About
299
Publications
88,065
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
24,399
Citations
Current institution
Publications
Publications (299)
Background and Aims
The Timeline Followback (TLFB) was initially developed to collect retrospective self- reports of alcohol and drug use. Since its development, several peer-reviewed papers have supported it as a sound psychometric measure for substance use and for several other behaviors. Worldwide, coffee is one of the most widely consumed bever...
Introduction:
Smoking cessation-related weight gain can have significant negative health and career consequences for military personnel. Alcohol reduction combined with smoking cessation may decrease weight gain and relapse.
Method:
A randomized clinical trial of military beneficiaries compared a standard smoking cessation (i.e., brief informati...
Background:
Alcohol-exposed pregnancies (AEPs) are a preventable cause of birth defects and developmental disabilities for which many women are at risk. The initial 5-session Project CHOICES intervention was found to prevent AEPs. In the ensuing decade, there have been several additional CHOICES-like studies. This study, Project Healthy CHOICES, h...
Background:
Several psychometrically sound measures of alcohol use have been developed to assess drinking. The AUDIT, and its shorter counterpart the AUDIT-C, which contains the first three AUDIT questions, were developed by the World Health Organization and have become the preferred brief measures for screening and evaluating problem severity. Th...
A behavior therapy for alcoholism was designed based on the rationale that alcoholic drinking is a discriminated, operant response. Treatment emphasized determining setting events for each subject’s drinking and training equally effective alternative responses to those situations. Seventy male, hospitalized, Gamma alcoholics were assigned to a trea...
Project Healthy CHOICES, a self-administered, mail-based prevention intervention, was developed for women at risk of an alcohol-exposed pregnancy (AEP). Participants were sent their assessment and study materials through the United States Postal Service. This article uses data from a larger study (N = 354) and focuses on the 89 women who identified...
This study examined the relationship between traumatic stress, social problem solving, and moral disengagement among African American inner-city high school students. Participants consisted of 45 (25 males and 20 females) African American students enrolled in grades 10 through 12. Mediation was assessed by testing for the indirect effect using the...
Although autobiographical narratives (ABNs) provide rich descriptions of how people change addictive behaviors, psychometric evaluations of such reports are rare. 27 ex-smokers who had quit for 1 to 5 years were interviewed twice about why they quit. Participants' ABN reasons for why they quit smoking were compared with their answers on the Reasons...
Few cross-cultural studies have investigated the self-change process with substance abusers. This study examined commonalities and differences related to the self-change process with Spanish speaking self-changers in Spain and the United States (U.S.) who reported recovering from an alcohol or drug problem on their own (i.e., without formal help or...
Reviews the 4-DVD set, Motivational Interviewing Step by Step (2012). This DVD series is intended to provide an introduction to basic concepts and techniques of motivational interviewing (MI), a directive adaptation of client-centered therapy designed to minimize resistance from clients. A major portion of the DVDs consists of discussions between t...
The Timeline Followback (TLFB), a retrospective calendar-based measure of daily substance use, was initially developed to obtain self-reports of alcohol use. Since its inception it has undergone extensive evaluation across diverse populations and is considered the most psychometrically sound self-report measure of drinking. Although the TLFB has be...
Very little research has been conducted on what time window provides a representative picture of daily drinking. With respect to pretreatment drinking, one study that used the Timeline Followback (TLFB) with problem drinkers found that a 3-month window is generally representative of annual pretreatment drinking. The objective of the present study w...
The psychometric properties of the Drug Use Disorders Identification Test (DUDIT), an 11-item self-report questionnaire developed to screen individuals for drug problems, are evaluated. The measure, developed in Sweden and evaluated there with individuals with severe drug problems, has not been evaluated with less severe substance abusers or with c...
Aims A substantial literature demonstrates that natural recoveries from substance use disorders not only occur but are a common pathway to recovery. This article reviews selectively and comments on the current state-of-the-art in natural recovery research.
Methods Basic concepts in natural recovery research are presented, and topical and methodolog...
Consumption of 8 alcoholic drinks per week or 5 alcoholic drinks on one occasion by a pregnant woman can affect the developing fetus. However, it can be difficult to determine which patients are at risk.
To evaluate how well the answer to a single question about binge drinking could help identify women at risk of an alcohol-exposed pregnancy (AEP)....
Project CHOICES developed an integrated behavioral intervention for prevention of prenatal alcohol exposure in women at high risk for alcohol-exposed pregnancies. Settings included primary care, university-hospital based obstetrical/gynecology practices, an urban jail, substance abuse treatment settings, and a media-recruited sample in three large...
