Professor Amanda Baker

© 2017 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs Introduction and Aims: We previously found that residential rehabilitation increased continuous abstinence from methamphetamine use 1 year after treatment. We examine what client and treatment characteristics predict this outcome. Design and Methods: Participants (n = 176) were dependent on methamphetamine and entering residential rehabilitation for methamphetamine use. Simultaneous logistic regression was used to identify independent predictors of continuous abstinence from methamphetamine use at 1 year follow-up. Measures included demographics, drug use, psychiatric comorbidity (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, major depression, social phobia, panic disorder, schizophrenia, mania and conduct disorder), symptoms of psychosis and hostility, readiness to change, motivations for treatment and treatment characteristics (duration, rapport, group and individual counselling). Results: Participants stayed in treatment for a median of 8 weeks; 23% remained abstinent at 1 year. The only independent predictors of abstinence were more weeks in treatment [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.2, P < 0.001], better rapport with treatment providers (AOR 2.4, P = 0.049) and receipt of individual counselling (AOR 3.7, P = 0.013), whereas injecting methamphetamine predicted not achieving abstinence (AOR = 0.25, P = 0.002). Individual counselling and good rapport increased abstinence to 45%; for injectors, longer stays in treatment (13+ weeks) were additionally needed to produce similar abstinence rates (43%). Discussions and Conclusions: Abstinence from methamphetamine use following residential rehabilitation could be significantly increased by providing individual counselling, maintaining good rapport with clients and ensuring longer stays for people who inject the drug. [McKetin R, Kothe A, Baker AL, Lee NK, Ross J, Lubman DI. Predicting abstinence from methamphetamine use after residential rehabilitation: Findings from the Methamphetamine Treatment Evaluation Study. Drug Alcohol Rev 2018;37:70¿78].

© 2018 The Author(s) Hospital admissions provide a ¿teachable moment¿. Many patients admitted to mental health hospitals have co-existing substance misuse. As acute symptoms decline, a window of increased insight into factors that contributed to becoming unwell and admission may present. This study used this ¿teachable¿ opportunity to assess the acceptability of delivering a brief integrated motivational intervention (BIMI) to inpatients and the feasibility of delivery by inpatient staff. Qualitative interviews were completed with 21 inpatients experiencing co-occurring schizophrenia-related or bipolar disorder diagnoses and substance misuse who received the BIMI. Twelve staff members completed either individual interviews or a focus group. Four themes were identified from the qualitative interviews with participants; these were openness/readiness to talk about substance use, feeling valued, understanding substance use and helpful skills and processes; each with a number of subthemes. Participants appeared to find the intervention useful; although, felt they did not always have the ¿headspace¿. One theme emerged from the staff data, the acceptability of the approach for inpatient ward staff, which had four subthemes; training in the intervention; delivering the intervention; joint working; and feasibility. Staff considered the targeted style of the BIMI useful. Delivery considerations included ¿timing¿ and competing ward duties. Hospital admission presents a natural window of opportunity for staff to start conversations with inpatients about substance misuse.

© 2017 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs Introduction and Aims: The Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-8) is one of a limited number of standardised satisfaction measures that have been used widely across mental health services. This study examined the CSQ-8 as a measure of general satisfaction within residential substance abuse treatment. It compared the CSQ-8 with another established measure of client satisfaction that was developed for substance abuse treatment settings (Treatment Perceptions Questionnaire, TPQ). It also sought to examine the relationship between the CSQ-8 and commonly used process measures. Design and Methods: Cross-sectional data was collected from across 14 Australian residential medium-to-long term alcohol and other drug treatment facilities (N = 1378). Demographic, substance abuse and mental health characteristics were collected, as well as process measures of craving, general functioning, self-perceptions, recovery and symptom distress. Results: A confirmatory factory analysis established that the CSQ-8 retains a single factor. The scale was strongly correlated with the TPQ, suggesting high concurrent validity. However, while the TPQ was normally distributed, the CSQ-8 was highly negatively skewed. Significant associations were found between the CSQ-8 and cross-sectional process measures. Discussion and Conclusions: Results suggest that that CSQ-8 is an appropriate measure to be used in residential substance abuse treatment settings. However, because of the high levels of negative skew, it is likely that the TPQ is more accurate in capturing clients' dissatisfaction than the CSQ-8. Future research should include longitudinal studies of satisfaction in order to examine how changes in satisfaction may be related to client characteristics, outcome measures, dropout or re-engagement in treatment. [Kelly PJ, Kyngdon F, Ingram I, Deane FP, Baker AL, Osborne BA. The Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8: Psychometric properties in a cross-sectional survey of people attending residential substance abuse treatment. Drug Alcohol Rev 2018;37:79¿86].

