Microcomputers and prevention of drug abuse

In recent years, the psychological treatment of drug addiction has been dominated by an emphasis on learning theory and an interest in minimal and self-administered treatment. The computer provides the consummate medium for bringing these components together. This paper reports on two computer-assisted learning programs, one for the prevention of relapse in former heroin users and the other for the promotion of controlled drinking in early-stage problem drinkers. The need for this type of technology is supported by mounting evidence that drug and alcohol misusers prefer self-help to psychotherapy and that most addicts who manage to overcome their addiction do so on their own.