Initial feasibility and validity of a prospective memory training program in a substance use treatment population

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Individuals with substance use disorders (SUD) often exhibit prospective memory (PM) and working memory (WM) deficits.
• These cognitive impairments may contribute to treatment non-adherence and relapse.
• Targeting PM and WM represents an innovative therapeutic avenue for SUD.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and assess the feasibility and validity of a novel PM training program integrated with WM exercises.
• To evaluate this program as a potential adjunctive therapy for SUD treatment.

Main Methods:

• A single session of a novel PM and WM training program was administered to 22 participants in outpatient SUD treatment.
• Performance on the training was correlated with established measures of PM and WM.
• Event-based and time-based PM task performance was analyzed for internal validity.

Main Results:

• The training demonstrated feasibility in the SUD population, with generally accurate PM performance in a single session.
• Participants performed better on event-based than time-based PM tasks, aligning with existing literature.
• Performance on the novel training components correlated significantly with established PM and WM assessments, suggesting engagement of relevant cognitive processes.

Conclusions:

• The developed memory training program is feasible and shows initial validity for individuals with SUD.
• The program's ability to engage specific cognitive processes supports its potential as an adjunctive therapy for SUD.
• Further research should increase training difficulty to prevent ceiling effects in repeated sessions.