Treatment attrition among racial /ethnic minority adolescents participating in a brief motivational intervention for substance use problems: The influence of individual, social, cultural, and treatment factors

The present study has the primary aim of examining the predictors of treatment attrition among racial/ethnic minority adolescents with substance use problems. This study explores the potential differential influence of specific individual, social, cultural, and treatment factors on treatment attrition within three racial/ethnic subgroups of adolescents. Participants: A unique feature of the study is the use of a racial/ethnic minority sample (N=453), [U.S.-born Hispanics (n = 262), Foreign-born Hispanics (n = 117), and African-Americans (n = 74)]. Multivariate logit analyses were used to examine the influence of specific factors on treatment attrition among the full sample of adolescents, as well as within each racial/ethnic subgroup. Consistent with expectations, multivariate logit analyses reveal that, the specific factors associated with attrition varied across the three racial/ethnic subgroups. Having parents with problem substance use, being on the waitlist, and being court mandated to treatment emerged as predictors of attrition among the US-born Hispanics, while only Conduct Disorder was significantly associated with greater attrition among foreign-born Hispanics. Finally, among African-Americans, parental crack/cocaine use, parental abstinence from alcohol, and being on the waitlist were predictive of attrition. Multiple factors were associated with treatment attrition among racial/ethnic minority adolescents with specific factors differentially predicting attrition within each racial/ethnic subgroup. African-American youth were more than twice as likely as their Hispanic counterparts to leave treatment prematurely. It is critically important to understand the predictors of attrition among racial/ethnic minority youth in order to better meet the needs of youth most at risk of dropping out. ^

An investigation of the relationship between maltreatment and alcohol and other drug (AOD) problems in African -American and Hispanic adolescent girls

Maltreatment experienced in childhood or adolescence is a known risk factor for later problem alcohol and/or other drug (AOD) use (Bailey & McCloskey, 2005; Shin, Edwards, Heeren, 2009). A growing body of empirical work has found significant associations between adolescent girls’ AOD use and maltreatment experiences. However, questions remain as to how this relation unfolds with African-American and Hispanic adolescent girls. Guided by four relational models that have been proposed in the literature, this study examined the links between maltreatment, trauma symptoms, and alcohol and/or other drug (AOD) problems in a sample of 170 African-American and Hispanic adolescent girls who were participants in a school-based AOD use intervention. Results of this study revealed that maltreatment experiences (physical and emotional abuse) were positively related to trauma symptoms, which were positively related to AOD problem severity, alcohol abuse, alcohol dependency, drug abuse, and drug dependency. Perceived discrimination moderated this relation between sexual abuse and trauma symptoms, such that more perceived discrimination resulted in a stronger effect of sexual abuse on trauma symptoms. Ethnic identity moderated the relation between sexual abuse and AOD problem severity, such that ethnic identity demonstrated protective properties in the relation between sexual abuse and AOD problem severity. My research adds to extant knowledge on the relation between maltreatment and AOD use in adolescent girls and suggests the importance of developing interventions targeting maltreatment and AOD use concurrently.

The influence of neurocognitive impairment, alcohol and other drug (AOD) use, and psychosocial factors on antiretroviral treatment adherence, service utilization and viral load among HIV-seropositive adults

