What's In It for Me? Motivating the Untreated Abuser to Consider Treatment.

This paper presents findings of a second trial evaluating telephone-based motivational enhancement therapy (MET) to motivate untreated and unadjudicated men who abuse their intimate partners to explore treatment options. Participants' perceptions of how their abuse is negatively affecting them personally are a highlight of the paper. One hundred forty-one adult men were recruited through social marketing and randomly assigned to the intervention (MET) or comparison (Mail) group.

Reaching nontreatment-seeking cannabis users: Testing an extended marijuana check-up intervention.

Some adult cannabis users report negative consequences of use but do not seek treatment. Nonjudgmental, brief interventions incorporating motivational interviewing techniques may be able to reach users who otherwise would not seek treatment and increase their motivation to change use. Previous studies have shown brief interventions with this population are efficacious in reducing use, but the absolute amount of change has not clearly translated into meaningful reductions in associated negative consequences.

Treating cannabis use disorder: Exploring a treatment as needed model with 34-month follow-up.

Research has demonstrated that motivational enhancement (MET) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) are some of the most effective interventions for adults with cannabis use disorder (CUD). As few as two sessions of combined MET and CBT has produced abstinence and reductions in cannabis use greater than delayed treatment controls. Despite their efficacy, outcomes in previous studies yielded abstinence rates from cannabis in the range of 20-30% at follow-ups of 6 to 12 months, and CUD remained a chronic condition for many.

The Implications of Cannabis Policy Changes in Washington on Adolescent Perception of Risk, Norms, Attitudes, and Substance Use.

There is increasing interest in the effect of legalization (particularly recreational legalization) of cannabis on prevalence of use and related problems. However, there is no consensus about the impact of policy change on cannabis use, particularly among adolescents. Legalization may increase adolescent use through mediating factors such as perceived risk and normative beliefs regarding the use of cannabis.

Changing social norms: The impact of normative feedback included in motivational enhancement therapy on cannabis outcomes among heavy-using adolescents.

Introduction: Heavy cannabis use is a problematic behavior, particularly among some adolescents. Adolescents are particularly prone to social influence. As such, injunctive norms (perceptions of others' approval of cannabis use) and descriptive norms (perception of frequency of others' cannabis use) influence cannabis behavior.