The purpose of this study was to measure the attitudes of a national representative population of counselors toward buprenorphine as a treatment for opioid addiction. The current study sought to build on the existing literature to include the attitudes of counselors in mental health settings, as these treatment providers are likely to encounter clients with addiction issues.
A sample of 65 substance abuse counselors and 57 non substance abuse counselors completed an online survey which examined their respective attitudes toward three treatment options for opioid addiction: 1) Buprenorphine; 2) Methadone; and 3) Counseling. Demographic information was gathered on the survey as well as information related to the experience and familiarity that counselors had with buprenorphine and methadone. Data was analyzed using a two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with a between and within factor. This analysis revealed a statistically significant difference in the mean scores between substance abuse counselors and non substance abuse counselors regarding their attitudes toward the three treatments for opioid addiction.
The results indicated that non substance abuse counselors had slightly higher mean scores for all three treatment measures than did substance abuse counselors. However, both groups of counselors had higher mean scores for methadone than for buprenorphine. The reported preference for methadone over buprenorphine in this study suggests that buprenorphine has not yet been readily adopted as an efficacious treatment for opioid dependency.
Results further indicated that there were significant differences in attitudes toward treatment for opioid addiction based on buprenorphine, methadone and counseling as treatment options. Additionally, there was no interaction effect between counselor groups and treatment interventions. The implications of these findings, the limitations of the study, and directions for future research are discussed.
This research supports the view that education of counselors regarding the efficacy of buprenorphine is critical if the medication is to increase the availability and accessibility of treatment to individuals with opioid dependency. It further highlights the need for counselor educators to incorporate information regarding pharmacotherapy into content for addiction courses.