Translational Issues in Psychological Science

Chinese immigrant breast cancer survivors face various challenges due to cultural and socioecological factors. Research efforts to develop culturally sensitive interventions have been limited by lack of knowledge regarding successful recruitment and implementation practices among Chinese immigrant populations. This paper documents strategies utilized during the development and implementation of a randomized controlled trial of a culturally sensitive psychosocial intervention for Chinese immigrant breast cancer survivors...

Among youth who migrate to the United States from Latin America, unaccompanied immigrant minors (UIMs)-traveling without a parent or caregiver-are a unique subpopulation facing substantial challenges before, during, and after migration. UIMs often migrate as a result of traumatic experiences in their home countries, but are also vulnerable to experiencing trauma pre and post-migration. These experiences are compounded by the impact of prolonged separation from caregivers who migrated earlier (pre-migration) and caregivers who were left behind (post-migration)...

Cannabis use is a major public health concern, and identification of factors that increase risk of negative consequences of cannabis use may aid in the prevention and treatment of such disorders. Social anxiety has been shown to be robustly linked to negative consequences of cannabis use and cannabis use disorder. However, mechanisms that underlie these co-occurring conditions are not well understood. Socially anxious individuals engage in post-event processing (PEP; i.e., reviewing past social events in great detail), which tends to increase their negative affectivity...

Background: Although increasing rates of cannabis use and cannabis use disorder (CUD) are well-documented among veterans, little is known about their use of cannabis specifically for medicinal purposes. The present study characterizes such use and compares veterans reporting cannabis use for medicinal ( n = 66) versus recreational ( n = 77) purposes on (a) sociodemographic factors, (b) psychiatric disorders (posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD], major depressive disorder [MDD], and CUD), (c) other substance use, (d) reasons for cannabis use and cannabis-related problems, and (e) physical and mental health...

Cannabis is the most frequently used illicit substance among youth, with rates of cannabis use escalating across adolescence. One potential factor predicting cannabis use among youth is childhood emotional abuse (CEA), which has been associated with substance use behaviors more broadly. Although CEA may be associated with increased cannabis use in general, it is likely that sex may have an impact on these relations, given that girls are more likely to use substances following abuse experiences than boys. The purpose of the current study as to examine longitudinal relations between CEA and gender on cannabis use during adolescence...

Objective: Behavioral economic models predict that deficits in substance-free reward and future time orientation are associated with greater drug involvement, but this hypothesis has not been systematically investigated among young adult heavy drinkers. This study evaluated the association between drug use levels (heavy drinking (HD) only, HD + marijuana use, and HD + polysubstance use) and substance-free activity engagement, future orientation, and reward deprivation (comprised of reward experience and environmental suppressors of reward) among heavy drinkers...

We evaluated an extended model of motivation for consuming marijuana by combining motivational theory and the dualistic model of passion. An online sample of 524 young, frequent marijuana consumers (Mage = 24; 88% male; Mpast-30-days =21; Mode=31; 50% used 25-31 days) self-administered several questionnaires including the Marijuana-Harmonious and Obsessive Passion Scale and the Marijuana Motives Measure. Intercorrelations among the obsessive and harmonious passion and motives subscales were small-to-medium...

Over one-third of college students use cannabis, yet the majority of students experiencing cannabis-use problems are not interested in seeking treatment. Therefore, the campus judicial process following a violation of university cannabis policies may be an important point of intervention. This study examined whether cannabis use decreased following being sanctioned by the university for violation of campus drug policy. We also identified individual difference factors related to changes in post-infraction use...

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious public health problem. Substance use, particularly alcohol, is a robust risk factor for IPV. There is a small but growing body of research demonstrating that marijuana use is positively associated with IPV perpetration. However, research on marijuana use and IPV has failed to control for other known predictors of IPV that may account for the positive association between marijuana use and IPV perpetration. Therefore, the current study examined whether marijuana use was associated with IPV perpetration after controlling for alcohol use and problems, antisocial personality symptoms, and relationship satisfaction, all known risk factors for IPV...

