Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41920142›Full record

Trial reportDrug and alcohol review2026

Approach With Caution: A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial of Approach Bias Modification for People Undergoing Residential Treatment for Methamphetamine Use Disorder.

Victoria Manning, Danielle Whelan, Hugh Piercy, Malcolm Hopwood, Michael Maloney, Eli Kotler, Goke Okedara, Dan I Lubman, Shalini Arunogiri, Joshua B B Garfield

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Drug and alcohol review, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Trial
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Victoria ManningMonash Addiction Research Centre, Eastern Health Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-3908-5980
Danielle WhelanMonash Addiction Research Centre, Eastern Health Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-8959-011X
Hugh PiercyMonash Addiction Research Centre, Eastern Health Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-0631-9114
Malcolm HopwoodDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
Michael MaloneyThe Melbourne Clinic, Healthscope, Melbourne, Australia.
Eli KotlerMalvern Private Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
Goke OkedaraRamsay Clinic Albert Road, Ramsay Health, Melbourne, Australia.
Dan I LubmanMonash Addiction Research Centre, Eastern Health Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
Shalini ArunogiriMonash Addiction Research Centre, Eastern Health Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-7667-8868
Joshua B B GarfieldMonash Addiction Research Centre, Eastern Health Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-5076-6499

Funding

National Centre for Clinical Research on Emerging Drugs (NCCRED) NCR2SF10
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionLess than one-quarter of people who attend residential rehabilitation for methamphetamine use disorder (MUD) remain abstinent for 1 year. Approach bias modification (ApBM), a cognitive training intervention, reduces relapse rates when delivered during residential rehabilitation for alcohol use disorder. However, there has been little research on ApBM for MUD.

methodsTwenty-four patients with MUD attending four residential treatment services in Melbourne were randomised, between March 2020 and August 2024, to 6 sessions of either ApBM (n = 10) or sham-control training (n = 14). Safety was monitored during the intervention and acceptability was assessed at the end of training. A blinded researcher assessed methamphetamine use, craving, and dependence severity at follow-ups 1 and 3 months after discharge from residential treatment.

resultsThree ApBM and five control participants experienced adverse psychological reactions to the training task, resulting in two ApBM and 1 control participants withdrawing. However, participants who completed training generally provided positive acceptability ratings (mean Endorsement and Discomfort Scale scores of 69.13 [SD = 10.93] in the ApBM group and 58.83 [SD = 13.41] in controls). Directions of differences in proportions reporting past-month abstinence at 1-month (ApBM: 5/7 [71%]; controls: 5/11 [46%]) and 3-month follow-ups (ApBM: 4/7 [57%]; controls: 3/9 [33%]) and continuous abstinence at 3-month follow-up (ApBM: 3/7 [43%]; controls: 2/11 [18%]) favoured ApBM; however, these differences did not approach significance in this very small sample. Craving and MUD severity outcomes also did not differ significantly between groups. DISCUSSION AND

conclusionsFurther research on ApBM's efficacy for MUD may be warranted, but safety concerns suggest caution.

trial registrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12620000072910. Registered on 30 January 2020 (prospectively registered): https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=378804&isReview=true.

Indexed as

Amphetamine-Related DisordersCognitive Behavioral TherapyMethamphetamineResidential TreatmentAdultCognitive TrainingFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPilot ProjectsMethamphetamineapproach bias modificationcognitive bias modificationinpatient treatmentmethamphetamineresidential rehabilitation

Identifiers

PMID41920142
PMCPMC13041745

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

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.