Although group therapy is widely used for individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs), randomized clinical trials (RCTs) comparing the same treatment in a group versus individual format are rare. This paper presents the results of a RCT comparing guided self-change (GSC) treatment, a cognitive-behavioral motivational intervention, conducted in...
A survey determined that all states of the United States and all but one Canadian province consider drivers records as public records and will provide copies to requesting parties at little or no cost. In a second survey, current drivers records were obtained for 452 (90.4%) of 500 consecutive admissions to a Southern California public alcoholism t...
The validity of alcohol abusers' self-reports of the number of days associated with alcohol-related incarcerations and hospitalizations was investigated using a recently developed time-line follow-back interviewing technique. It was felt that duration data (number of days per occurrence) would be more sensitve than incidence data (number of occurre...
This study was designed to investigate the effects of instructions regarding beverage content and alcohol beverage consumption on preference for alcohol. The subjects were 32 male undergraduate nonalcoholic drinkers. Subjects were told they would receive either an alcoholic or a nonalcoholic beverage and did or did not receive an alcoholic priming...
Two previous studies comparing the Quick Drinking Screen (QDS) with the Timeline Followback (TLFB) found that these two instruments yielded similar reports of alcohol use for clinical and nonclinical populations of problem drinkers. The current study evaluated the correspondence between these two drinking measures with women at risk of an Alcohol-E...
A recent study comparing the Quick Drinking Screen (QDS) with the Timeline Followback (TLFB) found that in a nonclinical population of problem drinkers both measures produced reliable summary measures of drinking. The current study was designed to replicate these findings with a clinical population of alcohol abusers. The data were collected over t...
When assessing individuals with alcohol use disorders, measurement of drinking can be a resource intensive activity, particularly because many research studies report data for intervals ranging from 6 to 12 months prior to the interview. This study examined whether data from shorter assessment intervals is sufficiently representative of longer inte...
Although supervision is an important mechanism for developing clinical competencies, trainees sometimes find it difficult to accept critical feedback. The procedure of using written self-critiques of audiotaped therapy sessions, based on motivational interviewing (MI) principles, was used to facilitate acceptance of feedback for doctoral clinical p...
Because of the high co-occurrence of Axis-I mood disorders with primary substance use disorders (SUD), it is important to routinely assess substance abusers for evidence of a mood disorder. The primary goal of the present study was to examine the psychometric characteristics of two widely used self-report measures of depression (Beck Depression Inv...
Whether the topic is addictive behaviors, infections, or fractures, the traditional view of treatment in a medical model is
that it addresses the cause of the disorder and either returns the person to normal functioning or helps the individual achieve
a reasonable accommodation to a disability. For treatment of withdrawal symptoms, the medical mode...
As discussed in detail in Chapter 1, the vast majority of people with alcohol and drug problems are unlikely to enter traditional
substance abuse or addiction treatment programs (Harris & Mckellar, 2003). Several major U.S. surveys have concluded that
only a small percentage of individuals with alcohol problems ever seek and enter into treatment (D...
The several articles and commentaries in this Special Issue of Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice draw needed attention to the high prevalence of comorbid psychiatric and substance use disorders and how these disorders are related to an increase in health problems. In this introduction, we suggest that doctoral programs could be enhanced by...
Prenatal alcohol exposure is a leading preventable cause of birth defects and developmental disabilities in the United States.
A randomized controlled trial (2002-2005; data analyzed 2005-2006) of a brief motivational intervention to reduce the risk of an alcohol-exposed pregnancy (AEP) in preconceptional women by focusing on both risk drinking and...
Visitors to a science center (N= 189) responded to a questionnaire measuring their agreement with different conceptions of alcohol abuse (disease, sin, habit, and addiction conceptions) and their beliefs regarding treatment for alcohol abusers. Respondents who agreed with a disease concept thought alcohol abuse was a more serious problem, were more...
Despite abundant indications that resolutions from alcohol problems without treatment are common, there appears to be little awareness that such recoveries occur and a general skepticism regarding their possibility. This paper presents results from a study investigating the impact of hypothetical newspaper articles about self-change and moderate-dr...
In this study, the authors used cigarette smokers' narratives describing their quit attempts to understand factors related to the change process. Maintained quitters (MQs, n = 59) and temporary quitters (TQs, n = 47) wrote autobiographical narratives describing their most serious (TQs) or last (MQs) quit attempt. Two types of content analysis were...
