"Acceptability and availability of harm-reduction interventions for drug abuse in American substance abuse treatment agencies": Correction to Rosenberg and Phillips (2003).

Reports an error in "Acceptability and availability of harm-reduction interventions for drug abuse in American substance abuse treatment agencies" by Harold Rosenberg and Kristina T. Phillips (Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 2003[Sep], Vol 17[3], 203-210). On page 208, the first sentence in the note of Table 4 incorrectly reads as follows: "Numbers in parentheses are ns of respondents who provided an 'other' reason for this specific intervention." The sentence should read as follows: "Numbers in parentheses are ns of respondents whose agencies do not offer this intervention." (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2003-07737-003.) This study assessed acceptability, availability, and reasons for nonavailability of interventions designed to prevent drug use related harm by substituting pharmaceuticals for illicit drugs; facilitating detoxification; and reducing the occurrence of HIV transmission, relapse, and opiate overdose. A survey was mailed to a sample of 500 randomly selected American substance abuse treatment agencies. Of 435 potentially eligible respondents, 222 (51%) returned usable data. A subset of interventions--including harm reduction education, cue exposure therapy, needle exchange, substitute opiate prescribing, various detoxification regimes, and complementary therapies--were rated as somewhat or completely acceptable by 50% or more of the respondents. Regardless of their acceptability, listed interventions were generally not available from responding agencies; respondents typically attributed unavailability to lack of resources and inconsistency of an intervention with agency philosophy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Brief Treatments for Cannabis Dependence: Findings From a Randomized Multisite Trial.

This study evaluated the efficacy of 2 brief interventions for cannabis-dependent adults. A multisite randomized controlled trial compared cannabis use outcomes across 3 study conditions: (a) 2 sessions of motivational enhancement therapy (MET); (b) 9 sessions of multicomponent therapy that included MET, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and case management; and (c) a delayed treatment control (DTC) condition. Participants were 450 adult marijuana smokers with a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) diagnosis of cannabis dependence. Assessments were conducted at baseline, and at 4, 9, and 15 months postrandomization. The 9-session treatment reduced marijuana smoking and associated consequences significantly more than the 2-session treatment, which also reduced marijuana use relative to the DTC condition. Most differences between treatments were maintained over the follow-up period. Discussion focuses on the relative efficacy of these brief treatments and the clinical significance of the observed changes in marijuana use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The prevention of anxiety and depression: Theory, research and practice.

Reviews the book, The prevention of anxiety and depression: Theory, research and practice edited by David J. A. Dozois and Keith S. Dobson (2004). Dozois and Dobson have compiled an impressive volume whose chapters identify and then address the highly complex issues relevant to prevention of anxiety and depression, ending with an excellent summary and synthesis of the body of work covered in the text. The book features contributions by leading researchers in the area, the level of scholarship is consistently high, and the writing is clear and accessible. The essential message of this book is that the development of prevention interventions is a) necessary and b) foreseeable, if not in the immediate future. The book illustrates the charted territories of research on factors associated with the development of anxiety and depression, with successful treatment and with maintenance of treatment gains, but it also appropriately identifies large uncharted territories, such as our lack of understanding of comorbidity and of the development of specific disorders. At the same time, the book offers detailed guidelines for measuring and evaluating the success of prevention interventions. It thus provides an excellent road map for future work on prevention of anxiety and depression. This book is a very valuable contribution to knowledge and will be essential reading for researchers and clinicians interested in prevention and in anxiety and depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Predictors of psychotherapeutic benefit of lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients: The effects of sexual orientation matching and other factors": Correction to Jones et al. (2003).

Reports an error in "Predictors of Psychotherapeutic Benefit of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Clients: The Effects of Sexual Orientation Matching and Other Factors" by Mary Ann Jones, Michael Botsko and Bernard S. Gorman (Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 2003[Win], Vol 40[4], 289-301). On page 293, Table 3 is incorrectly identified as Table 2, and on pages 294-295, Table 2 is incorrectly identified as Table 3. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2003-11058-004.) Predictors of the level of benefit derived from nearly 2,000 psychotherapy episodes reported by a nationwide, nonprobability sample of 600 lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients were analyzed using ordinary least squares regression, corrected by generalized-estimating-equation (GEE) procedures for lack of independence in the data. Among the positive predictors of benefit are the following: the year the episode began; the number of sessions in the episode; the client's identifying him- or herself as gay, lesbian, or bisexual at the beginning of the episode and being unconflicted about it; and having a therapist who is female, gay, or lesbian or who trained as a social worker or a psychologist. Negative predictors include having a therapist who is an analyst, who uses reparative therapy, or who violates sexual boundaries. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intervention effects on college performance and retention as mediated by motivational, emotional, and social control factors: Integrated meta-analytic path analyses.

