David W. Springer

Creating and Validating Rapid Assessment Instruments for Practice and Research: Part 2

In this age of accountability, social work practitioners face greater demands to demonstrate the effectiveness of their interventions. A practical way to accomplish this is to use rapid assessment instruments (RAIs) to measure a client’s level of functioning so that any subsequent change in functioning can be accurately detected over time. This first article in this two-part series outlined how to conceptualize and create an RAI, and how to plan and subsequently implement a design testing the newly created scale’s psychometric properties, laying the groundwork for Part 2 of this series. The purpose of this article is to further develop the foundations that were introduced in Part 1 by using the authors’ own works to illustrate how to develop a new scale and test its psychometric properties. Decision-making strategies and standards for how to interpret scale psychometrics are provided.

A Prospective Test of the Negative Affect Model of Substance Abuse: Moderating Effects of Social Support

The authors tested whether dimensions of negative affect--specifically, trait levels of negative emotionality and state levels of depressive symptoms--increased risk for substance abuse onset and whether perceived social support moderated this relation using data from a 5-year prospective study of 496 school-recruited adolescent girls. Initial negative emotionality, but not depressive symptoms, and deficits in parental, but not peer, support predicted future substance abuse onset in a multivariate hazard model. Tests of the interaction between negative affect dimensions and social support suggested that support did not moderate the relation of negative affect to risk for substance abuse onset. Results provide prospective support for the etiological role in the onset of substance abuse of trait-linked negative affect and of parental support.

Validity of the Faces IV Family Assessment Measure

The Circumplex Model and its accompanying measure, the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales (FACES I, II, and III), are considered one of the state-of-the-art family assessment instruments in the field. A number of concerns, however, have been raised about the validity and reliability of the previous FACES measures and their ability to assess the Circumplex Model. Limitations of previous FACES measures have resulted in the development of the FACES IV measure. Tiesel and Olson recently completed the first reliability and validity study of the FACES IV measure. This article uses data from an adolescent population to further examine the psychometric properties of the new FACES IV measure. Reliability and validity analyses offer both corroborating and contradictory results when compared with the validity study conducted by Tiesel and Olson. Future directions for the development of FACES IV are discussed.

Substance Use and Abuse Trajectories across Adolescence: A Latent Trajectory Analysis of a Community-Recruited Sample of Girls.

We used data from a school-based study of 496 adolescent girls to identify qualitatively distinct substance use and substance abuse developmental trajectory groups and tested whether the problematic groups differed from the non-problematic groups on baseline and outcome validation variables. Results identified four substance use groups (late users, normative users, late-heavy users, early-heavy users) and four substance abuse groups (non-abusers, moderate-escalating abusers, moderate decreasing abusers, adolescent-limited heavy abusers). Problematic substance use and abuse trajectory groups, relative to non-problematic groups, showed elevations in baseline validation variables (age 14 delinquency, depressive symptoms, negative affectivity, parental support deficits, body dissatisfaction) and outcome validation variables (age 20 delinquency, depressive symptoms, social impairment, legal problems, school dropout, and substance abuse diagnosis), providing partial validation of this trajectory model.

The Effects of an Abstinence-Based Sex Education Program on Middle School Students’ Knowledge and Beliefs

A statewide evaluation of the Education Now and Babies Later (ENABL) program was conducted to assess its ability to increase adolescents’ knowledge and beliefs about pregnancy prevention. ENABL is aimed at preventing teenage pregnancy through abstinence. Using a quasiexperimental research methodology, middle school students (N = 1,450) comprised a treatment group (n = 974) and a comparison group (n = 476). Subjects completed a pretest and post-test reflecting knowledge and beliefs about teenage pregnancy. ANCOVA revealed significant differences (F = 8.98, p < .001) on posttest scores between the two groups. The treatment group showed marked improvement from pretest to posttest scores, whereas the comparison group did not. These findings support the claim that the Postponing Sexual Involvement (PSI) curriculum is effective in affecting students’ knowledge and beliefs about teenage pregnancy and illuminate the need for social work intervention at a variety of levels to address this multifaceted problem.