Long-term daily cannabis abusers (N = 25) who without treatment stopped using cannabis for at least one year were interviewed about their past substance use, antecedents to change, and factors supportive of change. Respondents' cannabis problems decreased in the year prior to their recovery compared to their lifetime use. Respondents described thei...
Although Hispanics/Latinos constitute the largest ethnic minority group in the United States, there are few culturally and linguistically valid Spanish language clinical assessment instruments. This shortage is even more critical in the addictions field. This article presents the psychometric characteristics of two drug abuse screening instruments;...
Although moderation and harm reduction approaches to the treatment of alcohol problems are accepted in many parts of the world, they continue to be rare in the US. A major reason for this state of affairs has to do with the way alcohol treatment services in the US developed, and in particular the creation of a group of paraprofessional counselors m...
Guided self-change (GSC) treatment, a brief, cognitive-behavioral, motivational intervention first developed for use with problem drinkers, has now been evaluated with drug abusers, adolescents and Spanish-speaking alcohol abusers. This article reviews the foundations for the development of GSC; describes the results from several studies using this...
Background:
Simulated patients are commonly used to evaluate medical trainees. Unannounced simulated patients provide an accurate measure of physician performance.
Purpose:
To determine the effects of detection of SPs on physician performance, and identify factors leading to detection.
Methods:
Fixty-six family medicine residents were each vis...
The majority of individuals with alcohol-related problems, often referred to as problem drinkers, have problems that are not severe. Although brief outpatient interventions have been shown to be efficacious for problem drinkers, appropriate services are lacking because most existing treatments were developed for more severely dependent alcohol abus...
Although several reviews of smoking cessation trials have been published, none have specifically evaluated the adequacy of the studies' reporting practices in terms of describing the intervention and outcome variables used. This review evaluates the reporting procedures of 109 smoking cessation trials published in English language peer-reviewed pub...
Fifty-six second-year family medicine residents completed a survey on their knowledge and beliefs about problem drinkers. Most residents felt responsible for screening and counseling, were confident in their clinical skills in these areas, and scored well on related knowledge questions. However, only 18% felt that problem drinkers would often respo...
The Internet was searched for websites that advertised or provided treatment or help for alcohol problems. Websites were evaluated for the types of treatment offered and whether the treatment had an empirical basis. While a wide range of treatments were advertised, very few websites offered online services. In addition, very few sites provided or a...
Two major strategies have typically been used to assess recent drinking: (1) Daily Estimation (DE) measures such as the Timeline Followback (TLFB) and (2) Quantity-Frequency (QF) summary measures. Although QF measures provide a quick and easy measure of consumption, they have been criticized as not being able to capture sporadic and unpatterned dri...
Although the number of alcohol treatment efficacy trials has mushroomed, there is no consensus on how best to measure outcomes. To advance the goal of establishing cross-trial consistency in measuring outcomes in clinical efficacy studies, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism convened a panel of experts and charged them with explo...
Dramatic changes over the past 3 decades have significantly affected the way clinical services for alcohol problems are conceptualized and provided. An important trend is toward delivering services outside of specialized alcohol programs. Expansion of services to primary health care and mental health settings is likely to reach greater numbers of i...
To test the feasibility and impact of a motivational intervention in reducing drinking and/or increasing effective contraception in women who are at risk for an alcohol-exposed pregnancy.
A multisite single-arm pilot study was conducted in 6 community settings in 3 large cities. A total of 2384 women were screened for eligibility; 230 were eligible...
To evaluate the relationship between drinking pattern and alcohol dependence severity, 209 individuals voluntarily seeking treatment for alcohol problems were administered the Alcohol Dependence Scale (ADS), the Short Alcohol Dependence Data (SADD) questionnaire, and a 12-month Timeline Follow-Back (TLFB) drinking assessment as part of their pretre...
Background: Prenatal alcohol exposure is a leading cause of neurodevelopmental deficits in children. Women who are fertile, drink alcohol, and have unprotected intercourse are at risk for an alcohol-exposed pregnancy, but little is known about this population. Methods: A survey was administered to 2672 English-speaking women aged 18 to 44 years fro...
By using a public health approach to the treatment of alcohol problems, this study analyzed the efficacy and cost analysis of two versions of a community-level mail intervention to promote self-change among alcohol abusers who had never sought help or treatment.
A total of 825 participants who responded to media solicitations were randomly assigned...
Evidence suggests that physicians are less likely to identify alcohol problems in females than in males.
To compare the performance of family medicine residents with male and female simulated patients (SPs) posing as problem drinkers.
