research evidence

• is this a strength or weakness?

  strength
• what evidence suggests aversion therapy is an effective treatment for alcoholism?

  Smith et al (1997)
• how many patients did Smith et al study?

  249 addicted to alcohol
• what were the patients treated with?

  aversion therapy using shock treatment or nausea-inducing drugs
• what were the findings of Smith et al?

  higher abstinence rate after 1 year than those who had counselling alone
• what else did Smith et al report?

  success with a group of 300 smokers, 52% of those treated with shocks maintained abstinence after 1 yr
• what is the counter argument for research evidence?

  conflicting evidence - Miller (1978)
• what did Miller do?

  compare effectiveness of three types of treatment
• what types of treatment did Miller compare?

  aversion therapy (using shocks)

  counselling therapy plus aversion

  counselling alone
• what did Miller find?

  one year later recovery was same for all groups, indicating aversion therapy offered no benefit