intervention group will mediate a reduction in later criminal recidivism relative to the Standard Care condition, and 3) that core psychopathic traits will moderate the efficacy of the intervention such that individuals with lower levels of these traits will derive greater benefits with regard to decreased substance use, decreased drug use consequences, and decreased criminal recidivism at a one-year follow-up.

Detailed Description

Substance use among criminal offenders constitutes a major public health problem and is tied to negative consequences for offenders, their families, and their communities. One of the direst of these consequences is repeated incarceration; thus, interventions that reduce criminal recidivism are needed. Forensic populations are often viewed with considerable therapeutic pessimism. However, offenders exhibit heterogeneity in personality traits, and the assessment of individual differences among offenders may provide valuable information that guides the use of psychotherapeutic interventions. Among offenders, psychopathy has emerged as an important personality construct for the understanding of violence and criminal recidivism. Moreover, core traits of psychopathy such as lack of empathy, deceitfulness, and lack of remorse may have negative implications for the efficacy of psychosocial interventions. A foundational premise of the present work is that understanding the moderating role of psychopathic traits on substance use treatment outcomes among offenders is essential to determining what works, and for whom. The current proposal is a Phase II randomized clinical trial that aims to examine the impact of psychopathic traits on the efficacy of a brief substance use intervention for offenders in a jail diversion program. Hypotheses that will be examined include: 1) that a Motivational Interviewing (MI) - based treatment will reduce substance use and related consequences relative to a Standard Care only condition, 2) that the reduction in substance use in the intervention group will mediate a reduction in later criminal recidivism relative to the Standard Care condition, and 3) that core psychopathic traits will moderate the efficacy of the intervention such that individuals with lower levels of these traits will derive greater benefits with regard to decreased substance use, decreased drug use consequences, and decreased criminal recidivism at a one-year follow-up. This work has the potential to provide important data regarding which individuals can benefit from a brief intervention for substance use. Such data will inform the effective and efficient allocation of treatment resources for substance using offenders.

Conditions

Substance Use; Psychopathy

Keywords

substance use; psychopathy; motivational enhancement; criminal recidivism

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

brief therapy

motivational enhancement therapy for substance use

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

motivational enhancement therapy

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Four 45-minute MET sessions

Standard Care

standard care

Group Type: PLACEBO_COMPARATOR

standard care

Intervention Type: OTHER

Interventions

motivational enhancement therapy

Four 45-minute MET sessions

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

standard care

Intervention Type: OTHER

Other Intervention Names

SBIRT; brief motivational intervention

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• In local pretrial services program; English speaking

Exclusion Criteria

• Psychosis, inability to provide informed consent

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of Rochester

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

MarcSwogger

Assistant Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Marc T. Swogger, Ph.D.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Rochester

Locations

Pretrial Services, Inc.

Rochester, New York, United States

Countries

United States

References

Swogger MT, Conner KR, Caine ED, Trabold N, Parkhurst MN, Prothero LM, Maisto SA. A test of core psychopathic traits as a moderator of the efficacy of a brief motivational intervention for substance-using offenders. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2016 Mar;84(3):248-58. doi: 10.1037/ccp0000065. Epub 2016 Jan 4.

Reference Type: RESULT

PMID: 26727409 (View on PubMed)

Related Links

https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/people/26773384-marc-t-swogger/researchers

PI web page

Other Identifiers

K23DA027720

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

28780

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id