Using both organizational and educational perspectives, the authors proposed and tested theoretical models on the mediating roles that psychosocial factors (PSFs; motivational, emotional, and social control factors) play between college interventions (academic skill, self-management, socialization, and First-Year-Experience interventions) and college outcomes (academic performance and retention). They first determined through meta-analysis of 404 data points the effects of college interventions on college outcomes and on PSFs. These meta-analytic findings were then combined with results from S. B. Robbins et al.’s (2004) meta-analysis to test the proposed models. Integrated meta-analytic path analyses showed the direct and indirect effects (via PSFs) of intervention strategies on both performance and retention outcomes. The authors highlight the importance of both academic skill and self-management-based interventions; they also note the salience of motivational and emotional control mediators across both performance and retention outcomes. Implications from organizational and educational perspectives, limitations, and future directions are addressed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Brief alcohol intervention with college student drinkers: Face-to-face versus computerized feedback.

Research has demonstrated that brief interventions featuring personalized feedback can be used to decrease alcohol use among heavy-drinking college students. The current study investigated the efficacy of face-to-face and computer delivered interventions relative to an assessment-only control condition. The content of the personalized feedback was identical across the face-to-face and computerized conditions. There were 84 at-risk students assessed before, and 4 weeks after, the delivery of the interventions. The results suggest that both face-to-face and computerized interventions were equally successful in reducing the quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption, and that both interventions were more effective than the control condition. Participants also rated both interventions as acceptable, although the face-to-face intervention was given a more favorable rating. These initial results suggest that computerized interventions can be used to efficiently reduce alcohol use among college students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessing the social validity of behavioral interventions: A review of treatment acceptability measures.

Increased attention to the construct of social validity in school psychology research and practice has resulted in a focus on treatment acceptability, the extent to which interventions are considered appropriate, effective, and fair. Questionnaires represent the typical measurement approach to treatment acceptability. This article reviews treatment acceptability measures and practices that have been developed and used to assess the social validity of behavioral interventions. A comparative framework was developed and applied to provide a systematic critique of 9 treatment acceptability measures along such dimensions as content and purpose of the instrument, psychometric properties, scoring procedures and interpretation, and use of the measure in research in practice. No one instrument was selected to be the most comprehensive and it is argued that treatment acceptability assessment practices need to move beyond the traditional questionnaire format. Alternatives to rating scales are presented and directions for future research regarding the measurement of treatment acceptability are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Community-based participatory research: Partnering with communities for effective and sustainable behavioral health interventions.

The present issue contains one of the first studies published in Health Psychology—by Resnicow and colleagues—that uses elements of community-based participatory research (CBPR) (Resnicow et al., 2009). The authors engaged community partners (three health maintenance organizations or HMOs) to develop and implement a fruit and vegetable promotion intervention (Tolsma et al., 2009). African American HMO patients (the intervention targets) participated in formative work (i.e., focus groups) on survey items and intervention content and in survey pilot testing. A diverse group of researcher and nonresearcher expert stakeholders (e.g., African American health plan staff; consultants with expertise in Black identity theory, on which the intervention was based) was engaged in major project decisions regarding the measures and intervention design. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Thinking about drinking: Need for cognition and readiness to change moderate the effects of brief alcohol interventions.

Research has demonstrated the efficacy of brief motivational interventions (BMI) and alcohol expectancy challenge (AEC) in reducing alcohol use and/or problems among college students. However, little is known about variables that may qualify the effectiveness of these approaches. The present analyses tested the hypothesis that need for cognition (NFC), impulsivity/sensation seeking (IMPSS) and readiness to change (RTC) would moderate the effects of BMI and AEC. Participants (N = 335) were heavy drinking college students enrolled in a randomized 2 × 2 factorial study of BMI and AEC. Latent growth curve analyses indicated significant interactions for BMI × NFC and AEC × RTC on alcohol use but not problems. Simple slopes analyses were used to probe these relationships and revealed that higher levels of NFC at baseline were associated with a stronger BMI effect on drinking outcomes over time. Similarly, higher levels of baseline RTC were associated with stronger AEC effects on alcohol use. Future preventive interventions with this population may profit by considering individual differences and targeting approaches accordingly. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)