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This study's aims were (a) to investigate the feasibility of a school-based motivational enhancement therapy (MET) intervention in voluntarily attracting adolescents who smoke marijuana regularly but who are not seeking formal treatment and (b) to evaluate the efficacy of the intervention in reducing marijuana use. Ninety-seven adolescents who had used marijuana at least 9 times in the past month were randomly assigned to either an immediate 2-session MET intervention or to a 3-month delay condition. Two thirds of the sample characterized themselves as in the precontemplation or contemplation stages of change regarding marijuana use. Participants' marijuana use and associated negative consequences were assessed at baseline and at a 3-month follow-up. Analyses revealed that both groups significantly reduced marijuana use at the 3-month follow-up ( p = 0.001); however, no between-group differences were observed. Despite the absence of a clear effect of MET, this study demonstrated that adolescents could be attracted to participate in a voluntary marijuana intervention that holds promise for reducing problematic levels of marijuana use.

This study examined whether a coping-skills-based treatment for marijuana dependence operated by encouraging the use of coping skills or via other mechanisms. Participants were 450 men and women treated in the multisite Marijuana Treatment Project who were randomly assigned to motivational enhancement therapy plus cognitive-behavioral (MET-CB) treatment, motivational enhancement therapy (MET), or a delayed treatment control group. Marijuana use and coping skills were measured at baseline and at follow-ups through 15 months. Results showed that marijuana outcomes were predicted by treatment type and by coping skills use, but that the coping-skills-oriented MET-CB treatment did not result in greater use of coping skills than did the MET treatment. The results suggest that mechanisms of coping skills treatment may need to be reconceptualized.

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2006.11.015 Byline: Josephine M. DeMarce (a)(b), Jennifer L. Burden (a)(c), Steven J. Lash (a)(c), Robert S. Stephens (b), Steven C. Grambow (d)(e) Keywords: Timeline Followback; Convergent validity; Assessment; Comorbidity Abstract: This study examined the convergent validity of the Timeline Followback (TLFB) for individuals with comorbid (Axis I and/or Axis II) psychiatric disorders in a sample of persons (N =150) engaged in residential treatment for substance use disorders (SUDs). Approximately one-half of the sample was diagnosed with at least one comorbid psychiatric disorder. Validity was assessed comparing data from the TLFB with data from the Addiction Severity Index (ASI) and collateral reports. For the entire sample, data from the TLFB was significantly correlated with data from the ASI and collateral reports of substance use. No significant differences were found between those with and those without a comorbid psychiatric disorder, suggesting that the TLFB was equally valid for both groups. Author Affiliation: (a) Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Salem, Virginia, 1970 Roanoke Blvd, Psychology (116A4), Salem, VA 24153, USA (b) Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Virginia Tech, Department of Psychology (0436), Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA (c) University of Virginia, Salem, VA 24153, USA (d) Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA (e) Duke University Medical Center, Duke University Medical Center (DUMC) Hock Plaza Room: 11031, Durham, NC 27710, USA

Early interventions that reduce the societal burden of mental health problems in the aftermath of disasters and mass violence have the potential to be enormously valuable. Internet-based interventions can be delivered widely, efficiently, and at low cost and as such are of particular interest. We describe the development and feasibility analysis of an Internet-delivered intervention designed to address mental health and substance-related reactions in disaster-affected populations. Participants (n = 285) were recruited from a cohort of New York City-area residents that had been followed longitudinally in epidemiological research initiated 6 months after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The intervention consisted of 7 modules: posttraumatic stress/panic, depression, generalized anxiety, alcohol use, marijuana use, drug use, and cigarette use. Feasibility data were promising and suggest the need for further evaluation.

Marijuana is one of the most frequently used illicit drugs in the United States. Data from a randomized controlled trial of treatments for marijuana dependence is used to examine the relationship between psychological distress, self-efficacy and marijuana use.