Fifty-six family medicine residents completed a baseline survey on knowledge and attitudes towards problem drinkers...
Although several critiques of the methodology of alcohol treatment outcome studies have been published, similar reviews of the methodology of drug treatment outcome studies are lacking. This paper reviews the methodology of drug treatment outcome studies published from 1993 through 1997 and draws comparisons with the most recent methodological revi...
Although several critiques of the methodology of alcohol treatment outcome studies have been published, similar reviews of the methodology of drug treatment outcome studies are lacking. This paper reviews the methodology of drug treatment outcome studies published from 1993 through 1997 and draws comparisons with the most recent methodological revi...
Although many people recover from substance-use associated problems on their own, little is known about this phenomenon. The paper had two objectives: to use a new research method, computer-assisted content analysis, to understand alcohol and drug abusers' perceived reasons for self-change and to undertake a comparative evaluation across substances...
Intrusive thoughts (e.g., anxiety, depression, substance use) are among the most salient symptoms of clinical problems. Therefore, methods of thought suppression have received considerable attention. However, some studies have found that attempts to suppress thoughts precipitate an increase in thoughts. In the case of substance abuse, such thoughts...
Assessing confidence to resist drinking in high risk situations is an important part of behavioral treatments for alcohol problems. The present study assessed the reliability and validity of the original 100-item Situational Confidence Questionnaire (SCQ) and of an 8-item brief version (BSCQ). Using a visual analog scale, the BSCQ asked respondents...
Much of what is known about natural recovery or self-change without treatment from alcohol and drug problems comes from general population studies or special sampling from sources other than treatment centers. In this chapter studies from large-scale population surveys and community studies as well as those from smaller samples obtained by advertis...
Whether the topic is addictive behavior, infections or fractures, the traditional view of treatment in a medical model is that it addresses the cause of the disorder and either returns the person to normal functioning or helps the individual achieve a reasonable accommodation to a disability. For treatment of withdrawal Symptoms, the medical model...
This book and the literature it reviews show the broad range and impressive development of research into the self-change process over the past decade. In particular, general population studies have shown that self-change is a major pathway to recovery. This last chapter draws together the core findings and tailors them into a ‘What I would tell my...
This chapter reviews studies of self-change among gamblers and cigarette smokers. As will be evident, the literature is much less advanced for these types of addictive behavior than are studies of self-change from abuse of alcohol and other drugs.
We should also consider those who have a more fleeting contact with deviance, whose careers lead them away from it into conventional ways of life. Thus, for example, studies of delinquents who fail to become adult criminals might teach us even more than studies of delinquents who progress in crime [1, pp. 24–25].
Given what is known about natural recovery, an inevitable question is: where do health-care providers fit in? As experts suggest, up to 82% of alcohol abusers resolve their problems without help from Professionals [1]. So, why are Professionals interested in getting involved? The answer, at least in part, may be because health-care providers may be...
As discussed in Chapter 1, because the vast majority of substance abusers are unlikely to enter traditional substance abuse treatment programs there is a serious need to develop and evaluate alternative, minimally intrusive interventions that appeal to individuals with substance use problems. If substance users are unwilling to come into treatment,...
As we have already seen, the idea of ‘natural recovery’ or’ spontaneous remission’ from various states of addiction is a poorly understood and much contested concept. Some commentators in the field of alcohol and drug studies accept that it happens, while others remain skeptical. Given the nature of this debate occurring within Anglo-European socie...
Voting behavior, fashion wear, eating habits, exercise, and hygiene: we do not live in a societal limbo; rather our actions are influenced and affected by societal values, trends, commercials and campaigns. From our daily experience it seems plausible that social and cognitive processes go hand in hand. In the area of natural-recovery research, dec...
This toolbox is intended to provide tools, tips and other information and resources to assist and promote the self-change process. Included in this toolbox is a listing of brief assessment instruments, an extensive listing of addictive behavior websites by different countries, as well as a selective listing of self-change books, videos, resources g...
As maintained by Toulmin [1], a certain event or condition can appear as a phenomenon — something that is problematic and needs explaining — only against the background of some inferred’ state of natural order’. This proposition is worth bearing in mind when revisiting and trying to summarize the key findings and major implications of some of the s...
Addiction perspectives on substance misuse focus on the allegedly irresistible appeal of alcohol or drugs among predisposed individuals, who presumably are made vulnerable to their addicting effects by some genetic, biological, or character flaw. An important shortcoming of this conventional perspective is that it ignores the powerful effects of th...
