Using 12-month post treatment Timeline Followback drinking reports, data extrapolated from shorter time windows (e.g., 1 month, 6 months) were used to estimate total annual drinking. The objective was to determine whether data from a shorter time window would provide an estimate of annual drinking sufficiently consistent with the full year report such that it can be used in place of the full report. Data for this study were obtained from problem drinkers who voluntarily participated in a randomized controlled trial of a mail-based intervention. Complete follow-up data were obtained for 467 of the 825 participants who completed a 12-month Timeline Followback of their post intervention drinking. The results of this study suggest that 3 months is the necessary minimum time window to best represent annual posttreatment drinking with alcohol abusers. The major implication of this finding is that alcohol treatment outcome studies can use a shorter posttreatment time window, which is more time and resource efficient, over which to obtain follow-up data with little to no loss in the representativeness of that data.

The present study investigated why communities differing in culture and resources are willing and able to implement gun confiscation as part of a protective order. Specifically, this study explored whether the perceived risk of intimate partner homicide and gun violence, benefits to engaging in gun confiscation, barriers to gun confiscation, community norms about guns, and community readiness to implement gun confiscation: (a) differ in urban and rural communities, (b) are perceived differently by victim service and justice system key professionals within urban and rural communities, and (c) are related to if a community is able and willing to consistently implement procedures that mandate gun confiscation of abusers as part of a protective order. Interviews, guided by an adapted guiding conceptual framework, were conducted with key professionals (N = 133) who work both in victim services and the justice system from a targeted urban community and four Appalachian communities in Kentucky. First, implementing gun confiscation procedures to disarm abusers in rural communities does not seem likely or feasible compared to the urban community given the lower perceived risk-benefit of gun confiscation, importance of gun culture, and limited resources in the selected rural communities. Second, urban justice system professionals, in comparison to urban victim service professionals, reported fewer barriers to enforcing the gun confiscation policy and were more likely to downplay law enforcement limitations in the community and attribute the ineffectiveness of the gun confiscation policy to reasons outside their control. Third, the perceived risk of intimate partner gun violence was associated with consistently implementing in gun confiscation at the emergency protective order (short-term) level, and the perceived community approval of the policy was associated with engaging in consistent gun confiscation at the domestic violence order (longer-term) level. Fourth, both urban and rural professionals pointed out potential unintended negative consequences to implementing the gun confiscation policy, such as violation of second amendment rights and increased danger for victims who seek protective orders. The results have implications for developing more effective strategies for increasing a community’s ability and motivation to enforce gun policy that keep guns out of the hands of dangerous abusers.

The role of trauma has been implicated in the etiology of juvenile delinquency (Esbensen & Huizinga, 1991; Dulmus, 2003). This is especially pronounced among inner city minority youth. Traumatic experiences can hinder an adolescent's social-cognitive development, prevent the use of adequate coping mechanisms and cognitive processes, such as social problem solving, and lead youth to disengage their moral controls (Ng-Mak, Salzinger, Feldman, & Stueve, 2002). The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of trauma and adjustment strategies among African American urban youth and how moral disengagement can be averted via mediation by the use of social problem solving skills. Bandura's theory of Moral Disengagement (Bandura, 1990) was used as a conceptual model to explain how these juveniles cope and adapt to their stressful inner city environments. Existing literature suggests that moral disengagement is associated with antisocial behavior. This study sampled forty-six adolescents at a predominately African-American inner city high school. Trauma was measured by the My Worst Experience Scale (MWES; Hyman, Snook, Berna, DuCette, & Kohr, 2002). Social-problem solving was assessed by the Social Problem Solving Inventory-Revised (SPSI-R; D'Zurilla, Nezu, & Maydeu-Olivares, 2002), social resources and support was measured by the Life Stressor and Social Resources Inventory-Youth Form (LISRES-Y; Moos & Moos, 1994), coping styles was assessed using the Coping Responses Inventory-Youth Form (CRI-Y; Moos, 1993), and moral disengagement was measured by the Multifaceted Moral Disengagement Scale (MDS; Bandura, 1995). Consistent with previous research, trauma was implicated in the etiology of antisocial behavior. Results found that social problem solving mediates the relationship between trauma and moral disengagement. However, social resources and support did not moderate the relationship between trauma and moral disengagement. Also, moral disengagement was not significantly correlated with specific coping styles. Based on these data, the findings of this study suggest that adolescents with more constructive or effective problem solving are not only less likely to engage in delinquent and aggressive behavior, but are also less likely to morally disengage or use moral justification to validate their transgressive behaviors. Implications for future research in addition to school and community-based interventions are presented.

