Effectiveness of a self-guided web-based cannabis treatment program: Randomized controlled trial

Background: self-help strategies offer a promising way to address problems with access to and stigma associated with face-to-face drug and alcohol treatment,and the internet provides an excellent delivery mode for such strategies. to date,no study has tested the effectiveness of a fully self-guided web-based treatment for cannabis use and related problems. objectives: the current study was a two-armed randomized controlled trial aimed at testing the effectiveness of reduce your use,a fully self-guided web-based treatment program for cannabis use disorder consisting of 6 modules based on cognitive,motivational,and behavioral principles. methods: 225 individuals who wanted to cease or reduce their cannabis use were recruited using both online and offline advertising methods and were randomly assigned to receive: (1) the web-based intervention,or (2) a control condition consisting of 6 modules of web-based educational information on cannabis. assessments of cannabis use,dependence symptoms,and abuse symptoms were conducted through online questionnaires at baseline,and at 6-week and 3-month follow-ups. two sets of data analyses were undertaken-complier average causal effect (cace) modeling and intention to treat (itt). results: two thirds (149) of the participants completed the 6-week postintervention assessment,while 122 (54%) completed the 3-month follow-up assessment. participants in the intervention group completed an average of 3.5 of the 6 modules. the cace analysis revealed that at 6 weeks,the experimental group reported significantly fewer days of cannabis use during the past month (p=.02),significantly lower past-month quantity of cannabis use (p=.01),and significantly fewer symptoms of cannabis abuse (p=.047) relative to controls. cannabis dependence symptoms (number and severity) and past-month abstinence did not differ significantly between groups (ps<.05). findings at 3 months were similar,except that the experimental group reported significantly fewer and less severe cannabis dependence symptoms (ps<.05),and past-month quantity of cannabis consumed no longer differed significantly between groups (p=.16). itt analyses yielded similar outcomes. conclusion: findings suggest that web-based interventions may be an effective means of treating uncomplicated cannabis use and related problems and reducing the public health burden of cannabis use disorders. trial registration: actrn12609000856213,australian new zealand clinical trials registry.