Kimberly Walitzer

• SUNY Brockport

Medication-assisted behavior treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD) holds promise to enhance the efficacy of medication and of behavior therapy when administered individually. The present study examines the treatment benefit of combined outpatient naltrexone (NTX) treatment with Alcoholics Anonymous Facilitation (AAF) behavior therapy, in the con...

This study investigated the relative effects of 3 12-week secondary prevention interventions for problem drinking men and women in rural counties in New York State. The participants were 111 self-referred men and women without severe dependence on alcohol who nevertheless reported heavy drinking and a desire to reduce their alcohol consumption. The...

Despite tremendous progress in tobacco control over the past 50 years, smoking continues to be the foremost preventable cause of disease and death in the United States and the majority of adults who smoke want to quit. Thus, continuing efforts, both clinical and research, must focus on new, effective methods to aid in smoking cessation. Anger manag...

A randomized controlled trial for an innovative alcohol-adapted anger management treatment (AM) for outpatient alcohol dependent individuals scoring moderate or above on anger is described. AM treatment outcomes were compared to those of an empirically-supported intervention, Alcoholics Anonymous Facilitation treatment (AAF). Clients in AM, relativ...

Widespread adoption of empirically-supported treatment innovations has the potential to improve effectiveness of treatment received by individuals with substance use disorders. However, the process of disseminating such innovations has been complex, slow, and difficult. We empirically describe the dissemination and adoption of a treatment innovatio...

Background: Literature suggests that tobacco smoking among clients in alcohol treatment has important clinical implications, including poorer treatment outcome. Much of this literature, however, has been derived from research-based treatment samples that utilized stringent inclusion and exclusion criteria, limiting generalizability of findings. O...

Background: Major sporting events and other festive occasions are typically associated with alcohol consumption; however, little is known about risky drinking during events such as the "Super Bowl." Objectives: We sought to determine whether drinking on Super Bowl Sunday differed from Saturdays (the heaviest drinking day of the week) surrounding...

This study evaluated the effects of alcohol‐focused spouse involvement and behavioural couple therapy ( BCT ) on couple communication in the context of group drinking reduction treatment for male problem drinkers. Sixty‐four male clients and their female partners were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (i) treatment for problem drinkers...

Gaining a better understanding of the natural course of hazardous alcohol consumption could inform the development of brief interventions to encourage self-change. In the current study, hazardous drinkers (based on Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test score) were recruited using advertisements to participate in a 2-year multiwave prospective s...

Introduction: Previous research has indicated that smoking behavior in the general population is linked to personality traits such as behavioral undercontrol and negative emotionality, but it is unknown whether these traits pertain to alcoholic smokers. Further, prior research has not established whether alcoholic smokers differ from their nonsmoki...

Little is known about the extent to which individuals participating in drinking reduction interventions use the drinking reduction strategies presented during treatment. In consideration of this issue, we advanced hypotheses about the impact of baseline drinking patterns on strategy use and the relationship of strategy use to drinking patterns over...

Evidence-based practices, such as motivational interviewing (MI), are not widely used in community alcohol and drug treatment settings. Successfully broadening the dissemination of MI will require numerous trainers and supervisors who are equipped to manage common barriers to technology transfer. The aims of the our survey of 36 MI trainers were: 1...

The Research Institute on Addictions (RIA) was established in 1970 as a research component of the New York State Department of Mental Hygiene. After three decades of serving as a research component of New York State agencies concerned with alcohol and substance abuse, RIA was legislatively transferred to the University at Buffalo in 1999. Today, RI...

This study evaluated two strategies to facilitate involvement in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)--a 12-Step-based directive approach and a motivational enhancement approach--during skills-focused individual treatment. Randomized controlled trial with assessments at baseline, end of treatment and 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after treatment. PARTICIPANTS, SETTIN...

In this chapter, we focus broadly on spiritual change in recovery, particularly in relation to involvement in AA. We open with a discussion on defining spirituality and provide an operationalization of spirituality for present purposes. We next provide a conceptualization of alcoholism as a spiritual disease. This is followed by a review of topics...

This study examined the durability of a group-based drinking moderation training for heavily drinking women reporting low physical dependence on alcohol. A 30-month follow-up of participants was conducted based on a previous study of 144 women randomly assigned to treatment conditions (G. J. Connors & K. S. Walitzer, 2001). Thirty-month follow-up r...

