CLINICAL TRIAL article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Addictive Disorders
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1486338
This article is part of the Research TopicAddictive Disorders and Digital Medicine: Technology-based solutions for Addictive DisordersView all 10 articles
The Effects of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-Based Digital Therapeutic Intervention on Patients with Alcohol Use Disorder
Provisionally accepted
- Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University, Chuncheon, Republic of Korea
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This study had investigated the effectiveness of digital therapeutic intervention for alcohol addiction by comparing a group receiving digital therapy over 12 weeks with a control group receiving face-to-face cognitive behavioral therapy. A total of 30 outpatients participated in this study. Data from 28 participants were included in the analysis after excluding two dropouts. Participants in the digital therapeutic intervention group received an application containing 84 cognitive behavioral therapy video contents. The control group received a standardized 8-session cognitive behavioral therapy program by face-to-face. They also received a mobile application with a diary for tracking drinking (drinking status, cravings, mood, etc.). Both groups completed questionnaires at baseline, mid-intervention (4 weeks after treatment initiation), and post-intervention (immediately after treatment completion) to assess Risky drinking, craving, readiness for change, depression, anxiety, and alcoholrelated symptoms. The results showed that the abstinence rate during weeks 9-12 (primary efficacy outcome) was significantly higher in the digital therapeutic intervention group (73.3%), compared to the control group (30.8%). In addition, the secondary outcome variables of risky drinking level, craving, and anxiety showed a significantly greater decrease in the experimental group compared to the control group. There were no significant differences between the two groups in most other variables. The study concluded with a discussion of its significance, limitations, and suggestions for future research.
Keywords: Digital Therapeutic Intervention, alcohol use disorder, Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), Digital Therapeutic CBT, addiction treatment
Received: 26 Aug 2024; Accepted: 29 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lim, Shin, Ahn, Lee and Lee. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Sang-Kyu Lee, Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University, Chuncheon, Republic of Korea
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