© 2018 Elsevier Inc. Quality of Life (QOL) is increasingly being recognised as an important indicator of recovery from substance use treatment. The current study aimed to determine if there are distinct subclasses of QOL among a broad range of people attending specialist non-government alcohol and other drug treatment services, and how QOL might be associated with substance use, mental health, treatment and demographic characteristics of these individuals. The sample included 9958 individuals attending specialist non-government treatment for alcohol or other substance use in New South Wales, Australia. Cross sectional data on quality of life, drug use, treatment variables, psychological distress and substance dependence severity was collected. Latent class analysis was conducted to identify quality of life classes within the sample. Regression analyses were then performed to identify which individual, treatment and health outcomes were associated with these classes. Three distinct quality of life classes were identified, and termed low (n = 3048), moderate (n = 4211) and high quality of life (n = 2699). Classes differed across individual characteristics, substance use and psychological distress. As hypothesised, greater substance use and higher distress was evident in the lowest quality of life class. Quality of life is an important measure of an individuals¿ level of functioning during recovery from substance use. The identification of subgroups of individuals with substance use disorders based on their quality of life classes may help guide interventions to improve their overall global functioning and treatment outcomes.

© 2018 Society for the Study of Addiction Aims: To estimate the extent to which specific sexual behaviours (being sexually active, having multiple sex partners, casual sex, condomless casual sex, anal sex and condomless anal sex) change during periods of methamphetamine use. Design: Within-person estimates for the relationship between methamphetamine use and sexual behaviour were derived from longitudinal panel data from the Methamphetamine Treatment Evaluation Study (MATES) cohort (2006¿10). Setting: Sydney and Brisbane, Australia. Participants: Participants (n¿=¿319) were recruited through treatment and other health services, self-identified as heterosexual, were aged 17¿51¿years, 74% were male and all were dependent on methamphetamine on study entry. Measurements: Days of methamphetamine use in the past month and sexual behaviour in the past month were both assessed using the Opiate Treatment Index. Findings: When using methamphetamine, participants had double the odds of being sexually active compared with when they were not using, after adjustment for demographics and other substance use [adjusted odds ratio (aOR)¿=¿1.9, P¿=¿0.010]. When participants were sexually active, they were more likely to have multiple sex partners (aOR¿=¿3.3, P¿=¿0.001), casual sex partners (aOR¿=¿3.9, P¿<¿0.001) and condomless casual sex (aOR¿=¿2.6, P¿=¿0.012) when using methamphetamine than when they were not using. During months when participants had a casual sex partner, there was no significant reduction in their likelihood of condom use when they were using methamphetamine. There was no significant change in the likelihood of having anal sex or condomless anal sex during months of methamphetamine use. Conclusions: Methamphetamine use is associated with an increase in being sexually active, having multiple sex partners and casual sex partners and having condomless sex with casual partners, but it is not associated with a change in condom use per se.

© 2017 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs Aim and background. We estimated health service utilisation attributable to methamphetamine use, its national impact and examined other predictors of health service utilisation among dependent methamphetamine users. Method. Past year rates of health service utilisation (number of attendances for general hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, emergency departments, general practitioners, psychiatrists, counsellors or psychologists, and dentists) were estimated for three levels of methamphetamine use (no use, < weekly, = weekly) using panel data from a longitudinal cohort of 484 dependent methamphetamine users from Sydney and Brisbane, Australia. Marginal rates for methamphetamine use were multiplied by 2013 prevalence estimates from the National Drug Strategy Household Survey. Covariates included other substance use, demographics, mental disorders and drug treatment. Findings. Health service use was high. More frequent methamphetamine use was associated with more frequent presentations to emergency departments (incidence rate ratios 1.3¿2.1) and psychiatric hospitals (incidence rate ratios 5.3¿8.3) and fewer presentations to general practitioners, dentists and counsellors. We estimate methamphetamine use accounted for between 28¿400 and 80¿900 additional psychiatric hospital admissions and 29¿700 and 151¿800 additional emergency department presentations in 2013. More frequent presentations to these services were also associated with alcohol and opioid use, comorbid mental health disorders, unemployment, unstable housing, attending drug treatment, low income and lower education. Conclusions. Frequent methamphetamine use has a significant impact on emergency medical and psychiatric services. Better provision of non-acute health care services to address the multiple health and social needs of dependent methamphetamine users may reduce the burden on these acute care services. [McKetin R, Degenhardt L, Shanahan M, Baker AL, Lee NK, Lubman DI. Health service utilisation attributable to methamphetamine use in Australia: patterns, predictors and national impact. Drug Alcohol Rev 2017;00:000¿000].

