Treatment Research: Accomplishments and Challenges

• Author: Robert Hubbard,George Woody,D. Dwayne Simpson
• Published date: 01 January 2009
• DOI: 10.1177/002204260903900112
• Date: 01 January 2009
• Subject Matter: Article

TREATMENT RESEARCH: ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND

CHALLENGES

ROBERT HUBBARD, D. DWAYNE SIMPSON, GEORGE WOODY

This article reviews the history of substance abuse treatment and its evaluation. The

authors comment on key aspects of this history and its implications for the future.

Research has been a key factor in the support of substance abuse treatment and

the expansion and improvement of treatment options. Despite the progress in the

f‌i eld, organizational structure and functioning, ambivalence on the moral/medical

basis of addiction, and narrow perspectives on evidence-based practice have

presented barriers for advancement. Future improvement of treatment is seen as

dependent on the partnership of researchers and real world providers, studies of

evidence- based practice in a wide variety of community based settings and the

consideration of complex and changing real-world environments, particularly for

rural, uninsured and under-served populations.

INTRODUCTION

The social and political history of drug abuse in the United States has helped set

the stage for current public policy regarding drug addiction. The modern history

of treatment research on substance use disorders can be traced to the residential

programs that were established at the federal facilities at Lexington, Kentucky and

Fort Worth, Texas in the 1930s. Research then focused on the pharmacological and

psychiatric effects of abused substances, detoxif‌i cation regimens, psychopathology,

© 2009 BY THE JOURNAL OF DRUG ISSUES

JOURNAL OF DRUG ISSUES 0022-0426/09/01 153-166

__________

Robert Hubbard, Ph.D., directs the Institute for Community-Based Research at NDRI. He was PI on

the DATOS family of studies and developed the NC Treatment Outcome Program Performance System.

He is adjunct professor of Psychiatry at Duke University as PI on NIDA’s Clinical Trials Network and

the NIAAA cooperative agreement to prevent rural underage drinking. D. Dwayne Simpson, Ph.D.,

is Director of the Institute of Behavioral Research (IBR) and the S.B. Sells Distinguished Professor of

Psychology and Addiction Research at Texas Christian University. His research (reported in over 300

publications) includes longitudinal evaluations of treatment effectiveness, therapeutic process modeling,

and organizational readiness for innovation adoption. George Woody, MD, is Professor of Psychiatry

at the University of Pennsylvania and has been involved in treatment and research on persons with

substance use disorders since 1971. He has conducted studies in the U.S. and abroad, has over 200

publications, and is on the editorial boards of several journals.