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. To test this theory, we conducted a test for curvilinear moderation using a sample of 705 Air Force medical personnel deployed as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Results did not support the curvilinear interaction hypothesis, although evidence of cohesion's protective effects was found, suggesting that unit cohesion protects against PTSD regardless of level of stress exposure.

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. They completed measures assessing trauma exposure, substance use behaviors, and physical health outcomes. RESULTS: Moderate correlations were found between PTSD symptom severity, substance use, and adverse health outcomes. Mediational analyses indicated that substance use behaviors, especially alcohol and drug use, mediated the relationship between PTSD and health outcomes.

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.R., Silverman, K., Mumford, G.K., 1993. Multiple-choice procedure: an efficient approach for investigating drug reinforcement in humans. Behav. Pharmacol. 4, 3-13; Griffiths, R.R., Rush, C.R., Puhala, K.A., 1996. Validation of the multiple-choice procedure for investigating drug reinforcement in humans. Behav. Pharmacol. 4, 3-13] was developed to investigate the relationship between drug preferences and alternative reinforcers. The current study was designed to better characterize the relationships among reinforcer magnitude, delay associated with an alternative reinforcer, and preference for alcohol among a sample of undergraduate drinkers. Participants were 27 male undergraduates, over the age of 21, who reported engaging in at least three occasions of binge drinking over the previous month. All participants took part in a single laboratory session, during which six versions of the MCP questionnaire were administered. Across the versions, participants made a total of 180 discrete choices between three amounts of alcohol (12, 24, or 36 ounces of beer; deception was used to mask the fact that 36 ounces of beer would not actually be provided during the sessions) and escalating amounts of money ($0 to $20) delivered immediately or after a one-week delay. Response on the MCP varied as a function of the amount of alcohol available and the delay associated with the alternative monetary reinforcer, with the effect of the delay diminishing as the dose of alcohol increased. Results of the current study are consistent with previous laboratory studies of choice behavior and with behavioral economic theories of substance use.

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 PAI Traumatic Stress subscale demonstrated good discriminant validity.

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. During the intervention week, participants earned monetary payments contingent on demonstrating recent abstinence. Participants were randomly assigned to either a low- or a high-reinforcer magnitude condition that controlled the amount of money that could be earned during the intervention week. Cigarette smoking was significantly reduced during the intervention week relative to the baseline weeks, and greater reductions were achieved under the high-reinforcer magnitude condition. These results suggest that cigarette smoking among college students is responsive to contingency management procedures.

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. However, participants in the personalized group reported a reduction in the maximum number of drinks consumed on one occasion. The personalized group also had a more accurate view of the amount of alcohol their peers consumed. NASD is a vehicle to efficiently deliver feedback to individuals about their alcohol use; however, more research is needed to determine the types of feedback that would be most effective.

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. During the 4 weeks separating assessments, the 105 participants who reported recent substance use were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions with corresponding behavioral instructions: substance use reduction (SR), activity increase (AI), and a no-change control. Participants assigned to both the SR and AI conditions reported a significant decrease in their substance use behavior. These results are consistent with previous studies in demonstrating that decreases in substance use can be achieved by increasing engagement in substance-free behaviors.

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. RESULTS: At 6-months postintervention, participants in both groups showed significant, small to moderate reductions in alcohol consumption, but the groups did not differ. Women showed larger reductions than men. Rates of alcohol-related problems remained relatively unchanged. CONCLUSIONS: The hypothesis that an MI would enhance the efficacy of PDF was not supported.

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. Thirty-four percent of the participants scored above the recommended clinical cutoff on the AUDIT. Men reported higher levels of alcohol consumption and alcohol-related negative consequences. The subset of at-risk drinkers reported frequent occasions of binge drinking and relatively high blood alcohol concentrations (BAC). NASD is an effective way of identifying college students with clinically significant levels of alcohol use, and provides an efficient mechanism for initiating the delivery of personalized feedback. More research on the combined effects of NASD and personalized feedback is warranted.