Psychosocial factors in heart surgery: presurgical vulnerability and postsurgical recovery.

Objective: Distress and low perceived social support were examined as indicators of psychosocial vulnerability in patients about to undergo heart surgery.

Design: A total of 550 study patients underwent heart surgeries, including bypass grafting and valve procedures. Psychosocial interviews were conducted about five days before surgery, and biomedical data were obtained from hospital records.

Course of depressive symptoms in patients undergoing heart surgery: confirmatory analysis of the factor pattern and latent mean structure of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the dimensionality, stability, and course of depressive symptoms over the 12-month period beginning approximately 1 week before heart surgery.

Methods: The Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was administered to 570 patients before heart surgery and 1, 3.5, 6.

Evaluating two brief substance-use interventions for mandated college students.

Objective: This study evaluated two brief personal feedback substance-use interventions for students mandated to the Rutgers University Alcohol and Other Drug Assistance Program for Students (ADAPS): (1) a brief motivational interview (BMI) intervention and (2) a written feedback-only (WF) intervention. A key question addressed by this study was whether there is a need for face-to-face feedback in the context of motivational interviewing to affect changes in substance-use behaviors or whether a written personal feedback profile is enough of an intervention to motivate students to change their substance use.

Method: The sample consisted of 222 students who were mandated to ADAPS, were eligible for the study, and completed the 3-month follow-up assessment.

Impulsivity, negative expectancies, and marijuana use: a test of the acquired preparedness model.

According to the 'acquired preparedness model,' expectancies mediate the relationship between an impulsive personality style and alcohol use. The current study evaluated whether the model can also be applied to marijuana use. Estimated probabilities and subjective evaluations of personally expected marijuana effects, along with impulsivity and frequency of marijuana use, were assessed in 337 college undergraduates.

Short-term neuropsychological recovery in clients with substance use disorders.

Background: Cognitive impairments are frequently observed in clients who enter treatment programs for substance abuse. The potential for early recovery of cognitive abilities is suggested by previous research; however, the extent of improvement and risk factors that may help predict individual differences in rates of recovery remain unclear. This study is a 6-week follow-up and retest of an original sample of 197 men and women who had received a broad neuropsychological assessment at addiction treatment entry.

Risk factors and neuropsychological recovery in clients with alcohol use disorders who were exposed to different treatments.

Risk covariates of neuropsychological ability (NA) at treatment entry and neuropsychological recovery (NR) across 15 months were examined and replicated in 2 samples (Ns = 952 and 774) from Project MATCH, a multisite study of alcoholism treatments. NA at treatment entry was associated with age, education, and other covariates. Statistically significant mean increases in NA over time had small effect sizes, suggesting limited clinical significance of NR in the samples as a whole.

Prevalence of DSM-IV alcohol diagnoses and symptoms in adolescent community and clinical samples.

Objective: Summary prevalence data are critical to determining the utility of DSM-IV criteria for alcohol use disorders among adolescents. This study examined cross-study consistency in the relative prevalence of DSM-IV alcohol symptoms, the ratio of alcohol abuse to dependence diagnoses, the prevalence of the physiological dependence subtype, and the proportion of subthreshold cases of dependence.

Method: DSM-IV alcohol diagnosis and symptom prevalence data were obtained from five community and four clinical adolescent samples.

Binge eating among gastric bypass patients at long-term follow-up.

Background: A better understanding of the relationship of eating behavior and attitudes to weight loss following gastric bypass (GBP) will enable the development of interventions to improve outcome. Thus, the present study sought to characterize the postoperative weight, eating behavior, and attitudes toward body shape and weight in a cross-section of GBP patients. A second objective was to examine the relationship of postoperative binge eating to surgery outcome.

Individual differences in latent neuropsychological abilities at addictions treatment entry.

The latent structure of neuropsychological abilities and risk factors for impairment were examined in 197 persons entering addictions treatment. Confirmatory factor analysis yielded 4 factors: Executive, Memory, Verbal, and Processing Speed. The measurement model was consistent with evidence that neuropsychological test performance is factorially complex and supported by multiple brain regions.