Long-term marijuana use can adversely impact memory, attention, learning, retention, and retrieval, according to a study of 102 marijuana users and 33 non-users. The marijuana users were tested an average of 17 hours after they had last used marijuana., Context Cognitive impairments are associated with long-term cannabis use, but the parameters of use that contribute to impairments and the nature and endurance of cognitive dysfunction remain uncertain. Objective To examine the effects of duration of cannabis use on specific areas of cognitive functioning among users seeking treatment for cannabis dependence. Design, Setting, and Participants Multisite retrospective cross-sectional neuropsychological study conducted in the United States (Seattle, Wash; Farmington, Conn; and Miami, Fla) between 1997 and 2000 among 102 near-daily cannabis users (51 long-term users: mean, 23.9 years of use; 51 shorter-term users: mean, 10.2 years of use) compared with 33 nonuser controls. Main Outcome Measures Measures from 9 standard neuropsychological tests that assessed attention, memory, and executive functioning, and were administered prior to entry to a treatment program and following a median 17-hour abstinence. Results Long-term cannabis users performed significantly less well than shorter-term users and controls on tests of memory and attention. On the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, long-term users recalled significantly fewer words than either shorter-term users (P=.001) or controls (P=.005); there was no difference between shorter-term users and controls. Long-term users showed impaired learning (P=.007), retention (P=.003), and retrieval (P=.002) compared with controls. Both user groups performed poorly on a time estimation task (P Conclusions These results confirm that long-term heavy cannabis users show impairments in memory and attention that endure beyond the period of intoxication and worsen with increasing years of regular cannabis use.

Knowledge of the determinants of lapses into unsafe sex are important parts of HIV prevention interventions. The present study examines the determinants of lapses into unsafe sex, and the role of attribution in predicting lapses into unsafe sex within an HIV prevention treatment program for homosexual men based on the relapse prevention (RP) model (Marlatt & Gordon, 1985). Self-reported negative emotional states and general urges to engage in sex were perceived to precede violations of safer sex goals. Stable and global attributions for a goal violation related to the probability of a second concurrently assessed violation. Prospective analyses indicated that future unprotected oral and anal sex was predicted by current unprotected oral and anal sex. In addition, more stable and external attributions for previous goal violations added to the prediction of future unprotected anal sex. Results are discussed in relation to the RP model, the role of attributions in safer sex goal violations, and treatments to reduce unsafe sexual behavior.

Analysis of the abstinence violation effect in patients with marijuana lapses subsequent to relapse prevention or abstinence treatment, reveals that more internal, stable and global attributions for the cause of the lapse and loss of control relate to concurrently-reported lapses. These internal attributes indicate less-stable features such as lack of effort. Subjects who do not employ situational data in their attribution are more prone to relapse.

A coastal bench that developed from 1 to 6 m above sea level in basaltic tuff at Hanauma Bay conforms to the upper limit of wetting by wave wash at high tides associated with present sea level; it does not constitute evidence for a recent Holocene highstand on Oahu. Variations in bench width and elevation are related to differences both in exposure to waves and in exposure to daily heating and drying of the cliff behind the bench. Salt weathering of the sort usually invoked to explain weathering effects in deserts is a major factor in the retreat of the cliff and the consequent formation of the bench. The waves do not 'cut' the bench but, instead, by daily wetting, protect it from desiccation. The bench forms as a result of the disintegration and retreat of the unprotected cliff. The same process can satisfactorily explain the formation of Koko Bench, presently submerged at -5m along the north shore of Hanauma Bay. Use of similar benches as geological indicators of past sea levels requires a detailed understanding of the coastal setting and exposure to waves, and the different responses of specific rock types at and above the air-sea interface.

Abstract Countless barriers come between people who are struggling with substance abuse and those charged with providing substance abuse treatment. The check-up, a form of motivational enhancement therapy, is a harm reduction intervention that offers a manner of supporting individuals by lowering specific barriers to reaching those who are untreated. The check-up was originally developed to reach problem drinkers who were neither seeking treatment nor self-initiating change. The intervention, marketed as an opportunity to take stock of one's experiences, involves an assessment and personalized feedback delivered with a counseling style termed motivational interviewing. Check-ups can be offered in care settings to individuals who, as a result of screening, manifest risk factors for specific disorders such as alcoholism. They can also be free-standing and publicized widely to the general public. This paper will discuss illustrations of in-person, computerized, in-school, and telephone applications of the free-standing type of check-up with reference to alcohol consumers, adult and adolescent marijuana smokers, and gay/bisexual males at risk for sexual transmission of HIV. The paper's major focus is to highlight how unique features of each application have the potential of reducing barriers to reaching specific at-risk populations. Also considered are key policy issues such as how check-up services can be funded, which venues are appropriate for the delivery of check-up interventions, pertinent competency criteria in evaluating staff who deliver this intervention, how marketing can be designed to reach contemplators in untreated at-risk populations, and how a check-up's success ought to be defined.