South Texas Residency Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) Training: 12-Month Outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) is an efficacious and cost-effective skill set when implemented in primary care settings regarding hazardous alcohol use. This study assesses the impact of medical resident SBIRT training across 3 specialties and identifies predictors of change in trainee behavior, attitudes, and knowledge over 12 months. METHODS: This program's substance use SBIRT training was developed and tailored to fit diverse curricular objectives and settings across an array of medical residency programs in South Texas. The 329 residents training in pediatrics, family medicine, and internal medicine during 2009-2012 constituted the trainee group reported in this analysis. Surveys assessing SBIRT-related knowledge, current practice, confidence, role responsibility, attitudes, beliefs, and readiness to change were completed by 234 (71%) trainees at 3 time points: pre-training, then 30 days and 12 months post-initial training. RESULTS: SBIRT-related knowledge, confidence, and practice increased from pre-training to 12-month follow-up. Residents who reported the least amount of pre-training clinical and/or prior academic exposure to substance use reported the greatest SBIRT practice increases. When controlling for demographic and prior exposure variables, the largest contributor to variance in SBIRT practice was attributed to residents' confidence in their SBIRT skills. CONCLUSIONS: SBIRT training that employs diverse educational methodologies as part of customizing the training to residency specialties can similarly enhance SBIRT-related knowledge, confidence, and practice. Trainee report of limited prior clinical or academic exposure to substance use and/or low confidence regarding SBIRT skills and their professional role responsibilities related to substance use predicted trainee success and sustained SBIRT strategy application. When customizing SBIRT training, curriculum developers should consider leveraging and capacity building related to those factors predicting continued use of SBIRT practices.

The need to belong and its association with fully satisfying relationships: A tale of two measures.

The current research compares the Need to Belong Scale (NTBS; Leary et al., 2013) and the Antecedents subscale of the Sense of Belongingness Inventory (SOBI-A; Hagerty & Putusky, 1995) to determine whether they represent approach or neuroticism-driven avoidance orientations in the need to belong. This research also extends previous research on these constructs to examine direct and moderating associations involving the need to belong and the quantity and quality of personal close relationships. Students (N=869) from a large university in the Southwest USA completed a battery of measures. Results indicated that the NTBS was associated with lower quality "partial" relationships rather than those of high quality "whole" relationships; this was not the case for the comparative SOBI-A. In addition, greater numbers of whole relationships buffered the effects of the NTBS on depression. The results are discussed in terms of the Belongingness Orientation Model.

Beliefs regarding stimulant medication effects among college students with a history of past or current usage.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the beliefs of ADHD college students concerning stimulant medications and to apply the theory of planned behavior toward better understanding the factors instrumental in decisions regarding stimulant use. METHOD: A cross-sectional, correlational design was used, and students completed a survey under controlled laboratory conditions. Participants were 193 students taking introductory psychology who self-reported receiving a diagnosis of attention deficit disorder or ADHD and a treatment history of using stimulant medications. RESULTS: Beliefs regarding the effects of medication use are represented by four factors ((i.e., improved attention/academics, loss of authentic self, social self-enhancement, and common side effects), where the first three significantly and systematically differentiate between those currently using stimulants and those who are not. CONCLUSION: To understand decisions regarding stimulant use, it is important to consider how college students perceive the positive and negative effects of the medication with respect to sense of self and social relationships.