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Drug Court & Job Corps Projects The purpose of these
studies are to investigate the role of a number of motivational constructs
in predicting abstinence from alcohol and/or illicit drugs while participating
in a mandatory drug treatment program. Mandatory treatment is widely used
to combat drug and alcohol abuse, yet little is known about the intrapersonal
mechanisms that moderate the effectiveness of this approach. We hope to
identify important constructs that could be used to develop interventions
to target these constructs, thereby improving the overall effectiveness
of mandatory treatment. Data is currently being collected in two mandatory
treatment settings: Job Corps, a comprehensive residential education and
job-training program for at-risk youth and Drug Court, a program in which
Individuals who are charged with a non-violent drug-related offense can
enter as an alternative to incarceration. Physicians' Attitudes About Smoking The purpose of this
thesis project is to investigate medical students' current attitudes and
beliefs about smoking intervention. Research has indicated that many physicians
fail to counsel their patients to stop smoking. Several factors, in addition
to lack of knowledge about treatments for smoking and skills in effective
interventions, are believed to play a role in the lack of physician intervention
in the area of tobacco use. Physicians' attitudes and beliefs about smoking
and cessation interventions predict whether physicians actually intervene
with smoking behavior. Relevant attitudes and beliefs, including self-efficacy,
outcome expectancies about change, and perception of physicians' role,
are all related to physician intervention with smoking. It is currently
unknown when beliefs and attitudes about smoking interventions develop
or which factors influence their development. By determining when and
how attitudes associated with low rates of intervention in smoking develop,
steps can be taken to improve physicians' rates of intervention, which
will, in turn, reduce current rates of smoking in the United States population.
Treatment Motivation Project-Infant Parenting Program: How Does Motivation Affect Treatment Outcome? The Infant Parenting Program (IPP) is a parenting support and training service program for mothers with substance use problems who have a child who tested positive for drugs at birth. The purpose of the study is to investigate the impact of motivational factors (e.g., extrinsic and intrinsic motivation) that may influence participants’ success in the IPP. With this research we hope to understand how MI influences retention, motivation and treatment adherence. How Does “Getting Busted” Affect College Student Drinking? The direct purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects an alcohol related legal encounter (i.e., being arrested or just being stopped by the authorities, but not getting arrested) has on subsequent drinking behavior in college students. This study also will evaluate the role of family history in moderating drinking behavior before and after a legal encounter. The indirect purpose of this study is to determine if experiencing a legal encounter is a sufficient way to identify high-risk drinkers for whom an intervention can be delivered in an effort to reduce problematic drinking behavior. Legal Risk Assessment (LRA): How Can College Students’ “Legal Risk” Behavior Be Measured? The purpose of this
study is to develop a psychometrically sound measure that assesses “legal
risk” behaviors, which are behaviors (e.g., drinking and driving,
using a “fake id”) that a college student engages in while
drinking alcohol that put him/her at risk for getting caught by the police
or other authorities. The purpose of the
Defensive Bias Project is to gain information about a phenomenon called
“defensive bias,” in which people resist new information about
health that poses a challenge to long-held beliefs, even when that information
implies that a change in behavior could improve health. Few studies have
been conducted in the defensive bias area thus far. The aim of this project
is to replicate findings from previous studies, while focusing solely
on biases toward information about alcohol use in college students. Defensive
biases have maladaptive consequences for health behavior change; thus,
it is believed that understanding and explaining why people are resistant
toward changing their health beliefs and behaviors will aid in helping
them to become more accepting of new health information, and of health
behavior change, in the future.
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