Motivational enhancement treatment in outpatient addiction centers: A multisite randomized trial.

Background/objectives: Motivational Enhancement Treatment in Spanish (METS) is a brief intervention aimed at resolving patient ambivalence towards behavior change that has demonstrated efficacy in substance use disorder treatment to reduce use and increase treatment engagement in different populations. In order to have evidence for its implementation in Mexico, a multi-site, randomized, two-arm, controlled clinical trial was conducted at three outpatient addiction treatment centers in the country to compare the effect of METS with Counseling as Usual (CAU).

Method: One hundred and twenty patients were randomized to receive three sessions of METS ( = 54) or CAU ( = 66) during the first four weeks of treatment and were assessed during the following 12 weeks.

Technology transfer for the implementation of a clinical trials network on drug abuse and mental health treatment in Mexico.

Low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) lack the research infrastructure and capacity to conduct rigorous substance abuse and mental health effectiveness clinical trials to guide clinical practice. A partnership between the Florida Node Alliance of the United States National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network and the National Institute of Psychiatry in Mexico was established in 2011 to improve substance abuse practice in Mexico. The purpose of this partnership was to develop a Mexican national clinical trials network of substance abuse researchers and providers capable of implementing effectiveness randomized clinical trials in community-based settings.

Characteristics of a treatment-seeking population in outpatient addiction treatment centers in Mexico.

Background: Baseline patients' characteristics are critical for treatment planning, as these can be moderators of treatment effects. In Mexico, information on treatment seekers with substance use disorders is scarce and limited to demographic characteristics.

Objective: This paper presents and analyses demographic characteristics, substance use related problems, clinical features, and addiction severity in a sample of treatment seekers from the first multi-site randomized clinical trial implemented in the Mexican Clinical Trials Network on Addiction and Mental Health.

LONGITUDINAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN NEIGHBORING BEHAVIOR AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS IN HISPANIC OLDER ADULTS IN MIAMI, FLORIDA.

This study examines the relationship between neighboring behavior and depressive symptoms across 3 years in a prospective study of 273 community-dwelling, Hispanic older adults in Miami, Florida. The analyses extend the literature by testing for a bidirectional or reciprocal relationship between neighboring behavior and depressive symptoms over time and examining the relationship between these variables in Hispanic older adults, a group at risk of developing depressive symptoms. Structural Equation Modeling with a cross-lagged panel design showed that depressive symptoms were unrelated to subsequent neighboring behavior.