Problems with adherence are common among adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D), who must follow a complex treatment regimen. Positive psychology interventions increase adherence and improve health outcomes in adults with chronic conditions; however, they have not been translated to pediatric populations. We evaluated the acceptability and feasibility of Check It!, a positive psychology intervention to improve adherence in adolescents with T1D. Adolescents with T1D and their parents were randomized to a positive psychology intervention (via phone or text message) or an attention control (education) group...

The aging population and those with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) are at increased risk for developing Alzheimer's disease (AD). Individuals with aMCI in particular may display pathological changes in brain function that may ultimately result in a diagnosis of AD. This review focuses specifically on hippocampal hyperexcitability, a pathology that is sometimes detectable years before diagnosis, which has been observed in individuals with aMCI. We describe how changes in hippocampal activity are associated with, or in some cases may be permissive for, the development of AD...

Geropsychology is a vibrant field of scientific study, pedagogy, and clinical practice, and the need for more geropsychologists will only expand as the population ages. This study involved in-depth, semi-structured telephone interviews with 30 clinical geropsychologists about their training and current work. Qualitative coding of interviews was undertaken using an inductive coding approach. Results revealed four major themes: factors influencing entry into the field of geropsychology, the rewards of being a geropsychologist, competing demands on time and money, and barriers to involvement in leadership...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Retirement can be difficult, and experiences vary greatly. Although health, financial status, and family responsibilities have been associated with retirement adjustment, individual psychosocial characteristics may also play a role. Moreover, relatively little is known about the impact of perceived 'job lock'-the belief that retirement is impossible due to financial or health constraints-and its relationship with later retirement adjustment. The current study addresses these limitations in the literature by examining the retirement transition over four years in a large sample of U...

Although social networking sites such as Facebook have been touted as creating a global village, there may be a downside to such computer-mediated interactions on user's well-being. One such consequence is that stimuli via computer-mediated interactions may be anxiety-provoking for some users. As such, recent studies have tried to ascertain personality factors and individual differences that are associated with higher anxiety in connection with extensive Facebook use. The current study evaluated the relationships among extraversion, time on Facebook, need for approval, and anxiety among college students (N=280)...

This research examined how adolescents' internalizing symptoms, such as depression, anxiety, and loneliness, relate to the content of their Facebook communication and the responses they receive from peers on Facebook. Participants (n = 125, 56 female, age 18) reported on their internalizing symptoms in the summer following 12(th) grade, and downloaded an application to their Facebook account that stored the content of all of their Facebook communication to secure, online archive. Two months of participants' status updates and comments and peers' comments were coded for content...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Research on a model Therapeutic Workplace has allowed for evaluation of the use of employment in the treatment of drug addiction. Under the Therapeutic Workplace intervention, adults with histories of drug addiction are hired and paid to work. To promote drug abstinence or adherence to addiction medications, participants are required to provide drug-free urine samples or take prescribed addiction medications, respectively, to gain access to the workplace and/or to maintain their maximum rate of pay. Research has shown that the Therapeutic Workplace intervention is effective in promoting and maintaining abstinence from heroin, cocaine and alcohol and in promoting adherence to naltrexone...

We sought to identify behavioral factors associated with response to an employment-based intervention, in which participants had to provide drug-free urine samples to gain access to paid employment. The present secondary analysis included data from a randomized clinical trial. The trial evaluated whether employment-based reinforcement could decrease cocaine use in community methadone patients. Participants (N=56) in the trial worked in a model workplace for 4 hr every weekday and earned about $10 per hr. After a 4-week baseline, participants were randomly assigned to an Abstinence & Work (n = 28) or Work Only (n = 28) condition and could work for an additional 26 weeks...

Use of technology (e.g., Internet, cell phones) to allow remote implementation of incentives interventions for health-related behavior change is growing. To our knowledge, there has yet to be a systematic review of this literature reported. The present report provides a systematic review of the controlled studies where technology was used to remotely implement financial incentive interventions targeting substance use and other health behaviors published between 2004 and 2015. For inclusion in the review, studies had to use technology to remotely accomplish one of the following two aims alone or in combination: (a) monitor the target behavior, or (b) deliver incentives for achieving the target goal...