Kalina Isela Martínez

Transferencia tecnológica en el área de adicciones: El programa de intervención breve para adolescentes, retos y perspectivas

SUMMARY The knowledge provided by psychology should respond to different problems, which can only be achieved when the findings from scientific evidence become available to other scientific groups and social nuclei, in order to achieve them appropriately and use them to solve problems, improve their quality of life, or prevent a potentially hazardous situation. However, various barriers to the effective use of knowledge are often observed. In addition, there exists the false impression that research in the health sciences is an activity that rarely meets the needs of the social actors who might benefit from its use. In this context, this paper presents a general overview of the concept of technology transfer, the models that have been developed to perform this and an example of how the transfer of an intervention program in the field of addictions in Mexico has been started and what the challenges are to advancing this process and its possible adoption in addiction centers. The authors conclude that in order to comply with the incorporation of treatments at addiction treatment institutions, it is essential to evaluate the effectiveness of the brief intervention program in clinical settings, adhere to all the CONSORT indicators for randomized clinical trials and incorporate four main aspects into the transfer process: 1. foster closer relations with health professionals; 2. allow the “reinvention” of the program within a context of collaboration between stakeholders and evaluate this process; 3. consider the constraints, resources, objectives and practices of the institution to which the program is to be transferred, and 4. provide long-term monitoring to assess the success of the adoption of the innovation.

Behavior Patterns of Antisocial Teenagers Interacting with Parents and Peers: A Longitudinal Study

Antisocial behavior may begin during childhood and if maintained during adolescence, is likely to continue and escalate during adulthood. During adolescence, in particular, it has been established that antisocial behavior may be reinforced and shaped by exchanges between the teenager and his parents and peers, although the molecular process of these relations is as yet unknown. This paper explores the patterns of social interaction established by adolescents with and without the risk of engaging in antisocial behavior in order to understand the exchanges of them with their most important social groups, during 2 years. The study involved a sample of 70 adolescents classified into these two groups (with risk of antisocial behavior and control group). They were video-recorded interacting with one of their parents and one of their peers, independently. The interaction was done about the negotiation of conflictive conversational topics. Those video-records were registered by pairs of trained observers, using an observational catalog with nineteen behavioral categories, to know about the molecular interactional patterns characteristics. Thirty participants were evaluated only once, 30 were evaluated two times, and the other 10 were evaluated three times, the evaluations were performed annually. It was found that a higher occurrence of eye contact and use of open questions and elaborate answers appears to act as a protective factor for engaging in antisocial behavior.

Impulsive mechanisms influencing relapse in alcohol drinking

Impulsivity has been related to different features of addictive behaviors. Growing data, generated in separated lines of research, suggest that different processes underlying impulsivity are associated to relapse in alcohol drinking. Considering the evidence, relapse can be understood as an impulsive choice or as an impulsive action. In the first case, the return to drinking behavior is a consequence of insensitive to delayed consequence, that is, to the discounting of delayed rewards. In the second case, relapse is a consequence of failures to inhibit prepotent responses. Nevertheless, conditions that control the action of each mechanism or their interaction to influence relapse still unknown. We hypothesize that both mechanisms interact to produce relapse depending on framing effects, the moments of a drinking episode or context. The implication of the hypothesis is that relapse prevention strategies need to reduce discounting rate, but also to increase behavioral inhibition in the presence of cues related to alcohol.

Impact of a brief intervention programs in clinical practice: Barriers and adaptations.

Abstract Introduction: The present study analyzes the main barriers and adaptations to brief interventions that focus on addictive behavior treatments carried out in clinical settings by 756 health professionals during their adoption process in 350 Primary Attention Units in Mexico. Method: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted and consisted in the application of an instrument that explored diverse aspects, such as knowledge about evidence based brief intervention (BI) programs, barriers during the execution, and adaptations of the BI. Results: the main barriers were related to the implementation of sessions and the user’s characteristics such as educational level. As a consequence, the main adaptations were related to the increase in the number of sessions, modifying their length and changing the sequence as well as the proposed material in the manuals. Conclusions: We discuss the possibility of systematizing the adaptations made by health professionals in order to evaluate their effectiveness.

Barreras en la transferencia de la tecnología: Un estudio cualitativo de las intervenciones breves y los centros de atención a las adicciones

Introduction. The transfer and translation of programs with scientific evidence to clinical scenarios is often limited by a number of barriers for their implementation, making it difficult to provide benefits for a society that requires effective services. Objective. The aim of this study was to identify the barriers for the adoption of brief intervention programs for the treatment of alcohol and other drugs abuse at addiction treatment centers in Mexico. Methods. This is a qualitative study with a purposive sample consisting of 16 experts on transfer processes. Focused interviews were conducted and transcribed, and the data were subjected to content analysis. Results. The results reported several barriers for the adoption of programs in clinical scenarios. These include the following: bureaucratic procedures and institutional policies, lack of knowledge of the theoretical bases of the program and the diversity of users demanding the service. Discussion and conclusion. The study discusses the fact that the technology transfer process requires a deliberate, combined effort to ensure the implementation of programs in clinical scenarios. The barriers identified by the actors involved in the process should be considered in the development of strategies to disseminate brief intervention programs.

Barriers to knowledge translation: from controlled scenario to clinical scenario in addictions treatment.

Background The transfer and translation of programs with scientific evidence to clinical scenarios is often limited by a number of barriers to their implementation [1], making it difficult to provide benefits for a society that requires effective services [2]. The aim of this study was therefore to identify barriers to the adoption of brief intervention programs for the treatment of the abuse of alcohol and other drugs [3,4] at addiction treatment centers in Mexico. On the basis of the experience of experts in the implementation and dissemination of programs, a number of actions are established to address them and advance the transfer process. It is a qualitative study using interviews. The results reported several barriers to the adoption of programs in clinical scenarios. The study discusses the fact that the technology transfer process requires a deliberate, combined effort to ensure the implementation of programs in clinical scenarios. The barriers identified by the actors involved in the process should be considered in the development of strategies to disseminate brief intervention programs. Material and methods The team used an interview guide that included: 1. Knowledge about brief intervention programs, 2. Knowledge about working with brief intervention programs based on scientific evidence, 3. Training and supervision got during the transfer process about brief interventions, 4. Modifications to programs, 5. Barriers on the implementation of programs, 6. Advantages and limitations of brief intervention programs, 7. Other important information. Sixteen interviews were conducted and recorded for about two hours each in the working place of the participants (therapists), who were informed about the recording, the confidentiality and the use pretended for the information. The interviews were transcribed, read, analysed, organized in categories. Results The participants reported three types of barriers to the brief programs operation: Institutional barriers, Therapist barriers, Barriers in the researcher himself and barriers in the program users. Regarding the Institutional barriers therapists report bureaucracy, lack of budget for material or for adequate working areas. About the therapist barriers the therapists report that they own few information about the cognitive-behavioral model; they don’t have affinity with the model, lack of time in the capacitation and lack of feedback. Finally therapist reported the next researcher barriers: differences between the researcher and population goals. Conclusions Findings show the point of view of the people often forgotten in the process of knowledge transfer. It is important to remark also the necessity that the therapist and the organizations be aware of the new knowledge. Also about The impact of the implementation of new technology in the efficacy of any treatment. In the other hand, the researcher needs to take into account that the therapist has an practical vision of the phenomenon. The barriers found in this paper, can be beaten by creating longitudinal capacitation strategies like manuals, and theoretical meetings. It is also needed a bigger