© 2018 Cambridge University Press. Background The mental and physical health of individuals with a psychotic illness are typically poor. Access to psychosocial interventions is important but currently limited. Telephone-delivered interventions may assist. In the current systematic review, we aim to summarise and critically analyse evidence for telephone-delivered psychosocial interventions targeting key health priorities in adults with a psychotic disorder, including (i) relapse, (ii) adherence to psychiatric medication and/or (iii) modifiable cardiovascular disease risk behaviours.Methods Ten peer-reviewed and four grey literature databases were searched for English-language studies examining psychosocial telephone-delivered interventions targeting relapse, medication adherence and/or health behaviours in adults with a psychotic disorder. Study heterogeneity precluded meta-analyses.Results Twenty trials [13 randomised controlled trials (RCTs)] were included, involving 2473 participants (relapse prevention = 867; medication adherence = 1273; and health behaviour = 333). Five of eight RCTs targeting relapse prevention and one of three targeting medication adherence reported at least 50% of outcomes in favour of the telephone-delivered intervention. The two health-behaviour RCTs found comparable levels of improvement across treatment conditions.Conclusions Although most interventions combined telephone and face-to-face delivery, there was evidence to support the benefit of entirely telephone-delivered interventions. Telephone interventions represent a potentially feasible and effective option for improving key health priorities among people with psychotic disorders. Further methodologically rigorous evaluations are warranted.

© 2017, © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2017. Objective: People living with psychotic disorders (schizophrenia spectrum and bipolar disorders) have high rates of cardiovascular disease risk behaviours, including smoking, physical inactivity and poor diet. We report cardiovascular disease risk, smoking cessation and other risk behaviour outcomes over 36 months following recruitment into a two-arm randomised controlled trial among smokers with psychotic disorders. Methods: Participants (N = 235) drawn from three sites were randomised to receive nicotine replacement therapy plus (1) a Healthy Lifestyles intervention delivered over approximately 9 months or (2) a largely telephone-delivered intervention (designed to control for nicotine replacement therapy provision, session frequency and other monitoring). The primary outcome variables were 10-year cardiovascular disease risk and smoking status, while the secondary outcomes included weekly physical activity, unhealthy eating, waist circumference, psychiatric symptomatology, depression and global functioning. Results: Significant reductions in cardiovascular disease risk and smoking were detected across the 36-month follow-up period in both intervention conditions, with no significant differences between conditions. One-quarter (25.5%) of participants reported reducing cigarettes per day by 50% or more at multiple post-treatment assessments; however, few (8.9%) managed to sustain this across the majority of time points. Changes in other health behaviours or lifestyle factors were modest; however, significant improvements in depression and global functioning were detected over time in both conditions. Participants experiencing worse ¿social discomfort¿ at baseline (e.g. anxiety, mania, poor self-esteem and social disability) had on average significantly worse global functioning, lower scores on the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey physical scale and significantly greater waist circumference. Conclusion: Although the telephone-delivered intervention was designed as a comparison condition, it achieved excellent retention and comparable outcomes. Telephone-delivered smoking cessation support may potentially help to reduce smoking rates among people with psychotic disorders. Discomfort in social situations may also be a useful target for future health interventions, addressing confidence and social skills, and promoting social networks that reduce inactivity.

© The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2018. Objectives: Alcohol misuse and depression are commonly co-occurring conditions. To date, no review has examined the most efficacious treatment model for psychosocial treatment of co-occurring alcohol misuse and depression. This systematic review determined the: (i) methodological quality of publications examining psychosocial treatment of co-occurring alcohol misuse and depression using a sequential, parallel or integrated treatment model; and (ii) effectiveness of each dual treatment model compared to single treatment for those with co-occurring alcohol misuse and depression. Methods: PubMed, Medline and PsycInfo databases were searched for studies which were included if they involved treatment for alcohol misuse and depression and could be classified into one of the three treatment models. Included studies were assessed using the Cochrane¿s Effective Practice and Organisation of Care risk of bias criteria. Relevant study characteristics and outcomes were extracted and are presented in a narrative review format. Results: Seven studies met inclusion criteria. None were categorised as low risk on the risk of bias criteria. No studies examined a sequential model of treatment, three examined a parallel model and four examined an integrated model of dual-focussed treatment. The studies examining the parallel model and two out of four studies examining the effectiveness of an integrated model demonstrated greater improvement for alcohol or depression outcomes compared to control conditions. Conclusion: Evidence for the psychosocial treatment of co-occurring alcohol misuse and depression is limited to a handful of studies. The evidence has several methodological limitations, which impact the interpretation of the findings. Therefore, while international guidelines recommend integrated dual-focussed treatment for co-occurring conditions, there is little evidence supporting the superiority of this treatment format for co-occurring alcohol misuse and depression. High-quality research demonstrating improvements in patient outcomes is required to ensure recommendations for clinical practice are based on strong empirical evidence.