The Brazilian-Portuguese Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (BP-MCMI-III) is a newly developed translation of the original MCMI-III and requires validation before it can be used in cross-cultural research and clinical settings. This study was the first validation study with the BP-MCMI-III and examined the validity of its Alcohol Dependence and Drug Dependence scales for identifying substance-related disorders in a Brazilian sample. The diagnostic validity of these scales was examined by comparing participants' scores on the BP-MCMI-III against group status (controls versus patients receiving substance abuse treatment) and against clinical diagnoses made based on a DSM-IV-TR symptom checklist. In addition, diagnostic validity statistics were also computed for both scales. The construct validity of the Alcohol Dependence scale was examined by comparing the subjects' scores with their performance on a Brazilian version of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). The total sample used in this study consisted of 126 Brazilians residing in the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Of the total sample, 75 were inpatients at treatment facilities for substance abuse and 51 were not receiving treatment for alcohol- or drug-related problems at the time of testing. The results of this study supported the validity of the BP-MCMI-III for diagnosing substance-related disorders among Brazilians.

Alcohol intoxication represents one situation an individual might increase their amount of risk taking when driving. This dissertation is comprised of three studies that investigate the mechanisms by which alcohol increases driver risk-taking. Study 1 examined the effect of alcohol on driver risk-taking using a proxemics approach. The study also tested whether alcohol-induced increases in risky driving co-occurred with pronounced impairment in the driver’s skill. The study also examined whether the most disinhibited drivers were also the riskiest. Indeed, alcohol increased driver risk-taking and impaired driving skill. The study also revealed risky driving can be dissociable from impairing effects on driver skill and that poor inhibitory control is selectively related to elevated risky driving. Studies 2 and 3 built on this work by addressing whether the apparent dissociation between behavioral measures of driver risk and skill was mediated by perceptions the drivers held. While maintaining the distinction between driver risk and skill, Study 2 tested the relationship between drivers’ BAC estimations and their tendency to take risks on the roadway. Drivers who estimated their BAC to be lower were the riskiest drivers following both alcohol and placebo. Study 3 addressed whether risky driving could be increased by environmental factors that shape perceptions the driver holds. There is evidence post-licensure training programs might inadvertently generate overconfidence in drivers’ perceived ability to operate a motor vehicle and thus fail to perceive dangers normally associated with risky driving behavior. To test this hypothesis, twenty-four drivers received either advanced skill training or no training in a driving simulator. Drivers who received skill training showed increased risky driving under alcohol whereas those who received no training tended to decrease their risk taking. Trained drivers also self-reported more confidence in their driving ability. Taken together, these studies represent a large step towards the betterment of laboratory-based models of driving behavior. The work highlights the importance of distinguishing between driver risk-taking and driving skill. The studies also identified that drivers’ personal beliefs influence alcohol-induced risky driving; this suggests training programs focused on correcting drivers’ misconceptions might be most efficacious in reducing their risk taking on the roadway.

An estimated 13.9% of Americans currently meet criteria for an alcohol use disorder. Ultimately, chronic alcohol use may result in neurological deficits, with up to 85% of alcoholics exhibiting signs of cognitive decline. However, biochemical and behavioral factors contributing to this decline have remained elusive. Our ongoing research program encompasses a multi-tiered screening of a natural product library and validation process to provide novel information about mechanisms underlying these deficits and to identify novel chemical scaffolds to be exploited in the development of pharmacological treatments for alcohol use disorders in a rodent organotypic hippocampal slice culture mode. Experiment 1 sought to establish a 48 h high throughput model for testing novel scaffolds against ethanol (EtOH) toxicity. Experiment 2 tested multiple natural product compounds for their ability to attenuate ethanol-induced cytotoxicity. Results from Experiment 1 revealed EtOH (100 mM) induced significant cytotoxicity at 48 h. Trolox (100 µM), a potent antioxidant, was found to reduce ethanol-induced cytotoxicity in this assay. Experiment 2 revealed two spoxazomicins (1, 1-1) demonstrated potent cytoprotective effects against ethanol toxicity. These findings highlight the potential applications of these novel scaffolds for use in the treatment of alcohol use disorder.