The Teaching of Evidence-Based Practice in Social Work Higher Education—Living by the Charlie Parker Dictum: A Response to Papers by Shlonsky and Stern, and Soydan

This article, as a response to two papers, identifies five critical issues and themes related to the teaching of evidence-based practice (EBP) in social work higher education. These five themes are: defining EBP; modeling the complexity of EBP in teaching; examining social work curriculum; coordinating social work professional organizations; and shifting the culture in social work. In response to these themes, one key recommendation is that a Task Force on the Teaching of Evidence-Based Practice be formed as a way to continue the momentum gained through the Symposium on the Teaching of Evidence-Based Practice.

Differences Among Substance Abusing Latino, Anglo, and African-American Juvenile Offenders in Predictors of Recidivism and Treatment Outcome

ABSTRACT Alcohol and drug use is prevalent among juvenile offenders and many of the risk factors that predict delinquent behavior also predict adolescent drug use. This study examined the impact of self-reported risk factors on treatment outcomes and recidivism among Latino, Anglo, and African American juvenile offenders. Risk factors included family structure and interactions, peer influences, education, psychiatric history, substance abuse history, stressful life events experienced, and use of leisure time. Analyses yielded the following key findings: Older adolescents and males were more likely to have a greater number and severity of offenses; older adolescents were less likely to complete treatment successfully; a curvilinear relationship existed between time in treatment and positive treatment outcomes, with extremely long treatment time associated with poorer outcomes; and significant differences existed between Latino and African American youth in which risk factors predicted outcomes. Implications for social work practice and research are discussed.

Predicting Retention in Three Substance Abuse Treatment Modalities Among Anglo, African American, and Mexican American Juvenile Offenders

Abstract Many of the same factors that predict delinquent behavior also predict adolescent drug use. This study examined factors that predict, and interventions that maximize, substance abuse treatment retention in three modalities among high-risk Anglo, Mexican American, and African American juvenile offenders. The study sample includes youth (N = 211) who were discharged from probation supervision and who received substance abuse services through a CSAT-funded federal demonstration project. The key predictors examined included the stage-of-change (i.e., precontemplation, contemplation, preparation) in which a juvenile fell, various dimensions captured by the Comprehensive Addiction Severity Index for Adolescents, and other intervention status (probation, case management, and mental health treatment). The research questions were addressed using statistical models known as survival analysis that treated time from entry into substance abuse treatment to exit from substance abuse treatment as the outcomes. Among key findings were that females were 73% more likely to leave day treatment relative to males; for each additional family problem ever experienced, Mexican American adolescents were 15% more likely to leave residential treatment compared with African American adolescents; and African American and Mexican American adolescents in the contemplation stage-of-change were 50% less likely to leave day treatment compared with Anglo adolescents. Applications for practice and research with this population are discussed.

Shredding the Safety Net

Abstract Recent federal legislation bans receipt of cash and food assistance to individuals convicted of a drug felony. This study examines the different definitions and methodologies used in estimating substance abuse among welfare recipients. It then analyzes a stratified sample of predominantly low-income young mothers on the basis of welfare receipt and consequences associated with alcohol and drug use. Results indicate that young mothers who received welfare for more than two years had lower reported drug use consequences than mothers who never used welfare or relied on it for a period of less than two years. Variables measuring consequences of drug use were not found to mediate length of time on welfare.

Treatment of Depression in Adolescents and Adults: Springer/Treatment

Series Introduction. Acknowledgements. About the Editors. About the Contributors. Chapter 1 Introduction: Evidence-Based Practice for Major Depressive Disorder (Christopher G. Beevers). Chapter 2 Cognitive Behavior Therapy Treatment for Adolescents (Paul Rohde). Chapter 3 Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Depressed Adults (Cory F. Newman). Chapter 4 Behavioral Activation (Jonathan W. Kanter, William M. Bowe, David E. Baruch, and Andrew M. Busch). Chapter 5 Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy and Chronic Depression (James P. McCullough, Jr. and J. Kim Penberthy). Chapter 6 One Size Does Not Fit All: Cultural Considerations in Evidence-Based Practice for Depression (Esteban V. Cardemil, Oswaldo Moreno, and Monica Sanchez). Afterword (Allen Rubin and David W. Springer). Appendix A: Research Providing the Evidence Base for the Interventions in this Volume (Christopher G. Beevers). Appendix B: The Evidence-Based Practice Process (Allen Rubin). Professional Resources and Recommended Reading. Author Index. Subject Index.