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd Background The injection of amphetamine is becoming increasingly common. However, there has been a lack of research examining people who inject amphetamine as the primary drug of use, limiting the potential to ensure services address the unique needs of this group. The current study used latent class analysis to identify classes of polydrug use among people who report injecting amphetamine during the past 12¿months. It also examined differences between classes and drug use patterns, injecting practices, quality of life and psychological distress. Methods Participants who were attending non-government specialist alcohol and other drug treatment across New South Wales, Australia and had identified amphetamine as their principle drug of concern and reported injecting amphetamine in the previous 12¿months were included in the current study (N¿=¿827). Latent class analysis was performed to identify polydrug profiles of participants. Results The large majority of people in the current study (85%) demonstrated low probability of heroin or other opiate use. Three distinct classes of polydrug use were identified: (1) Low-polydrug (n¿=¿491), (2) Opiates-polydrug (n¿=¿123), and (3) Alcohol-polydrug (n¿=¿213). There was a trend for the Low-polydrug class to demonstrate better functioning and safer injecting practices than the Opiates-polydrug and Alcohol-polydrug classes. Conclusion The results suggest that the majority of people accessing treatment who inject amphetamine as their primary drug of choice have a low probability of heroin or other opiate use. It is important that future research consider whether traditional harm minimisation strategies are appropriate for people who primarily inject amphetamine.

© 2016 The American Association of Suicidology It is unclear whether individuals searching the Internet for assistance with thoughts of suicide are likely to encounter predominantly helpful or harmful resources. This study investigated websites retrieved by searching Google for information and support for suicidal thoughts. Google searches retrieved a high percentage of irrelevant websites (26%, n¿=¿136). Of the 329 relevant websites retrieved, the majority were suicide preventive (68%); however, a considerable proportion of sites expressed mixed (22%) or neutral (8%) suicide attitudes, and 1% were explicitly pro-suicide. The results highlight a need for suicide prevention organization websites to be made more easily accessible. In the meantime, clinicians should be aware of appropriate websites to recommend to clients.

© 2017 We examined the lifetime experience of hallucinations and delusions associated with transient methamphetamine-related psychosis (MAP), persistent MAP and primary psychosis among a cohort of dependent methamphetamine users. Participants were classified as having (a) no current psychotic symptoms, (n=110); (b) psychotic symptoms only when using methamphetamine (transient MAP, n=85); (c) psychotic symptoms both when using methamphetamine and when abstaining from methamphetamine (persistent MAP, n=37), or (d) meeting DSM-IV criteria for lifetime schizophrenia or mania (primary psychosis, n=52). Current psychotic symptoms were classified as a score of 4 or more on any of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale items of suspiciousness, hallucinations or unusual thought content in the past month. Lifetime psychotic diagnoses and symptoms were assessed using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Transient MAP was associated with persecutory delusions and tactile hallucinations (compared to the no symptom group). Persistent MAP was additionally associated with delusions of reference, thought interference and complex auditory, visual, olfactory and tactile hallucinations, while primary psychosis was also associated with delusions of thought projection, erotomania and passivity. The presence of non-persecutory delusions and hallucinations across various modalities is a marker for persistent MAP or primary psychosis in people who use methamphetamine.

