Unit cohesion and PTSD symptom severity in Air Force medical personnel.

Research suggests that military unit cohesion may protect against the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, equivocal findings have led researchers to hypothesize a potential curvilinear interaction between unit cohesion and warzone stress. This hypothesis states that the protective effects of cohesion increase as warzone stress exposure intensifies from low to moderate levels, but at high levels of warzone stress exposure, cohesion loses its protective effects and is potentially detrimental.

Substance use behaviors as a mediator between posttraumatic stress disorder and physical health in trauma-exposed college students.

Introduction: Research within the field of traumatic stress has documented a strong link between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and adverse physical health outcomes, although the mechanisms contributing to this relationship are unclear.

Method: The current study examined substance use behaviors as one such mediator in a mixed civilian trauma population. Participants were 136 undergraduates exposed to a variety of civilian traumas.

Effects of reinforcer magnitude and alternative reinforcer delay on preference for alcohol during a multiple-choice procedure.

The Multiple-Choice Procedure [MCP; Griffiths, R.R., Troisi II, J.

Using national alcohol screening day to deliver personalized feedback: a pilot study.

The current study tested the effectiveness of using National Alcohol Screening Day (NASD) to deliver personalized feedback via mail. At-risk NASD participants were assigned to either personalized or generic feedback conditions and attended a 4-week follow-up. Results failed to find any group differences on alcohol-related variables.

The utility of the PAI and the MMPI-2 for discriminating PTSD, depression, and social phobia in trauma-exposed college students.

This study investigated the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Revised (MMPI-2; Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989) and the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey, 1991) with regard to each instrument's utility for discriminating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from depression and social phobia in a sample of college students with mixed civilian trauma exposure. Participants were 90 trauma-exposed undergraduates (16 male, 74 female) classified into one of four groups: PTSD, depressive disorders, social phobia, and well-adjusted. For both the PAI and the MMPI-2, profile analysis revealed that the groups differed in the elevation and shape of their profiles.

The use of contingency management to reduce cigarette smoking among college students.

The current study tested the feasibility of using contingency management to reduce cigarette smoking among college students. Eighty-eight undergraduate smokers were enrolled in a 3-week ABA study. During the baseline weeks, participants earned noncontingent monetary payments for attending data collection sessions.

Integrating mailed personalized feedback and alcohol screening events: a feasibility study.

This study characterized a sample of college students attending National Alcohol Screening Day (NASD), and tested the feasibility of using NASD as a platform for initiating the delivery of mailed personalized feedback forms. Participants (N = 153, 65% female) attended NASD and completed the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT [1]). A subset of at-risk drinkers completed additional questionnaires about their alcohol use and received personalized feedback through the mail.

Decreased substance use following increases in alternative behaviors: a preliminary investigation.

Research derived from behavioral economic theories has demonstrated reciprocal links between substance use and engagement in substance-free activities. The current study used an experimental manipulation to further investigate the relationship between substance use and substance-free behaviors in a nonclinical sample of 133 young adults. Participants completed surveys on substance use and engagement in specific substance-free behaviors (exercise and creative behaviors) on two occasions separated by a 28-day interval.

A comparison of personalized feedback for college student drinkers delivered with and without a motivational interview.

Objective: This study evaluated the relative efficacy of personalized drinking feedback (PDF) delivered with and without a motivational interview (MI) for college student drinkers.

Method: Heavy-drinking college students (N = 54; 691% female) were identified from a large screening sample and randomly assigned either to receive PDF during a single MI session or to receive PDF without an MI. Of these participants, 51 (94%) completed a 6-month follow-up assessment that included measures of alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems.