Nick J. Piazza

Telescoping of alcoholism in women alcoholics

The accelerated progression of alcoholism, or telescoping, was examined among women alcoholics. Three aspects of telescoping in women were examined: the age of onset of four landmark symptoms, the number of years between landmark symptoms, and the number of symptoms occurring within each interval between landmarks. Women alcoholics were found to report a significantly shorter interval between the age at which they first began experiencing alcohol-related problems and the time they sought treatment than did male alcoholics.

The purpose‐in‐life test and religious denomination: Protestant and Catholic scores in an elderly population

The Purpose-in-Life Test (PIL) was administered to a group of 118 elderly persons from three senior citizen centers. Data were obtained on religious denomination. Results suggested that whether a person was Protestant or Catholic had no significant effect on PIL scores, with mean scores almost identical. What seemed to be important was how meaningful spirituality was to the person. Those who scored high on an index of spirituality also scored high on the PIL.

Dual Diagnosis and Adolescent Psychiatric Inpatients

Recognition is growing that many individuals with mental health disorders also suffer from substance use disorders. Providers of adolescent mental health services are in need of prevalence data and instruments that can assist in screening for alcohol and other drug use problems. This study provides data on the concurrent validity of using the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory with mental health patients and data on the prevalence of substance use disorders in a sample of adolescent psychiatric inpatients.

The Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory Minimizes the Need for Toxicology Screening of Prenatal Patients

Multiple authors have reported attempts to effectively address the discovery of substance abuse in pregnancy using various mechanisms to encourage positive self-reports and urine toxicology to augment identification. In this study, we evaluated 1,251 patients with (a) self-report, (b) the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory (SASSI), and (c) urine toxicology screening to determine which modality or combination would yield the most cost-effective discovery. Combining the SASSI with the self-report was the most clinically effective and cost effective mode of discovery. This led to the development of a clinical protocol using the SASSI and self-report with limited use of urine toxicology for specific patient subgroups. Alcohol abuse, which is missed by toxicology and self-report, is detected by the SASSI.

An Order-Theoretic Analysis of Jellinek's Disease Model of Alcoholism

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the progressive nature of alcoholism by applying an order-theoretic analysis to a model of alcoholism originally introduced by Jellinek. Ordering theory is specifically designed to investigate hierarchies and developmental progressions, and was judged by the authors to be ideally suited to testing Jellineks symptom hierarchy of alcoholism. Ordering theory was used to determine if there were any prerequisite relations among any pairs of symptoms in Jellineks model. The authors were able to find evidence of a progressive symptom hierarchy, but this hierarchy was composed only of a subset of symptoms found in the Jellinek model. The authors conclude that the present study supports the concept of alcoholism as a progressive disorder, but that the progression is not the same as that described by Jellinek.

Testing the Progressive Nature of Alcoholism

The authors employed a new data collection methodology to assess Jellineks progressive model of alcoholism. Data were collected to explore whether (a) symptoms occurred in four distinct phases, one phase following another, as described by Jellineks model; (b) the phase markers and the phases of the symptom progression follow one another as predicted in the Jellinek model; and (c) the sequence of each of the 46 individual symptoms is as described by a serial interpretation of Jellineks model. The authors also compared male participants with female participants on the conditions described above.

Perceived Leadership Preparation in Counselor Education Doctoral Students Who Are Members of the American Counseling Association in CACREP-Accredited Programs

The researchers examined the perceived leadership training of counselor education doctoral students (N = 228) regarding their leadership preparedness. The results indicated that the majority of the participants believed that they are receiving the training that will prepare them to be leaders in the domains of clinical counseling, research, teaching, clinical supervision, writing and publishing, professional advocacy, leading and managing people, and motivating others to accomplish a mission. Conversely, the findings suggest that the sample did not perceive that their training prepared them for leadership in the areas of managing an organization.

Refining Change Measure With the Rasch Model

This study was to develop a linear measure of change using University of Rhode Island Change Assessment items that represented Prochaska and DiClemente’s theory. The resulting Toledo Measure of Change is short, is easy to use, and provides reliable scores for identification of individuals’ stage of change and progression within that stage.

Development of a Screening Instrument for Post-Traumatic Symptoms

Traumatic events in Sri Lanka, such as a decade-long civil war and the 2004 tsunami, necessitate a language specific and time-efficient screening instrument for post-traumatic symptoms. The Sinhala version of the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (SIES-R) was administered to 438 adult participants. Internal consistency estimates for the total SIES-R and each subscales were acceptable (α = .70). A one-week test-retest reliability (n = 54) analysis provided evidence of temporal stability. Adjusted item-to-scale reliability estimates were less supportive. Confirmatory factor analysis using LISREL indicates a three factor structure best represents the SIES-R’s underlying factor structure. Results suggest the SIES-R as appropriate for screening of post-trauma symptoms in Sinhala speaking SriLankans in an urban area.

An investigation of Jellinek's phases as they apply to both men and women

Data comparing the symptom progressions reported by a group of 115 male alcoholics and 41 female alcoholics were correlated with the symptom progression described by Jellinek in 1952. Correlations were obtained for the phase marker symptoms, the phase markers and their phases, and for the overall progression. Results did not support Jellineks model for the phase markers as reported by the men and by the entire group. Women, however, were shown to correlate perfectly with the phase markers as described by Jellinek. Significant correlations were obtained for the phase markers and their phases, and for the overall progression. Even though the correlations were significant, their values were not very great and this was taken as an indication of only modest support for Jellineks symptom progression.