© 2017 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Objectives: Smoking continues to be a major health concern for people with a history of alcohol or other substance use problems. The current research is aimed to (1) describe the prevalence of smoking in residential addictions treatment services and (2) compare characteristics of people who had or had not quit smoking. Methods: Participants were attending residential substance abuse treatment provided by the Australian Salvation Army. These programs are up to 10¿months in length and offer a range of low-intensity smoking cessation supports. Measures of smoking, substance use, and clinical characteristics were collected from 2008 to 2015 at baseline and three months post-discharge from treatment (N = 702). Results: At baseline, 86% of people were smokers (n = 606). At follow-up, only 48 participants who were smokers at baseline (7%) had quit smoking. Participants who had quit smoking at follow-up also reported higher rates of abstinence from alcohol or other substances at follow-up (72%) than people who had not quit smoking (46%; OR = 2.95, 95% CI [1.52, 5.74]). Conclusions: There is potential for smoking cessation to be better addressed as part of routine care in substance abuse treatment settings. Future research should evaluate the provision of more systematic smoking cessation interventions within these settings.

© 2017, BMJ Publishing Group. All rights reserved. Background Tobacco smoking can have negative health outcomes on recovery from surgery. Although it is recommended best practice to provide patients with advice to quit and follow-up support, provision of postdischarge support is rare. Developing an online smoking cessation program may help address this gap. Objectives This paper describes the development and pretesting of an online smoking cessation program (smoke-free recovery, SFR) tailored to the orthopaedic trauma population for use while in hospital and post-discharge. Methods Drawing on the DoTTI framework for developing an online program, the following steps were followed for program development: (1) design and development; (2) testing early iteration; (3) testing for effectiveness and (4) integration and implementation. This article describes the first two stages of SFR program development. Results SFR is a 10-module online smoking cessation program tailored for patients with orthopaedic trauma. Of the participants who completed testing early iterations, none reported any difficulties orientating themselves to the program or understanding program content. The main themes were that it was ¿helpful¿, provision of ¿help to quit¿ was low and SFR increased thoughts of ¿staying quit post discharge¿. Conclusions This study found that a theory and evidence-based approach as the basis for an online smoking cessation program for patients with orthopaedic trauma was acceptable to users. A randomised controlled trial will be conducted to examine whether the online smoking cessation program is effective in increasing smoking cessation and how it can be integrated and implemented into hospital practice (stages three and four of the DoTTI framework).

© Copyright 2016 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved. This study assesses the feasibility of integrating motivational interviewing (MI) with an exercise intervention. It also explores patterns of depressive symptom changes (cognitive, affective, and somatic subscales) and their relationship to cognitive, behavioral, and immunological factors (interleukin 6, IL-6, a marker for inflammation) across the exercise intervention. Twelve young adults (20.8 ± 1.7 years) meeting DSM-IV criteria for major depressive disorder received a brief MI intervention followed by a 12-week exercise intervention. Assessments were conducted preintervention, postintervention, throughout the intervention, and at follow-up. Preliminary results show differential effects of exercise, with the largest standardized mean improvements for the affective subscale (-1.71), followed by cognitive (-1.56) and somatic (-1.39) subscales. A significant relationship was observed between increased behavioral activation and lower levels of IL-6. Despite study limitations, the magnitude of changes suggests that natural remission of depressive symptoms is an unlikely explanation for the findings. A randomized controlled trial has commenced to evaluate effectiveness of the intervention.

© 2016 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs Introduction and Aims: The Self-Management and Recovery Training (SMART Recovery) program provides facilitated mutual aid for people with addictions. To date, little research has examined SMART Recovery. This paper examined participant and facilitator perceptions of the helpfulness of cognitive behaviour therapy tools in SMART Recovery groups. SMART Recovery's strengths and areas for improvement were also explored, as well as overall participant satisfaction with SMART Recovery. Design and Methods: This exploratory study was conducted as part of the first national survey of SMART Recovery in Australia. Paper surveys were posted to all registered SMART Recovery groups for participants. SMART Recovery facilitators were emailed a link to an online survey. Results: Overall, satisfaction with SMART Recovery was moderate to strong. Participants and facilitators perceived the cognitive behaviour therapy tools incorporated within SMART Recovery to be helpful. Participants and facilitators nominated the group experience and the SMART Recovery tools and strategies as helpful aspects of SMART Recovery. Participants and facilitators were concerned with improving public knowledge about SMART Recovery groups, updating the structure and content of SMART Recovery groups, and increasing training for facilitators. Discussion and Conclusions: SMART Recovery displays strengths as communicated by those who utilise its services. However, there are opportunities to continue to improve SMART Recovery. Updating the training for facilitators and increasing communication between SMART Recovery Australia's head office and its facilitators may serve to improve service delivery. Future research should focus on examining the efficacy of SMART Recovery groups on participant outcomes.[Kelly PJ, Raftery D, Deane FP, Baker AL, Hunt D, Shakeshaft A. From both sides: Participant and facilitator perceptions of SMART Recovery groups. Drug Alcohol Rev 2017;36:325¿332].

