Motor Competence in Individuals with Down Syndrome: Is an Improvement Still Possible in Adulthood?

In children, motor competence (MC) and the amount of physical activity are tightly interconnected. In adults with Down syndrome (DS), MC has been poorly addressed, resulting in a limited understanding of the possibility to improve MC over time. Here, we aim to: (1) investigate MC in adults with DS by comparing them with a group of typically developed peers and (2) verify the effect of an adapted karate program on MC.

Subtypes of Alcohol Dependence and 36-Year Mortality.

Background: Chronic, heavy alcohol use is associated with multiple health problems, including premature death. Further, the clinical presentation of alcohol dependence may differentially affect and predict the long-term health consequences of affected individuals. Subtypes of alcohol dependence based upon treatment intake information can help identify homogenous groups of patients for treatment purposes, but have not been used to predict long-term outcomes.

The SBIRT program matrix: a conceptual framework for program implementation and evaluation.

Background And Aims: Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) is a comprehensive, integrated, public health approach to the delivery of services to those at risk for the adverse consequences of alcohol and other drug use, and for those with probable substance use disorders. Research on successful SBIRT implementation has lagged behind studies of efficacy and effectiveness. This paper (1) outlines a conceptual framework, the SBIRT Program Matrix, to guide implementation research and program evaluation and (2) specifies potential implementation outcomes.

Screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment (SBIRT): implementation barriers, facilitators and model migration.

Aims: To identify barriers and facilitators associated with initial implementation of a US alcohol and other substance use Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) grant program, and to identify modifications in program design that addressed implementation challenges.

Design: A mixed-method approach used quantitative and qualitative data, including SBIRT provider ratings of implementation barriers and facilitators, staff interview responses and program documentation.

Setting: Multiple sites within the first seven programs funded in a national demonstration program in the United States.

Development of the SBIRT checklist for observation in real-time (SCORe).

Background And Aims: Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) programs have been implemented widely in medical settings, with little attention focused on how well providers adhere to evidence-based service delivery in everyday practice. The purposes of this paper were to: (1) introduce a flexible, relatively simple methodology, the SBIRT Checklist for Observation in Real-time (SCORe), to assess adherence to evidence-based practice and provide preliminary evidence supporting its criterion validity; and (2) illustrate the feasibility and potential utility of the SCORe by analyzing observations of providers within four large-scale SBIRT programs in the United States.

Methods: Eighteen potential adherence judges were trained to recognize SBIRT service elements presented in realistic taped portrayals constructed to serve as criterion coding standards.

Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment: implications of SAMHSA's SBIRT initiative for substance abuse policy and practice.

Aims: This paper describes the major findings and public health implications of a cross-site evaluation of a national Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) demonstration program funded by the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Methods: Eleven multi-site programs in two cohorts of SAMHSA grant recipients were each funded for 5 years to promote the adoption and sustained implementation of SBIRT. The SBIRT cross-site evaluation used a multi-method evaluation design to provide comprehensive information on the processes, outcomes and costs of SBIRT as implemented in a variety of medical and community settings.

Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT): rationale, program overview and cross-site evaluation.

Aims: Since 2003, the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (SAMHSA, CSAT) has awarded 32 Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) grants to states, territories and tribal organizations to enhance services for persons with, or at risk for, substance use disorders. The grants supported an expansion of the continuum of care to include screening, brief intervention, brief treatment and referral to treatment in general medical and community settings. This paper describes the SAMHSA SBIRT program in the context of the scientific research that motivated its development, as well as the two cross-site evaluations that are the subject of subsequent papers in this Supplement.

How many versus how much: 52 weeks of alcohol consumption in emerging adults.

In previous research using timeline follow-back methods to closely monitor drinking and related variables over the first year of college (9 months), we showed that drinking varied considerably over time in accord with academic requirements and holidays. In a new community sample (N = 576) of emerging adults (18- and 19-year-olds who reported having begun drinking prior to recruitment), we used similar methods to compare drinking patterns in college and noncollege individuals over a full calendar year (including summer). To reduce the extreme distortion in computations of average drinking over restricted time spans (i.

Enhancing the validity and utility of randomized clinical trials in addictions treatment research: I. Treatment implementation and research design.

Purpose: This paper is the first in a series that examines methods for improving the validity and utility of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) in addictions treatment research. The specific foci of this article are treatment implementation and research design.