Among people living with HIV (PLWH), adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) can be affected by problems of neurocognitive (NC) impairment, stress, alcohol and other drug (AOD) abuse, and other barriers. The aims of this research were to: (1) examine factors associated with NC impairment, (2) explore relationships between psychosocial variables with ART adherence and viral load (VL), and (3) evaluate the efficacy of an evidence-based intervention in improving ART adherence, increasing service utilization, and decreasing VL. The first study (n=370) was cross sectional and used structural equation modeling to test whether AOD use, years living with HIV, and time from HIV diagnosis to seeking care were associated with poorer NC functioning. The second study (n=246) used similar methods to test the hypothesis that stress, barriers to adherence, NC impairment, poor social support, and AOD use were related to lower VL mediated by ART adherence. The third study (n=243) evaluated an evidence-based, eight-session program to improve ART adherence, reduce VL, and increase service utilization in a randomized controlled trial. Study participants were PLWH living in South Florida, 18 to 60 years old, with a history of alcohol abuse enrolled from January 2009 through November 2012. Secondary analysis of available data showed: (1) scores on interference with executive functioning increased by 0.32 for each day of marijuana use and 1.18 for each year living with HIV, but no association was found between alcohol use and NC functioning; (2) each barrier to adherence was associated with a 10% decrease in adherence to ART and a 0.42 unit increase in VL (log10) and the relationship between barriers and VL was partially mediated by ART adherence; (3) participants in the evidence-based program were more likely than the comparison group to report an undetectable VL (OR=2.25, p<0.01) at 6 months, but not 3 months, post-intervention. Psychosocial factors affect VL, but ART adherence is essential in achieving an undetectable VL in PLWH.

The effects of resilience and social influences on preventing repeat adolescent pregnancies in parenting adolescent mothers

Every year, 16 million women aged 15 to 19 years give birth globally. Adolescent births account for 11% of all births globally and 23% of the overall burden of disability and diseases due to pregnancy and childbirth. In the United States, 750,000 adolescents (15-19 years) become pregnant each year, making the United States the developed country with the highest rates of adolescent pregnancy. The economic burden of adolescent pregnancy in the U. S. is $7-15 billion per year. Adolescent pregnancy brings risks associated with pregnancy induced hypertension, preterm infants, maternal and neonatal mortality. Social factors include poverty, low educational levels, alcohol, and drug use. Between 30-50% of adolescent mothers who have a first birth before age 18 years will have a second child within 12 to 24 months. Subsequent adolescent pregnancies compound fetal and maternal risks. Many vulnerable adolescent mothers succumb to external pressures and have a repeat adolescent pregnancy while others are able to overcome the challenges of an adolescent pregnancy and prevent a repeat adolescent pregnancy. This cross sectional survey designed study investigated the effects of resilience and social influences on contraceptive use or abstinence by Black and Hispanic adolescent parenting mothers to prevent a repeat adolescent pregnancy. 140 adolescent mothers were recruited from three postpartum units of a tertiary hospital system in Miami, Florida. The Wagnild and Young Resilience Scale and the Adolescent Social Influence Scale were used to measure resilience and social influences, respectively. Demographic data, length of labor, plan for contraceptive use or abstinence were measured by an investigator developed instrument. Point biserial correlation showed a significant positive correlation between Black adolescent mothers' resilience and contraceptive use (r =.366, p2(11, N=133) = 27.08, p =.004. (OR = .28). These results indicate a need for interventional strategies to maximize resilience in parenting adolescents to prevent a repeat adolescent pregnancy.

Mining the online social network data: Influence, summarization, and organization

Online Social Network (OSN) services provided by Internet companies bring people together to chat, share the information, and enjoy the information. Meanwhile, huge amounts of data are generated by those services (they can be regarded as the social media ) every day, every hour, even every minute, and every second. Currently, researchers are interested in analyzing the OSN data, extracting interesting patterns from it, and applying those patterns to real-world applications. However, due to the large-scale property of the OSN data, it is difficult to effectively analyze it. This dissertation focuses on applying data mining and information retrieval techniques to mine two key components in the social media data — users and user-generated contents. Specifically, it aims at addressing three problems related to the social media users and contents: (1) how does one organize the users and the contents? (2) how does one summarize the textual contents so that users do not have to go over every post to capture the general idea? (3) how does one identify the influential users in the social media to benefit other applications, e.g., Marketing Campaign? The contribution of this dissertation is briefly summarized as follows. (1) It provides a comprehensive and versatile data mining framework to analyze the users and user-generated contents from the social media. (2) It designs a hierarchical co-clustering algorithm to organize the users and contents. (3) It proposes multi-document summarization methods to extract core information from the social network contents. (4) It introduces three important dimensions of social influence, and a dynamic influence model for identifying influential users.

