Joel Ginn

University of Massachusetts Amherst | UMass Amherst · Department of Psychology

Despite a consensus among climate scientists on the impact of meat consumption on climate change, this has not yet had a significant impact on dietary attitudes and behavior in the broader public. Recent efforts to address this have focused on reduction of meat consumption (e.g., flexitarianism, reducetarianism) rather than elimination of meat cons...

This study investigated whether misalignment between an individual and their community in partisan identity predicted psychological and behavioral distancing from local COVID-19 norms. A nationally representative sample of Republicans and Democrats provided longitudinal data in April ( N = 3,492) and June 2020 ( N = 2,649). Democrats in Republican...

Reducing meat consumption is a highly effective strategy for living sustainably, yet many consumers do not recognize the effectiveness of this strategy. While this may be due in part to a gap in awareness, consumers may be motivated to see changing meat consumption as a relatively ineffective strategy compared to other, more direct strategies. In t...

Aims: The primary study aim was to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for opioid use disorder and chronic pain. The secondary aim was to examine its preliminary efficacy. Methods: In a 12-week pilot randomized clinical trial, 40 methadone-maintained patients were assigned to receive weekly manualized...

Tackling complex environmental challenges requires the capacity to understand how relationships and interactions between parts result in dynamic behavior of whole systems. There has been convincing research that these "systems thinking" skills can be learned. However, there is little research on methods for teaching these skills to children or asse...

Objective. : To examine how drug counselors with no prior training in pain management respond to their patients' reports of chronic pain. Design, setting, subjects, and methods. : We conducted individual interviews with 30 drug counselors in methadone maintenance treatment. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and systematically coded using...

Objective: We set out to examine physicians' perceptions of the provision of ancillary services for opioid dependent patients receiving buprenorphine. Methods: An e-mail invitation describing the study was sent out by the American Society of Addiction Medicine to its membership (approximately 3700 physicians) and other entities (for a total of a...

Background and objectives: Physical activity may improve chronic pain, anxiety, and depression, which are prevalent among patients in methadone maintenance treatment (MMT), but relatively little is known about the physical activity levels or interest in exercise of patients in MMT. Methods: We used a brief self-report instrument to assess physic...