Psychosocial functioning is a key component of screening and treatment of Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD) in adults; however, psychosocial functioning in adolescents with TMD has received little empirical attention. The present study aims to examine group difference between adolescents and adults with TMD on pain and prominent psychosocial factors, such as anxiety, depression, and somatization, as well as to explore additional developmentally sensitive psychosocial factors that may be associated more with the adolescent TMD pain. Participants included 35 adolescents aged 12-17 (M=14.89 years, SD=1.84) with TMD muscle pain who completed pain questionnaires and a comprehensive dental examination. Patients and their primary caregivers completed behavioral questionnaires to examine psychosocial functioning. Thirty-five adults matched on gender, diagnosis, and duration of pain were selected from a large pre-existing database of previous orofacial pain patients. Adolescents and adults reported descriptively similar TMD pain and equivalent rates of anxiety, depression, and somatization; however, the relationship between these psychosocial factors and TMD pain appear to be more salient for adults compared to adolescents. In adolescents, increased pain-related interference was significantly associated with positive attitudes toward school, better anger control, and deficits in functional communication; whereas, more frequent TMD pain was significantly associated with sense of inadequacy and parent-reported withdrawal, though not in the expected direction. Screening for TMD in adults typically focuses on anxiety, depression, and somatization; however, these psychosocial factors overall did not appear as salient in adolescents as attitude toward school, anger control, sense of inadequacy, withdrawal, and functional communication, suggesting that adult psychosocial screen may need to be revised to include developmentally sensitive targets that may be particularly important for screening of TMD in adolescents.

Due to increased concern about malingered self-report of symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in college students, there is a need for instruments that can detect feigning. The present study provided further validation data for a recently developed validity scale for the Conners’ Adult ADHD Rating Scale (CAARS), the CAARS Infrequency Index (CII). The sample consisted of 139 undergraduate students; 21 individuals with diagnoses of ADHD, 29 individuals responding honestly, 54 individuals responding randomly (full or half), and 35 individuals assigned to malinger. The CII demonstrated modest sensitivity to malingering (.31-.46) and excellent specificity to ADHD (.91-.95). Sequential application of validity scales had correct classification rates of honest (93.1%), ADHD (81.0%), malingering (57.1%), half random (42.3%), and full random (92.9%).

The efficacy of using simulated patients (SPs) to train clinical interviewing skills in pre-practicum- and practicum-level mental health clinicians was evaluated compared to the use of traditional role-play with peers. Participants, regardless of group, engaged in a 15-minute videotaped simulated clinical session with an SP as a pre- and post-test measurement and completed five laboratory sessions, either utilizing role-play with peers or with an SP. Participants' counseling self-efficacy (CSE), measured by the Counseling Self-Estimate Inventory (COSE); state anxiety, measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Version Y-1 (STAI Y-1); and self-reflective anxiety, measured by the Fear of Negative Evaluation scale (FNE), were assessed pre- and post-intervention. An inventory to evaluate participants' clinical competency acquisition, the Skills in Psychological Interviewing: Clinical Evaluation Scale (SPICES), was developed for the study. All participants, regardless of group, improved significantly on all measurements except fear of negative evaluation. No differences were observed between groups on outcome variables. However, all participants' pre- and post-test interaction with the SP may account for these improvements. CSE, state anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation were found to account for a small amount of variance in clinical competency acquisition in this study. The piloted SPICES scale exhibited good validity and strong inter-rater reliability estimates. Results support the efficacy of these training methods in decreasing student clinicians' anxiety levels and in increasing students' CSE and skill acquisition; furthermore, a clinical competency measure is introduced.

The scientific study of child abuse and infanticide is a relatively young practice in the field of medicine, psychiatry and psychology, and although the role of parents in child homicide has been studied, minimal research has focused on the role of the male paramour, or the child's mother's boyfriend, as the perpetrator of child homicides. This study aimed to examine the differences between male paramours and biological fathers who kill children and hypothesized that biological fathers or step-fathers are significantly more likely than the child's mother's male paramour to kill their children due to relationship factors between the perpetrator and the child's mother, specifically and for the purpose of this study in the context of domestic violence. Child homicides committed by male paramours, in comparison, are more likely to have resulted from factors that are individually or child-centered. Decedent children ages 0-17 that were killed at the hands of their biological father, male-stepfather, or biological mother's male paramours between the years 1999 through 2005 in Miami-Dade County were be studied. The age of the perpetrators and child victims killed by the two groups were compared using an independent samples t-test, with a significance level set at .05. The two groups of male perpetrators were compared on prior domestic violence histories, prior criminal histories, evidence of prior trauma to the child, and perpetration of multiple homicide and post-incident suicide using a chi-square test, with a significance level set of .05. Significant differences were found between the two groups. Specifically, paramours are significantly more likely to be younger than biological fathers and children killed by paramours are more likely to evidence prior trauma. Further, biological fathers are significantly more likely to have a history of domestic violence, as a perpetrator, engage in multiple killings, and commit suicide after perpetrating the child death. The study demonstrates the need for prevention resources to target the two groups differently, to be most effective in prevention. The study also demonstrates the need for more extensive research comparing differences child homicide versus child abuse and in those that perpetrate the two. Lastly, it should inform public policy and the law and how these are applied to cases of domestic violence and child welfare.