Scope: We begin by considering the conditions under which the RCT provides an appropriate design choice.

Enhancing the validity and utility of randomized clinical trials in addictions treatment research: II. Participant samples and assessment.

Purpose: This paper is the second in a series that describes strategies for optimizing the validity and utility of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) in addictions treatment research. Whereas the first paper focused on treatment implementation and research design, here we address issues pertaining to participant samples and assessment methods.

Scope: With respect to participant samples, sections focus on the definition of study populations; informed consent; sample size and statistical power; recruitment and enrollment; sample retention; and participant tracking systems.

Enhancing the validity and utility of randomized clinical trials in addictions treatment research: III. Data processing and statistical analysis.

Purpose: This is the third paper in a series that reviews strategies for optimizing the validity and utility of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) in addictions treatment research. Whereas the two previous papers focused on design and implementation, here we address issues pertaining to data processing and statistical analysis.

Scope: Recommendations for enhancing data quality and utility are offered in sections on data coding and entry; and data format, structure and management.

Capturing the moment: innovative approaches to daily alcohol assessment.

This article is a summary of a symposium presented at the 2005 Research Society on Alcoholism annual conference organized by Dan J. Neal and chaired by William R. Corbin.

Binge drinking and alcohol-related problems among community college students: implications for prevention policy.

Binge drinking and alcohol-related problems among students at traditional 4-year universities have been well documented. However, little is known about the frequency of their such behaviors and its consequences among community college students, who comprise roughly 44% of all undergraduate students in the United States. The present study examined binge drinking and alcohol-related problems in 762 (61% female) ethnically diverse (65% Caucasian, 20% Hispanic, 9% African American) community college students (mean age = 26.

Variation in the drinking trajectories of freshmen college students.

F. K. Del Boca, J.

Up close and personal: temporal variability in the drinking of individual college students during their first year.

Surveys have documented excessive drinking among college students and tracked annual changes in consumption over time. This study extended previous work by examining drinking changes during the freshman year, using latent growth curve (LGC) analysis to model individual change, and relating risk factors for heavy drinking to growth factors in the model. Retrospective monthly assessments of daily drinking were used to generate weekly estimates.

The validity of self-reports of alcohol consumption: state of the science and challenges for research.

Aims: To review three topics pertaining to the validity of alcohol self-reports: factors that influence response accuracy; the relative merits of different self-report approaches; and the utility of using alternative measures to confirm verbal reports.

Findings: Response behavior is influenced by the interaction of social context factors, respondent characteristics, and task attributes. Although research has advanced our knowledge about self-report methods, many questions remain unanswered.

Advancing the expectancy concept via the interplay between theory and research.

Four papers from a 2001 Research Society on Alcoholism symposium on expectancy theory and research are summarized. The symposium contributors describe recent advances in expectancy theory and discuss their implications for assessment and for understanding the processes of development and change in the behavioral domain of alcohol use. First, findings are integrated across the diverse domains in which the expectancy concept has been applied.

"Getting by (or getting high) with a little help from my friends": an examination of adult alcoholics' friendships.

Objective: Researchers have devoted much attention to the influence of social support on positive health outcomes, including efficacy of alcoholism treatment. Yet relatively little research has examined the structure (e.g.

Self-reports of physical, sexual and emotional abuse in an alcoholism treatment sample.

Objective: There is a growing appreciation that emotional, physical and sexual abuse events are frequently part of the life histories of individuals in treatment for alcohol disorders. The present study examines reports of lifetime abuse in a clinical trial for treatment of alcohol dependency.

Method: Data were obtained from baseline assessments conducted with participants (N = 1,726; 1,307 men) entering Project MATCH, a multisite clinical trial conducted at nine geographically dispersed research sites.

Truth or consequences: the validity of self-report data in health services research on addictions.

This paper examines factors that influence the veracity of verbal self-report data in health services research, using a cognitive social-psychological model of the data-gathering process as an organizing framework. It begins by briefly summarizing the consequences that can result from measurement error. Next, a cognitive social-psychological model of the question-answering process is presented.

The influence of alcohol expectancy priming and mood manipulation on subsequent alcohol consumption.

Studies showing that verbal priming can implicitly affect alcohol consumption have been used to support cognitive models of expectancies. However, because expectancy words reflect affective states as well as drinking outcomes, mediation through an affective pathway remains theoretically plausible (i.e.