© 2016 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs Methamphetamine dependence is a growing problem in Australia and globally. Currently, there are no approved pharmacotherapy options for the management of methamphetamine dependence. N-acetylcysteine is one potential pharmacotherapy option. It has received growing attention as a therapy for managing addictions because of its capacity to restore homeostasis to brain glutamate systems disrupted in addiction and thereby reduce craving and the risk of relapse. N-acetylcysteine also has antioxidant properties that protect against methamphetamine-induced toxicity and it may therefore assist in the management of the neuropsychiatric and neurocognitive effects of methamphetamine. This commentary overviews the actions of N-acetylcysteine and evidence for its efficacy in treating addiction with a particular focus on its potential utility for methamphetamine dependence. We conclude that the preliminary evidence indicates a need for full-scale trials to definitively establish whether N-acetylcysteine has a therapeutic benefit and the nature of this benefit, for managing methamphetamine dependence. [McKetin R, Dean O, Baker A. L, Carter G, Turner A, Kelly P. J, Berk M. A potential role for N-acetylcysteine in the management of methamphetamine dependence. Drug Alcohol Rev 2017;36:153¿159].

Copyright © 2017 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved. Objective: This study investigates orthopaedic trauma patients smoking cessation history, intentions to quit, receipt of smoking cessation care during hospital admission, and patient-related factors associated with receipt of smoking cessation care. Methods: An online cross-sectional survey of orthopaedic trauma patients was conducted in 2 public hospitals in New South Wales, Australia. Prevalence of smoking and associated variables were described. Logistic regressions were used to examine whether patient characteristics were associated with receipt of smoking cessation care. Results: Eight hundred nineteen patients (response rate 73%) participated. More than 1 in 5 patients (21.8%) were current smokers (n = 175). Of the current smokers, more than half (55.3%) indicated making a quit attempt in the last 12 months and the majority (77.6%) were interested in quitting. More than a third of smokers (37.4%) were not advised to quit; 44.3% did not receive any form of nicotine replacement therapy; and 24.1% reported that they did not receive any of these 3 forms of smoking cessation care during their admission. Provision of care was not related to patient characteristics. Conclusions: The prevalence of smoking among the sample was high. Respondents were interested in quitting; however, the provision of care during admission was low. Smoking cessation interventions need to be developed to increase the provision of care and to promote quit attempts in this Australian population.

© 2017 American Psychological Association.. Clinical guidelines recommend Self-Management and Recovery Training (SMART Recovery) and 12-step models of mutual aid as important sources of long-term support for addiction recovery. Methodologically rigorous reviews of the efficacy and potential mechanisms of change are available for the predominant 12-step approach. A similarly rigorous exploration of SMART Recovery has yet to be undertaken. We aim to address this gap by providing a systematic overview of the evidence for SMART Recovery in adults with problematic alcohol, substance, and/or behavioral addiction, including (i) a commentary on outcomes assessed, process variables, feasibility, current understanding of mental health outcomes, and (ii) a critical evaluation of the methodology. We searched six electronic peer-reviewed and four gray literature databases for English-language SMART Recovery literature. Articles were classified, assessed against standardized criteria, and checked by an independent assessor. Twelve studies (including three evaluations of effectiveness) were identified. Alcohol-related outcomes were the primary focus. Standardized assessment of nonalcohol substance use was infrequent. Information about behavioral addiction was restricted to limited prevalence data. Functional outcomes were rarely reported. Feasibility was largely indexed by attendance. Economic analysis has not been undertaken. Little is known about the variables that may influence treatment outcome, but attendance represents a potential candidate. Assessment and reporting of mental health status was poor. Although positive effects were found, the modest sample and diversity of methods prevent us from making conclusive remarks about efficacy. Further research is needed to understand the clinical and public health utility of SMART as a viable recovery support option.

© 2017, BMJ. All rights reserved. Objectives: To investigate patterns of alcohol use within the coal mining industry, and associations with the personal, social, workplace and employment characteristics. Design: 8 mine sites across 3 eastern Australian states were surveyed, selected to encompass key geographic characteristics (accessibility and remoteness) and mine type (open cut and underground). Problematic alcohol use was measured using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) to determine: (1) overall risky or hazardous drinking behaviour; and (2) frequency of single-occasion drinking (6 or more drinks on 1 occasion). Results: A total of 1457 employees completed the survey, of which 45.7% of male and 17.0% of female participants reported levels of alcohol use within the range considered as risky or hazardous, considerably higher than the national average. Hierarchical linear regression revealed a significant contribution of many individual level factors associated with AUDIT scores: younger age, male, current smoking status; illicit substance use; previous alcohol and other drug use (AOD) problems; and higher psychological distress. Workplace factors associated with alcohol use included working in mining primarily for the high remuneration, and the type of mining, with underground miners reporting higher alcohol use than open-cut miners. Conclusions: Our findings provide support for the need to address alcohol use in the coal mining industry over and above routine on-site testing for alcohol use.

