Research_Methods

PS300: Research Methods I Prof: Kimberly Maring In this assignment the author chose an article that hit close to home. His wife suffers from depression and his father died of a drug overdose. For this assignment the author will offer a brief summary of the reason for the study, the research questions, hypothesis and conclusion; I will also assess the design of the research used in the article “The moderating effects of group cognitive-behavioral therapy for depression among substance users” (Hunter, S. B., Witkiewitz, K., Watkins, K. E., Paddock, S. M., & Hepner, K. A. (2012). Finally, he will suggest how one could utilize the outcome that was found in the article in a substance abuse profession. The article selected is summarized by “examining the potential relationship that will development over time between changes in depressive symptoms on alcohol and/or drug addicts and if use among addiction participants in treatment, and whether group cognitive-behavioral therapy for depression moderated the relationship. The purpose of the study is to find out if treatment influences the relationship between depressive symptoms, substance use, and negative consequences from use following treatment (Hunter, S. B., Witkiewitz, K., Watkins, K. E., Paddock, S. M., & Hepner, K. A. (2012). The research question is will the clients that attend Group Cognitive–Behavioral Therapy for Depression (GCB-D) in addition to usual care abstain from substance abuse and have a decrease in depressive symptoms' The hypothesis of the study is that there would be a prospective, longitudinal association between depressive symptoms, substance use, and consequences from use; such that improvements in depressive symptoms would be associated with improvements on the substance use (Hunter et al., 2012). Additionally, the article hypothesized that GCBT-D may improve outcomes by reducing the association between depressive symptoms, substance use, and related consequence (Hunter et al., 2012). The article’s results are summarized as needing more work to finish the study, but results have show that depression and negative moods affect substance abuse. Additionally, CBT has been shown in the study to improve the outcome of depressed users. Finally, this research supports the movement toward providing depression care in addiction treatment settings and empirical evidence on the efficacy of psychosocial treatments more broadly to decrease depressive symptoms, substance abuse, and negative consequences from use (Hunter et al., 2012). This study is relevant to treating substance abuse, because it draws the correlation of depressive moods and substance abuse. The study shows that if you are able to treat the underlying issues; negative moods, depressive feeling, a professional may have a client that is able to abstain from relapsing for a longer period of time or possibly not relapsing at all. In addition, the study shows that Group Cognitive–Behavioral Therapy for Depression is more effective than usual care. Reference Hunter, S. B., Witkiewitz, K., Watkins, K. E., Paddock, S. M., & Hepner, K. A. (2012). The moderating effects of group cognitive–behavioral therapy for depression among substance users. Psychology Of Addictive Behaviors, 26(4), 906-916. doi:10.1037/a0028158