The Influence of Psychological Predictors and Cognitive Behavioral Stress Management Intervention on Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Adherence Among HIV-Positive Female Haitian Alcohol Users

Purpose: Over half the HIV-infected persons in the Caribbean, the second most HIV-impacted region in the world, live in Haiti. Using secondary data from a parent study, this research assessed the effects of psychological and social factors on antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence among Haitian, HIV-positive, female alcohol users. Theoretical Foundation and Research Questions: Using the Theory of Planned Behavior/Reasoned Action and the Information, Motivation, Behavior skills model as guiding theoretical frameworks, the study examined the effectiveness of an adapted cognitive behavioral stress management (CBSM-A) intervention in improving ART adherence. The effect of psychological factors (depression, anxiety, beliefs about medicine, and social support), social factors (stigma, relationship status, and educational attainment), and alcohol on adherence to ART was assessed. Methods: The sample consisted of 116 female ART patients who were randomly assigned to the CBSM-A intervention or the wait-list control group. Participants completed intervention sessions as well as pre- and post-test assessments. Analyses of variance, t-tests, and point biserial correlations were used to test hypotheses. Results: Surprisingly, ART adherence rates significantly decreased for both groups combined [F (1, 108) = 8.79, p = .004]; there was no significant difference between the intervention and control groups with regard to the magnitude of change between baseline and post assessment. On average, depression decreased significantly among participants in the CBSM-A group only [(t (62) = 5.54, p < .001)]. For both groups combined, alcohol use significantly decreased between baseline and post-assessment [(F (1, 78) = 34.70, p < .001)]; there was no significant difference between the intervention and control groups with regard to the magnitude of change between baseline and post-assessment. None of the variables were significantly correlated with ART adherence. Discussion: Adherence to ART did not improve in this sample, nor were any of the variables significantly associated with adherence. The findings suggest that additional supportive and psychological services may be needed in order to promote higher adherence to ART among HIV-positive females. More research may be needed on this sample; a focus on mental health issues, partner conflict, family and sexual history may allow for better targeting and more successful interventions.

Psychosocial variables associated with the co-occurance of risky sexual behavior with alcohol consumption among university students

This study examined the association of theoretically guided and empirically identified psychosocial variables on the co-occurrence of risky sexual behavior with alcohol consumption among university students. The study utilized event analysis to determine whether risky sex occurred during the same event in which alcohol was consumed. Relevant conceptualizations included alcohol disinhibition, self-efficacy, and social network theories. Predictor variables included negative condom attitudes, general risk taking, drinking motives, mistrust, social group membership, and gender. Factor analysis was employed to identify dimensions of drinking motives. Measured risky sex behaviors were (a) sex without a condom, (b) sex with people not known very well, (c) sex with injecting drug users (IDUs), (d) sex with people without knowing whether they had a STD, and (e) sex with using drugs. A purposive sample was used and included 222 male and female students recruited from a major urban university. Chi-square analysis was used to determine whether participants were more likely to engage in risky sex behavior in different alcohol use contexts. These contexts were only when drinking, only when not drinking, and when drinking or not. The chi-square findings did not support the hypothesis that university students who use alcohol with sex will engage in riskier sex. These results added to the literature by extending other similar findings to a university student sample. For each of the observed risky sex behaviors, discriminant analysis methodology was used to determine whether the predictor variables would differentiate the drinking contexts, or whether the behavior occurred. Results from discriminant analyses indicated that sex with people not known very well was the only behavior for which there were significant discriminant functions. Gender and enhancement drinking motives were important constructs in the classification model. Limitations of the study and implications for future research, social work practice and policy are discussed.

