Publications by authors named "Suzanne Decker"
The American Psychological Association's multicultural guidelines encourage psychologists to use language sensitive to the lived experiences of the individuals they serve. In organized care settings, psychologists have important decisions to make about the language they use in the electronic health record (EHR), which may be accessible to both the patient and other health care providers. Language about patient identities (including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation) is especially important, but little guidance exists for psychologists on how and when to document these identities in the EHR.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFValidated retrospective self-report symptom rating scales are recommended for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) screening and treatment. However, such reports may be affected by a respondent's most intense ("peak") or most recent ("end") symptoms. The present study evaluated the correspondence between PTSD symptoms assessed using a standard past-month retrospective rating scale and recorded by ecological momentary assessment (EMA) over the same period and tested hypotheses that retrospective scores would be predicted by peak and end-period momentary symptoms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Little is known about prevalence estimates of new and revised DSM-5 eating disorders diagnoses in general, and especially among high-risk, underserved and diverse eating disorder populations. The aim of the current study was to determine prevalence, gender differences and correlates of DSM-5 eating disorders in veterans.
Method: Iraq and Afghanistan war era veterans (N = 1,121, 51.
Objective: United States veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are at elevated risk for high-risk sexual behavior (HRSB). Although quantitative research has examined relationships between PTSD symptoms and HRSB, qualitative research to understand the lived experiences of veterans with PTSD symptoms and HRSB has not been conducted.
Method: Qualitative interviews were conducted with = 29 male veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom who had PTSD symptoms and reported recent HRSB.
A social-ecological framework for resilience underscores the importance of conceptualizing individuals embedded within their context when evaluating a person's vulnerability and adaptation to stress. Despite a high level of trauma exposure, most veterans exhibit psychological resilience following a traumatic event. Interpersonal trauma is associated with poorer psychological outcomes than noninterpersonal trauma and is experienced more frequently across the lifespan by women as compared to men.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) for substance use disorder is empirically supported, and may be associated with change in affect over time.
Objectives: Understanding the role of affect in cocaine use disorder could help to improve CBT outcomes.
Methods: This secondary analysis included 140 adults with cocaine use disorder, 57.
Background: Despite strong evidence for the effectiveness of non-pharmacological pain treatment modalities (NPMs), little is known about the prevalence or correlates of NPM use.
Objective: This study examined rates and correlates of NPM use in a sample of veterans who served during recent conflicts.
Design: We examined rates and demographic and clinical correlates of self-reported NPM use (operationalized as psychological/behavioral therapies, exercise/movement therapies, and manual therapies).
Objectives: To evaluate gender, age, and race/ethnicity as predictors of incident mental health diagnoses among Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, and New Dawn veterans.
Methods: We used US Veterans Health Administration (VHA) electronic health records from 2001 to 2014 to examine incidence rates and sociodemographic risk factors for mental health diagnoses among 888 142 veterans.
Results: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was the most frequently diagnosed mental health condition across gender and age groups.
Background And Objectives: Cognitive reappraisal (CR) and emotional suppression (ES), two emotion regulation strategies, are disrupted in other substance use disorders but have not been studied in cocaine dependence.
Methods: Methadone-maintained individuals with cocaine dependence (N = 72) completed assessment of CR, ES, cocaine use, and psychiatric symptoms.
Results: CR scores were associated with lower depression scores (r = -.
Objective: Homework in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) provides opportunities to practice skills. In prior studies, homework adherence was associated with improved outcome across a variety of disorders. Few studies have examined whether the relationship between homework adherence and outcome is maintained after treatment end or is independent of treatment attendance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Objectives: The relationship between patients' baseline expectations regarding treatment outcome and actual outcomes has not been widely studied within the field of substance use disorders. We hypothesized that outcome expectations would be unrelated to outcomes in a study investigating motivational enhancement therapy delivered in English (MET-E) consistent with our earlier work, and conducted exploratory analyses in a separate study that investigated the same treatment delivered in Spanish (MET-S).
Methods: These secondary analyses compared patient outcome expectations and substance use treatment outcomes in two large, multisite randomized controlled clinical trials that evaluated three sessions of MET-E or MET-S.
Background And Objectives: Cocaine use during randomized clinical trials (RCTs) is typically assessed by participant self-report or biological assay (eg, urinalysis). There have been few direct comparisons of these assessment methods to investigate their concordance and their predictive validity for cocaine use and psychosocial outcomes following treatment completion.
Method: In a combined sample of 380 participants from 5 cocaine RCTs, the concordance between cocaine use assessment methods was examined.
Background: Selection of an appropriate indictor of treatment response in clinical trials is complex, particularly for the various illicit drugs of abuse. Most widely used indicators have been selected based on expert group recommendation or convention rather than systematic empirical evaluation. Absence of an evidence-based, clinically meaningful index of treatment outcome hinders cross-study evaluations necessary for progress in addiction treatment science.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Both homeless women and women who have experienced military sexual assault (MSA) are at high risk of serious psychological sequelae. However, little is known about the combined impact of MSA and current homelessness on psychological distress, or about distinctive treatment preferences among homeless female veterans affected by MSA.
Methods: This observational study compared clinical symptoms, pre-military experiences, and treatment preferences among 509 female veterans with and without MSA who enrolled in 11 VA Homeless Women Veterans Programs.
Background: Improving clinicians' interest, confidence, and commitment in using evidence-based treatment (EBT) is often an aim of training clinicians in EBT. However, the degree to which these areas actually improve through training and what their relationship is to treatment integrity is unknown.
Method: Using data from a multi-site study (Martino et al.