This review explores gender differences in relapse and characteristics of relapse events in alcohol and substance use. For alcohol, relapse rates were similar across gender. Although negative mood, childhood sexual abuse, alcohol-related self-efficacy, and poorer coping strategies predicted alcohol relapse, gender did not moderate these effects. Ge...

This investigation explored the relationship of client engagement variables (client expectations, therapeutic/working alliance, and session attendance) with treatment satisfaction and posttreatment drinking-related outcomes using data from 2 outpatient alcohol treatment studies (N = 208). Path analysis was used to test a model in which engagement v...

This study evaluated the effects of alcohol-focused spouse involvement and behavioral couples therapy (BCT) in group drinking reduction treatment for male problem drinkers. Sixty-four male clients and their female partners were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: treatment for problem drinkers only (PDO), couples alcohol-focused treatment, or t...

In this study, 126 clients (87 men, 39 women) entering outpatient alcoholism treatment were assigned randomly to 1 of 3 preparatory conditions: a role induction (RI) session, a motivational interview (MI) session, or a no-preparatory session control group (CG). Clients assigned to the MI preparatory condition attended more treatment sessions and ha...

In this study, 126 clients (87 men, 39 women) entering outpatient alcoholism treatment were assigned randomly to 1 of 3 preparatory conditions: a role induction (RI) session, a motivational interview (MI) session, or a no-preparatory session control group (CG). Clients assigned to the MI preparatory condition attended more treatment sessions and ha...

Problem-drinking women (N = 144) without histories of severe physical dependence on alcohol received drinking-reduction training and were assigned to receive (or not receive) 2 treatment enhancements: life-skills training and booster sessions. The design resulted in 4 treatment conditions: drinking-reduction treatment (DRT) plus life-skills trainin...

Recent data suggest that most people experiencing alcohol problems have problems of mild to moderate severity. Relative to alcoholics, these drinkers have a shorter problem-drinking history, greater social and economic stability, and greater personal resources. This article describes a cognitive-behavioral treatment approach designed specifically f...

Substantial numbers of mental health clients do not return following their initial therapy visits or drop out of treatment prematurely. Two general classes of strategies designed to reduce premature attrition and enhance treatment participation are reviewed. Research on psychotherapy preparatory techniques (role induction, vicarious therapy pretrai...

The relations among gender, self-esteem, and DSM-III alcohol use disorder diagnoses were examined in a sample of 217 men and 240 women evaluated at four annual assessments over the college years. The results support clinical observations that low self-esteem plays a particularly important etiological role in alcohol problems in women relative to me...

The platelet MAO activity of 557 male Ss (aged 21–26 yrs) was assessed with substance use and abuse, family history of alcoholism, and personality traits. Low platelet MAO activity was associated with (1) undercontrolled behavioral style as evidenced by high scores on measures of antisociality, (2) increased use of cigarettes, and (3) increased rat...

The platelet MAO activity of 557 male Ss (aged 21–26 yrs) was assessed with substance use and abuse, family history of alcoholism, and personality traits. Low platelet MAO activity was associated with (1) undercontrolled behavioral style as evidenced by high scores on measures of antisociality, (2) increased use of cigarettes, and (3) increased rat...

A sample of 253 children of alcoholics (COAs) and 237 children of nonalcoholics (non-COAs) were compared on alcohol and drug use, psychopathology, cognitive ability, and personality. COAs reported more alcohol and drug problems, stronger alcohol expectancies, higher levels of behavioral undercontrol and neuroticism, and more psychiatric distress in...

Weight gain is considered a frequent consequence of smoking cessation. Several psychological mechanisms may play an important role in weight gain following smoking cessation. The present investigation examined changes in food craving associated with smoking cessation using psychophysiologic (i.e., salivation), self-report, and behavioral (i.e., ad...

Individuals at high risk for alcoholism have been hypothesized to acquire alcoholic characteristics more rapidly than those at low risk. Two studies examined reactivity to alcohol cues, a phenomenon linked to craving for alcohol in clinical alcoholics, and ad lib drinking behavior in young men at varying risk for alcoholism. In Study 1, subjects ex...

Recent evidence suggests that alcohol consumption can lead to attenuated stress response, but parameters such as dose and personality traits appear to influence the magnitude of alcohol's effects. To better characterize these relations, male social drinkers were asigned to either a placebo, a moderate, or a high dose of alcohol and then had heart r...

Typescript. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1987. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-99). Microfilm.