Treatment attrition among racial/ethnic minority adolescents participating in a brief motivational intervention for substance use problems : the influence of individual, social, cultural, and treatment factors

The present study has the primary aim of examining the predictors of treatment attrition among racial/ethnic minority adolescents with substance use problems. This study explores the potential differential influence of specific individual, social, cultural, and treatment factors on treatment attrition within three racial/ethnic subgroups of adolescents. Participants: A unique feature of the study is the use of a racial/ethnic minority sample (N=453), [U.S.-born Hispanics (n = 262), Foreign-born Hispanics (n = 117), and African- Americans (n = 74)]. Multivariate logit analyses were used to examine the influence of specific factors on treatment attrition among the full sample of adolescents, as well as within each racial/ethnic subgroup. Consistent with expectations, multivariate logit analyses reveal that, the specific factors associated with attrition varied across the three racial/ethnic subgroups. Having parents with problem substance use, being on the waitlist, and being court mandated to treatment emerged as predictors of attrition among the US-born Hispanics, while only Conduct Disorder was significantly associated with greater attrition among foreign-born Hispanics. Finally, among African-Americans, parental crack/cocaine use, parental abstinence from alcohol, and being on the waitlist were predictive of attrition. Multiple factors were associated with treatment attrition among racial/ethnic minority adolescents with specific factors differentially predicting attrition within each racial/ethnic subgroup. African-American youth were more than twice as likely as their Hispanic counterparts to leave treatment prematurely. It is critically important to understand the predictors of attrition among racial/ethnic minority youth in order to better meet the needs of youth most at risk of dropping out.

Relations Between Acculturation And Alcohol Use Among International Students

In the current study, 226 international students attending Florida International University responded to an Web-based questionnaire that assessed self-reported scores for: acculturation, acculturative stress, alcohol use patterns, perceived peer alcohol use, and perceived injunctive social norms for alcohol use. The purpose of the study was to evaluate structural relations among this set of variables using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) via AMOS 17.0. The results of SEM analyses documented acceptable fit of a model which hypothesized that relations between acculturation and alcohol use variables are mediated partially by acculturative stress, perceived peer alcohol use, and perceived injunctive social norms. While significant path coefficients were documented for paths between (a) acculturation and acculturative stress and (b) acculturative stress and alcohol use, the coefficients had negative signs, contrary to existing studies investigating these relations among immigrant youth. While paths between (a) perceived peer alcohol use or (b) perceived injunctive social norms and participants’ alcohol use were significant, path coefficients between acculturation and either (a) perceived peer alcohol use or (b) perceived injunctive social norms were not statistically significant. In addition, multiple-group comparisons suggested that social support had a significant moderating influence on several significant paths in the structural model. Specifically, international students reporting higher social support reported lower scores for acculturative stress and alcohol use, in contrast to their counterparts who reported lower scores for social support.

Examination of Personality, Social and Cognitive Factors on the Co-Occurrence of Health Risk Behaviors among Multi-Problem Youth: The Utility of An Integrative Framework

Research has identified a number of putative risk factors that places adolescents at incrementally higher risk for involvement in alcohol and other drug (AOD) use and sexual risk behaviors (SRBs). Such factors include personality characteristics such as sensation-seeking, cognitive factors such as positive expectancies and inhibition conflict as well as peer norm processes. The current study was guided by a conceptual perspective that support the notion that an integrative framework that includes multi-level factors has significant explanatory value for understanding processes associated with the co-occurrence of AOD use and sexual risk behavior outcomes. This study evaluated simultaneously the mediating role of AOD-sex related expectancies and inhibition conflict on antecedents of AOD use and SRBs including sexual sensation-seeking and peer norms for condom use. The sample was drawn from the Enhancing My Personal Options While Evaluating Risk (EMPOWER: Jonathan Tubman, PI), data set (N = 396; aged 12-18 years). Measures used in the study included Sexual Sensation-Seeking Scale, Inhibition Conflict for Condom Use, Risky Sex Scale. All relevant measures had well-documented psychometric properties. A global assessment of alcohol, drug use and sexual risk behaviors was used. Results demonstrated that AOD-sex related expectancies mediated the influence of sexual sensation-seeking on the co-occurrence of alcohol and other drug use and sexual risk behaviors. The evaluation of the integrative model also revealed that sexual sensation-seeking was positively associated with peer norms for condom use. Also, peer norms predicted inhibition conflict among this sample of multi-problem youth. This dissertation research identified mechanisms of risk and protection associated with the co-occurrence of AOD use and SRBs among a multi-problem sample of adolescents receiving treatment for alcohol or drug use and related problems. This study is informative for adolescent-serving programs that address those individual and contextual characteristics that enhance treatment efficacy and effectiveness among adolescents receiving substance use and related problems services.

