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.

Randomized trial of motivational interviewing plus feedback for soldiers with untreated alcohol abuse.

Objective: Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) are prevalent in the military and are a major public health concern. Although efficacious AUD interventions exist, few service members seek treatment. Army-specific barriers to AUD treatment include treatment being recorded on health records, command being notified of participation, and perceptions that seeking treatment would interfere with promotion or retention in the military.

Augmenting brief interventions for adolescent marijuana users: The impact of motivational check-ins.

Objective: Brief interventions for adolescent marijuana users offered in schools reach users who would not otherwise present for treatment. The current study builds on previous trials of a school-based, 2-session motivational enhancement therapy (MET) intervention by adding periodic, brief motivational check-ins to reinforce gains and bolster motivation.

Method: Adolescent participants were randomly assigned to a motivational check-in (MCI; n = 128) or assessment-only check-in (ACI; n = 124) comparison condition.

Change in motives among frequent cannabis-using adolescents: Predicting treatment outcomes.

Background: Heavy cannabis use has been associated with negative outcomes, particularly among individuals who begin use in adolescence. Motives for cannabis use can predict frequency of use and negative use-related problems. The purpose of the current study was to assess change in motives following a motivational enhancement therapy (MET) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) intervention for adolescent users and assess whether change in motives was associated with change in use and self-reported problems negative consequences.

A preliminary evaluation of synthetic cannabinoid use among adolescent cannabis users: Characteristics and treatment outcomes.

Little is known regarding the use of synthetic cannabinoids (SC), particularly use among adolescent substance users who may be at higher risk. The present exploratory study seeks to describe SC use and subjective effects among cannabis-using adolescents as well as compare the characteristics of cannabis users who do and do not use SC. Exploratory analyses evaluated cannabis treatment outcomes among SC users and non-users.

Motives for marijuana use among heavy-using high school students: An analysis of structure and utility of the Comprehensive Marijuana Motives Questionnaire.

Motives for marijuana use are important predictors of problematic outcomes associated with marijuana use. Most measures, to date, were developed by adapting alcohol motives measures. However, the Comprehensive Marijuana Motives Questionnaire (CMMQ) was created using a bottom-up approach to evaluate twelve distinct motives for use.

The relationship between general causality orientation and treatment outcome among marijuana-dependent adults.

General causality orientations are motivational styles that are indicative of a person's belief about personal change and their motivation to change. The purpose of the current study was to investigate whether causality orientations were associated with marijuana treatment outcomes in a sample of marijuana-dependent individuals. A total of 74 participants (66% male) were recruited from the Seattle, Washington area and randomly assigned to receive a combination of motivational enhancement and cognitive behavioral therapy or the combination treatment plus additional "check-up" sessions.

Maintenance Check-ups Following Treatment for Cannabis Dependence.

Substance use disorders, including cannabis use disorders and associated negative consequences, are best considered chronic and in need of continuing care. In contrast, most treatment efficacy studies evaluate a fixed number of intervention sessions at a single point in time. The present study evaluated the efficacy of posttreatment maintenance check-ups (MCUs) in maintaining and improving outcomes following nine sessions of motivational enhancement treatment/cognitive behavioral treatment (MET/CBT).

Spicing up the military: Use and effects of synthetic cannabis in substance abusing army personnel.

Synthetic cannabis (SC) use has been increasing within the United States. Due to difficulties with its detection through standard testing, it may be an attractive substance of abuse for military personnel. However, few studies have examined the consequences of its use in this population, including evidence for its potential for abuse and dependence.

Changing motives for use: outcomes from a cognitive-behavioral intervention for marijuana-dependent adults.

Background: Motives for use have been identified as important predictors of substance use and related problems; however, little is known about how motives for use change following an intervention and how this change may impact future substance use behaviors. The present study sought to describe change in motives following an intervention for marijuana-dependent adults. Furthermore, investigators examined change in motives as a predictor of treatment outcome.

Situational determinants of use and treatment outcomes in marijuana dependent adults.

Research and theory strongly support the importance of situational determinants of substance use as targets for intervention, but few studies have systematically examined situational use characteristics in marijuana dependent adults. The present study describes situational use of marijuana in a population of 87 marijuana dependent adults and reports relationships with outcomes of treatment. Use in negative affective situations was independently associated with psychological distress, maladaptive coping strategies, lower self-efficacy, and poorer outcomes post-treatment.

Reaching soldiers with untreated substance use disorder: lessons learned in the development of a marketing campaign for the Warrior Check-Up study.

The Warrior Check-Up, a confidential telephone-delivered intervention, is designed to reach active-duty soldiers with untreated substance-use disorder at a large U.S. military base.

A Self-Determination Model of Childhood Exposure, Perceived Prevalence, Justification, and Perpetration of Intimate Partner Violence.

The present research was designed to evaluate self-determination theory as a framework for integrating factors associated with intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration. The proposed model suggests that childhood exposure to parental violence may influence global motivational orientations which, in turn result in greater cognitive biases (overestimating the prevalence of IPV and justification of IPV) which, in turn, contribute to an individual's decision to use abusive behavior. Participants included 124 men who had engaged in abusive behavior toward an intimate partner.

EXPOSURE TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND CHILDHOOD EMOTIONAL ABUSE: Childhood Domestic Violence Exposure among a Community Sample of Adult Perpetrators: What Mediates the Connection?

The association between childhood exposure to domestic violence and later intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration in adulthood has been well established in the literature. However, the literature examining the factors of exposure that contribute to perpetration in adulthood is fraught with mixed findings, with some studies finding a direct link between childhood domestic violence exposure and later IPV perpetration and others ruling out a link after controlling for other contextual barriers such as community violence and socioeconomic status. This study examined 124 non-treatment-seeking and unadjudicated adult male IPV perpetrators and found exposure to domestic violence in childhood contributes to the normalization of violence, which could predict future adult IPV perpetration.

Animal-to-animal variability of connection strength in the leech heartbeat central pattern generator.

The heartbeat central pattern generator (CPG) in medicinal leeches controls blood flow within a closed circulatory by programming the constrictions of two parallel heart tubes. This circuit reliably produces a stereotyped fictive pattern of activity and has been extensively characterized. Here we determined, as quantitatively as possible, the strength of each inhibitory synapse and electrical junction within the core circuit of the heartbeat CPG.

Social norms and self-efficacy among heavy using adolescent marijuana smokers.

Adolescence is a time in which individuals are particularly likely to engage in health-risk behaviors, with marijuana being the most prevalent illicit drug used. Perceptions of others' use (i.e.

Randomized controlled trial of motivational enhancement therapy with nontreatment-seeking adolescent cannabis users: a further test of the teen marijuana check-up.

Cannabis use adversely affects adolescents and interventions that are attractive to adolescents are needed. This trial compared the effects of a brief motivational intervention for cannabis use with a brief educational feedback control and a no-assessment control. Participants were randomized into one of three treatment conditions: Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET), Educational Feedback Control (EFC), or Delayed Feedback Control (DFC).

Motives for cannabis use in high-risk adolescent users.

The present investigation examined the relationships between motives for cannabis use and negative consequences associated with cannabis use following a brief intervention. The sample consisted of 205 adolescent cannabis users (66.3% male), who were recruited in high schools and randomly assigned to a brief two-session motivational enhancement therapy (MET) or an educational feedback control (EFC).

The influence of client behavior during motivational interviewing on marijuana treatment outcome.

Psychotherapy process research continues to be important in identifying within session client and therapist behaviors related to outcome. Motivational Interviewing (MI) assumes that the type of client language elicited within session is important. Client behavior was coded from 61 MI sessions with marijuana dependent adults.