Trial reportJournal of medical Internet research2013
Effectiveness of a self-guided web-based cannabis treatment program: randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Journal of medical Internet research, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 58 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
58 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 147 citations in OpenAlex.
- Digitally Delivered Cognitive Behavioral Interventions for Alcohol and Other Drug Use: Meta-Analysis Across Consumption and Psychosocial Outcomes.JMIR mental health · 2026Pooled it
- Prevalence of Dropout and Influencing Factors in Digital Psychosocial Intervention Trials for Adult Illicit Substance Users: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- Digital Interventions for Recreational Cannabis Use Among Young Adults: Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, and Behavior Change Technique Analysis of Randomized Controlled Studies.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Systematic review of outcome domains and measures used in psychosocial and pharmacological treatment trials for cannabis use disorder.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2019Pooled it
- Internet-Delivered Health Interventions That Work: Systematic Review of Meta-Analyses and Evaluation of Website Availability.Journal of medical Internet research · 2017Pooled it
- Behavioral therapies for treatment-seeking cannabis users: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Evaluation & the health professions · 2015Pooled it
- Effects of a web-based relapse prevention program on abstinence: Secondary subgroup analysis of a pilot randomized controlled trial.Neuropsychopharmacology reports · 2022Trial
- CANreduce 2.0 Adherence-Focused Guidance for Internet Self-Help Among Cannabis Users: Three-Arm Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Trial
- Guided web-based treatment program for reducing cannabis use: a randomized controlled trial.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2020Trial
- Effects of Treatment Length and Chat-Based Counseling in a Web-Based Intervention for Cannabis Users: Randomized Factorial Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2018Trial
- Effectiveness of a Web-Based Screening and Fully Automated Brief Motivational Intervention for Adolescent Substance Use: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2016Trial
- Trial
- A Web-Based Self-Help Intervention With and Without Chat Counseling to Reduce Cannabis Use in Problematic Cannabis Users: Three-Arm Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2015Trial
- Gender-based Outcomes and Acceptability of a Computer-assisted Psychosocial Intervention for Substance Use Disorders.Journal of substance abuse treatment · 2015Trial
- Six-month outcomes of a Web-based intervention for users of amphetamine-type stimulants: randomized controlled trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2015Trial
- Effectiveness of different Web-based interventions to prepare co-smokers of cigarettes and cannabis for double cessation: a three-arm randomized controlled trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2014Trial
- Trial
- Lessons learned: challenges in recruiting and engaging people with heavy cannabis use for online interventions in Canada.Journal of cannabis research · 2026Article
- Evidence-based therapist guided introduction to online heavy cannabis use treatment in Canadian adults: a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT).Journal of cannabis research · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSelf-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.
objectivesThe 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.
methods225 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).
resultsTwo 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.
conclusionFindings 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 registrationACTRN12609000856213, Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.