Marketing político e mídias sociais: as estratégias utilizadas no facebook e twitter de Cássio Cunha Lima PSDB/PB, nas eleições de 2014

This dissertation aims to analyze and understand the process and practices of political marketing strategies applied to social media facebook and twitter Cássio Cunha Lima - PSDB candidate for governor of Paraíba, in the 2014 elections The work is divided into three parts . The first two chapters, both of theoretical nature, underlie the discussion about the use of the Internet as a campaign space and political marketing campaign as well as the different communication strategies and electoral marketing already presented in the literature. Following, is dedicated to a topic for the presentation of the methodology and subsequently makes the discussion of empirical data analysis. Finally, we present the conclusions. The analysis takes as its starting point the models Figueiredo et al. (1998) and Albuquerque (1999) to observe the traditional strategies and suggests the inclusion of typically recorded on the Internet strategies. The methodology used for the analysis was the qualitative and quantitative content from variables that we list different campaign strategies. In order to achieve the purpose of this research, we conducted a case study as an analytical object online campaign Cássio Cunha Lima. The case study took place from the construction of a candidate's biographical and political profile, presented and discussed in the text. This research also made use of virtual ethnography. Therefore, were monitored social media facebook and twitter that political, with the help of image capture program - Greenshot by creating pre-defined categories of analysis, for example, calendar, prestige and support, negative campaign , engagement, among others. The period chosen for monitoring the candidate's official profiles was from 24 August to 28 October 2014, because it holds the pre, during and post-election where there was greater candidate drive level and his team marketing in social media selected for analysis. The results indicate that mobilization strategy (online and offline), merged with the promotion schedule, it is predominant in the social media Cassio. They also indicate that they do not show the failure of the campaign of the candidate in 2014.

COMUNICAÇÃO E MARKETING NA EDUCAÇÃO SUPERIOR: uma análise dos conteúdos comunicacionais online de instituições de ensino privadas

O presente contexto mercadológico da educação superior, onde a concorrência é cada vez mais acirrada, tem levado as instituições de ensino a estabelecer um processo de gestão de comunicação e marketing mais estratégico e competitivo, buscando alcançar uma posição diferenciada em relação à concorrência, a fim de conquistar seus públicos de interesse. Este trabalho contemplou a aplicação dos objetivos de comunicação no mercado de ensino superior, analisando as formas pelas quais as instituições vêm estabelecendo os processos comunicacionais com seus públicos-alvo, estando direcionado para as Universidades privadas brasileiras. A pesquisa se apóia em: revisão bibliográfica, entrevistas em profundidade com gestores de comunicação e marketing do setor pesquisado e análise de conteúdo de peças de comunicação em mídia online. Inicialmente foi elaborado um relato acerca do contexto atual do mercado de ensino superior no Brasil: sua evolução e caracterização. Em seguida, definiu-se marketing aplicado ao segmento de educação superior: conceitos e o papel designado a ele. Posteriormente relacionou-se comunicação mercadológica com o serviço de educação superior e sua aplicabilidade neste setor. Depois, foram realizadas entrevistas em profundidade - semiestruturadas, com gestores de comunicação e marketing de duas instituições, localizadas na cidade de São Paulo (Insper e Universidade São Judas Tadeu) com posicionamentos antagônicos e classificações distintas quanto à sua imagem para o mercado -, com a finalidade de conhecer suas visões e opiniões sobre o mercado e as ações de comunicação de marketing que vêm adotando. Finalmente, foi elaborada análise de contéudo, comparando anúncios (peças publicitárias) em mídia online das duas IES estudadas. Todos os procedimentos da análise de contéudo foram estabelecidos e categorizados com base nos objetivos de comunicação definidos por Yanaze (2011).

