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Objective: Evolving privacy and confidentiality regulations make achieving high completion rates in longitudinal studies challenging. Periodically reviewing the methods researchers use to retain participants throughout the follow-up period is important. We review the effectiveness of methods to maximize completion rates in a 1-year longitudinal study of repeat driving-under-the-influence (DUD offenders. Method: During the course of 21 months, we attempted to follow-up with 704 participants of a licensed residential treatment facility for repeat DUI offenders. High rates of lifetime Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, substance-use disorders (97.6%) and nonsubstance- or nongambling-related psychiatric disorders (44.5%) among the sample made tracking participants difficult. To locate participants and complete follow-up interviews, we obtained baseline information, contacted collaterals, sent mailed reminders, searched Internet databases, and gave a monetary incentive for completing study interviews. Results: We located 608 participants with active telephone numbers (87.4%) and completed interviews with 488 (70.1% of the entire eligible sample and 80.3% of those with active telephone numbers), after an average (SD) of 8.6 (9.1) calls (median = 5.0). Increasing the number of calls continued to yield additional completions at 10, 20, and 30 calls; at approximately 40 telephone calls, the potential return for additional calls did not justify the added effort. Conclusions: These results suggest that researchers need to (1) employ more than 10 telephone calls to adequately track difficult-to-follow substance-using populations, and (2) prepare for a subsample of participants who might require more extensive contact. These results highlight the importance of using empirical guidelines to plan estimates for the number of contacts needed to achieve an adequate follow-up completion rate., LONGITUDINAL STUDIES ARE NECESSARY to investigate the antecedents, mediators, and consequences of various complex behavior patterns (e.g., substance-use disorders). However, attrition often limits the value of longitudinal research, particularly research [...]

Objective: Driving under the influence (DUI) continues to be a serious public health concern in the United States. Research suggests that the substance use/abuse and psychiatric histories of repeat offenders might contribute to the persistence of this phenomenon. Because psychiatric histories could be important to recovery and likely differ substantially between men and women, the present study examined psychiatric and substance-use histories of male and female DUI repeat offenders in treatment. Method: Seven hundred twenty-nine residents at the Middlesex Driving Under the Influence of Liquor program in Tewksbury, MA, a licensed residential facility providing treatment and education to repeat DUI offenders, participated in the current study during the course of 12 months. These participants completed a standardized diagnostic interview 12 modules of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview--s part of their intake interview. Results: Female repeat offenders in this study were substantially different from male repeat offenders in lifetime and past-year psychiatric comorbidity patterns. Women had more extensive histories of psychiatric morbidity (i.e., psychiatric disorder in addition to substance abuse/dependence, alcohol abuse/dependence, and pathological gambling) and were more likely than men to report a history of multiple morbidities (i.e., multiple psychiatric disorders in addition to substance-related or gambling disorders). Conclusions: Both male and female repeat DUI offenders have extensive but different psychiatric histories that might play a significant role in DUI recidivism. These differences in psychiatric and substance-use histories among men and women could have important implications for treatment and prevention of DUI., DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE (DUI) of intoxicants remains a leading public health problem in the United States. During 2004, almost 17,000 people died in alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents (National Highway [...]

Many regions are considering expanding the various forms of gambling that are available to residents. The expansion of legalized gambling frequently is the topic of heated debate because of possible harmful ramifications on individuals' mental and physical health as well as the public's health in general. Conventional wisdom holds that the expansion of gambling relates to increases in gambling-related problems among the population (i.e., the exposure effect). A review of empirical evidence provides an opportunity to verify the accuracy of this wisdom. An evaluation of available research studies provides some support for the exposure effect, but also raises questions about the durability of that phenomenon across settings and time points. Some exposure studies indicate specific patterns of gambling activity and consequences that are inconsistent with the exposure effect. These studies suggest that some people and some places might have adapted to the risks and hazards of gambling (i.e., the adaptation effect). This evaluation suggests that social context is an important moderator of exposure processes. Keywords: gambling, exposure, adaptation, public health, policy

Psychiatric comorbidity likely contributes to driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol among repeat offenders. This study presents one of the first descriptions of the prevalence and comorbidity of psychiatric disorders among repeat DUI offenders in treatment. Participants included all consenting eligible admissions (N = 729) to a 2-week inpatient treatment facility for court-sentenced repeat DUI offenders (i.e., offenders electing treatment in place of prison time) from April 17, 2005, to April 23, 2006. Participants completed the Composite International Diagnostic Interview, which assessed the following disorders using criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994): alcohol use and drug use, bipolar, generalized anxiety, posttraumatic stress, intermittent expolosive, conduct, attention deficit, nicotine dependence, pathological gambling, and major depressive. Repeat DUI offenders evidenced higher lifetime and 12-month prevalence of alcohol use and drug use disorders, conduct disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and bipolar disorder compared with the general population. Almost half qualified for lifetime diagnoses of both addiction (i.e., alcohol, drug, nicotine, and/or gambling) and a psychiatric disorder. Lifetime and past-year comorbidity rates were higher among participants than in the general population. These results suggest that clinicians should consider multimorbidity within DUI treatment protocols. Keywords: alcohol abuse, comorbidity, epidemiology, driving under the influence

From an eligible population of 9,943 casino employees, 6,067 volunteered to participate in this study. Of this sample, 1,176 provided data at 3 observation points approximately 12 months apart. Using the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS; H. R. Lesieur & S. B. Blume, 1987) and the CAGE (J. A. Ewing, 1984) questionnaire, the authors prospectively examined the prevalence and patterns of alcohol and gambling problems among those employees. Among the casino employees with gambling and drinking problems, a segment displayed the capacity to diminish those problems even when the difficulties had reached disordered levels. The authors also examined the comorbidity of gambling and drinking as well as the relationships among changes in SOGS scores and CAGE scores and changes in demographic and biological variables. The women were more likely to decrease their problem-drinking scores, but not their gambling scores, when compared with the men. In addition, 2 key variables (i.e., disabling depression and dissatis faction with one's personal life) emerged as predictors of transitions to healthier levels of disordered gambling. The authors cautiously suggest, in light of the results taken together, that more fluctuation is associated with gambling and drinking problems than previously thought and that the conventional wisdom about disordered gambling as 'always progressive' needs reconsideration. Key words: alcohol abuse, casino employees, comorbidity, pathological gambling, THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES (National Research Council, 1999) and the National Gambling Impact Study Commission (1999) have encouraged the use of prospective longitudinal designs in the study of gambling-related [...]

Problems related to intemperate Internet use are examined within the conceptual framework of addiction. It is argued that empirical support for the construct validity of computer addiction has yet to emerge, that defining the construct as a unique psychiatric disorder is therefore premature, and that, in most cases, excessive computer use may be symptomatic of other, more primary disorders. Greater caution and rigor are urged in investigating and treating problems related to intemperate computer use.