Personas sin hogar en la ciudad de Coimbra: recuento, principales necesidades, caracterización psicosocial y retos para el trabajo social

Objetivos: Este estudio tuvo como objetivo elaborar un recuento y caracterizar a la población sin hogar de la ciudad de Coimbra. Se quería conocer quiénes son las personas sin hogar en Coimbra, sus características sociodemográficas, características psicosociales, síntomas depresivos, sentido de la vida y percepción de apoyo social, para disponer de un mayor conocimiento de su situación y necesidades y así mejorar la intervención social orientada al sinhogarismo. Método: El trabajo empírico realizado incluyó dos procedimientos simultáneos: (a) Un recuento de personas sin hogar, durante 3 días, en las instituciones especializadas de apoyo social y en las calles. (b) Una caracterización psicosocial a través de una entrevista estructurada a partir de los cuatro instrumentos siguientes: Cuestionario de Realojamiento y Evaluación (RTAS), Escala de Depresión del Centro para Estudios Epidemiológicos (CES-D), Cuestionario del sentido de la vida (PIL-R) y Cuestionario de Apoyo Social Percibido (CASP). Los datos fueron analizados mediante los programas SPSS, versión 18.0 y AMOS, versión 18.0. El recuento de personas sin hogar se realizó siguiendo la tipología Europea creada por FEANTSA, llamada ETHOS (European Typology on Homelessness and Housing Exclusion). Partiendo de esta tipología, en el recuento fueron identificadas 257 personas sin hogar, 175 de las cuales accedieron a ser entrevistadas, resultando válidas 174 entrevistas. Resultados: Verificamos que la mayoría de las personas sin hogar de nuestro estudio son hombres de menos de 50 años (edad media 46 años), portugueses, nacidos o con residencia en Coimbra hace más de un año, con escasos estudios, y que están solteros o divorciados. La mayoría duerme en instituciones (28,1%), vive en cuartos alquilados (23,6%) o en la calle (12,6%); han consumido drogas o alcohol (50%) y presentan problemas de salud mental (21,8%). En cuanto a ingresos, la mayoría percibe una renta mínima de inserción (37,9%) o se dedica a la mendicidad (17,2%). En cuanto a las causas percibidas de su situación de personas sin hogar, la mayoría apunta al desempleo (35%) y la pobreza (25,3%)...

Principes de communication et rôle social du chercheur en matière de transfert de connaissances : une dualité source de questionnements éthiques

Essai / Essay

A influência da internet no marketing internacional e relacional das empresas

O presente relatório tem por base o estágio curricular realizado no âmbito do mestrado em Marketing Relacional, lecionado na Escola Superior de Tecnologia e Gestão do Instituto Politécnico de Leiria. O estágio, com uma duração de 1096 horas, decorreu na empresa Smartidiom, Lda., cuja atividade principal é a prestação de serviços linguísticos. A Smartidiom, Lda. opera no mercado internacional desde a sua fundação e pode ser definida como uma empresa born-global. No entanto, o reforço da internacionalização afigura-se indispensável para uma empresa que pretende expandir a atividade e se confronta com um mercado nacional exíguo, como é o mercado português, que atravessa um período de modesto dinamismo económico. O reforço da internacionalização é também uma ambição natural numa economia global, baseada no conhecimento. As tarefas realizadas contribuíram para este objetivo de intensificação da internacionalização e incluíram aspetos relacionados com o marketing internacional, como a elaboração do plano de marketing internacional da empresa e com o marketing relacional, como, o contacto com clientes através da rede social de âmbito profissional, o LinkedIn. Dado o âmbito do mestrado e as tarefas desempenhadas, era importante analisar o papel da internet no marketing internacional e na construção de estratégias relacionais com clientes estrangeiros. Com este intuito foi realizada uma revisão da literatura, que permitiu concluir que o uso da internet nas atividades de marketing internacional é particularmente importante para as pequenas empresas, dada a escassez de recursos disponíveis. As características internas das empresas, como o domínio das tecnologias da informação, condicionam o uso desta ferramenta. A literatura mostra que as empresas reconhecem a importância das redes sociais na construção dos relacionamentos com os clientes. No entanto, a utilização destas no contexto específico do marketing internacional carece de análise empírica.