© 2017 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Objectives: People living with a psychotic illness have higher rates of cigarette smoking and face unique barriers to quitting compared to the general population. We examined whether self-reported reasons for smoking are useful predictors of successful quit attempts among people with psychosis. Methods: As part of a randomized controlled trial addressing smoking and cardiovascular disease risk behaviors among people with psychosis, self-reported reasons for smoking were assessed at baseline (n = 235), 15 weeks (n = 151), and 12 months (n = 139). Three factors from the Reasons for Smoking Questionnaire (Coping, Physiological, and Stimulation/Activation) were entered into a model to predict short- and long-term abstinence. The relationship between these factors and mental health symptoms were also assessed. Results: Participants scoring higher on the Stimulation/Activation factor (control of weight, enjoyment, concentration, and ¿peps me up¿) at baseline were just less than half as likely to be abstinent at 15 weeks. Female participants were five times more likely to abstinent at 15 weeks, and those with a higher global functioning at baseline were 5% more likely to be abstinent. There was a positive correlation between changes over time in the Stimulation/Activation factor from baseline to 12-month follow-up and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale total score at 12-month follow-up. This indicates that increasingly higher endorsement of the factor was associated with more psychological symptoms. There was also a negative correlation between the change over time in the Stimulation/Activation factor and global functioning at 12 months, indicating that increasingly higher endorsement of the factor led to lower global assessment of functioning. Conclusions: The Stimulation/Activation factor may be particularly important to assess and address among smokers with psychosis. It is recommended that further research use the Reasons for Smoking Questionnaire among smokers with psychosis as a clinical tool to identify specific quit barriers. Further research into why females have higher smoking cessation rates in the short term and relapse prevention interventions seem worthy of further investigation.

© 2017 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Background: Smokers with mental illness and their health care providers are often concerned that smoking cessation will worsen mental health. Smokers with mental illness tend to be more nicotine-dependent and experience more severe symptoms of nicotine withdrawal, some of which are difficult to distinguish from psychiatric symptoms. In addition, smoking cessation can increase the blood levels and hence side effects of some psychotropic medications. Improved monitoring of nicotine withdrawal and medication side effects may help distinguish temporary withdrawal symptoms from psychiatric symptoms and facilitate targeted treatment to help smokers with mental illness manage the acute phase of nicotine withdrawal. Objective: The aim of this research was to examine the acceptability and feasibility to quitline counselors of implementing structured assessments of nicotine withdrawal and common medication side effects in people with mental illness who are quitting smoking using a telephone smoking cessation service. Methods: Monitoring involves administering (once pre-cessation and at each contact post-cessation) (1) the Minnesota Nicotine Withdrawal Scale, assessing eight symptoms: anger, anxiety, depression, cravings, difficulty concentrating, increased appetite, insomnia, and restlessness and (2) an adverse side effects checklist of 5 to 10 symptoms, for example, dry mouth and increased thirst. Following a 1-day update training in mental health, quitline counselors were asked to offer these assessments to callers disclosing mental illness in addition to usual counseling. Group interviews with counselors were conducted 2¿months later to examine implementation barriers and benefits. Results: Barriers included awkwardness in integrating a new structured practice into counseling, difficulty in limiting some callers to only the content of new items, and initial anxieties about how to respond to changes in some symptoms. Benefits included the ability to provide objective feedback on changes in symptoms, as this identified early benefits of quitting, provided reassurance for clients, and provided an opportunity for early intervention where symptoms worsened. Conclusions: Structured monitoring of withdrawal symptoms and medication side effects was able to be integrated into the quitline's counseling and was valued by counselors and clients. Given evidence of its benefits in this limited pilot study, we recommend it be considered for larger-scale adoption by quitlines.

© Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved. Disengagement from services is common before suicide, hence identifying factors at treatment presentation that predict future suicidality is important. This article explores risk profiles for suicidal ideation among treatment seekers with depression and substance misuse. Participants completed assessments at baseline and 6 months. Baseline demographics, psychiatric history, and current symptoms were entered into a decision tree to predict suicidal ideation at follow-up. Sixty-three percent of participants at baseline and 43.5% at follow-up reported suicidal ideation. Baseline ideation most salient when psychiatric illness began before adulthood, increasing the rate of follow-up ideation by 16%. Among those without baseline ideation, dysfunctional attitudes were the most important risk factor, increasing rates of suicidal ideation by 35%. These findings provide evidence of factors beyond initial diagnoses that increase the likelihood of suicidal ideation and are worthy of clinical attention. In particular, providing suicide prevention resources to those with high dysfunctional attitudes may be beneficial.

© 2015 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs Introduction and Aims: This study aimed to examine the feasibility of recruiting participants to addiction research via Facebook. Design and Methods: Participants were recruited via an advertisement on Facebook, a local research register and university psychology courses. Participants completed a self-report survey regarding substance use, history of mental health issues and current psychological distress. Results: The 524 participants recruited via Facebook cost $1.86 per participant; and 418 participants were recruited via more traditional methods. There were significantly fewer women in the Facebook sample compared with the non-Facebook sample (¿2 = 196.61, P < 0.001), but no differences on age. Significantly more Facebook participants reported current use of tobacco (women: Facebook = 57%, non-Facebook = 21%, ¿2 = 39.71, P < 0.001; men: Facebook = 62%, non-Facebook = 21%, ¿2 = 32.429, P < 0.001) and cannabis (women: Facebook = 26%, non-Facebook = 7%, ¿2 = 14.364, P < 0.001; men: Facebook = 46%, non-Facebook = 24%, ¿2 = 6.765, P < 0.01). They also reported significantly more harmful use of tobacco [women: F degrees of freedom (d.f.) = 6.07, P < 0.05; men: F(d.f.) = 9.03, P < 0.01] and cannabis [women: F(d.f.) = 11.00, P < 0.01; men: F(d.f.) = 6.40, P < 0.05]. The Facebook sample contained a higher percentage of high-severity cannabis users (women: Facebook = 24%, non-Facebook = 4%, ¿2 = 18.12, P < 0.001; men: Facebook = 43%, non-Facebook = 16%, ¿2 = 10.00, P < 0.01) and reported significantly more severe depressive symptoms [women: F(d.f.) = 26.38, P < 0.001; men: F(d.f.) = 7.44, P < 0.05]. Discussion and Conclusions: Through Facebook, we were able to capture a greater proportion of people with high-severity substance use and mental health issues and were able to capture a greater and more severe range of substance use behaviours. This suggests social networking sites are efficient, cost-effective ways to recruit large numbers of participants, with relevant behaviours and conditions, to addiction research. [Thornton LK, Harris K, Baker AL, Johnson M, Kay-Lambkin FJ. Recruiting for addiction research via Facebook. Drug Alcohol Rev 2016;35:494¿502].

© 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. This study examined correlates of transient versus persistent psychotic symptoms among people dependent on methamphetamine. A longitudinal prospective cohort study of dependent methamphetamine users who did not meet DSM-IV criteria for lifetime schizophrenia or mania. Four non-contiguous one-month observation periods were used to identify participants who had a) no psychotic symptoms, (n=110); (b) psychotic symptoms only when using methamphetamine (transient psychotic symptoms, n=85); and, (c) psychotic symptoms both when using methamphetamine and when abstaining from methamphetamine (persistent psychotic symptoms, n=37). Psychotic symptoms were defined as a score of 4 or greater on any of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale items of suspiciousness, hallucinations or unusual thought content. Relative no psychotic symptoms, both transient and persistent psychotic symptoms were associated with childhood conduct disorder and comorbid anxiety disorders. Earlier onset methamphetamine use and being male were more specifically related to transient psychotic symptoms, while a family history of a primary psychotic disorder and comorbid major depression were specifically related to persistent psychotic symptoms. We conclude that there are overlapping but also distinct clinical correlates of transient versus persistent psychotic symptoms, suggesting potentially heterogeneous etiological pathways underpinning the psychotic phenomena seen amongst people who use methamphetamine.

© 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. This study sought to explore the impact of smoking reduction on suicidality (suicide ideation and behaviour) among people with a psychotic disorder (n=235) who participated in a randomized trial of a healthy lifestyle intervention trial. Suicidality, measured by item -4 of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) was the main variable of interest. Measures were collected by research assistants blind to treatment allocation at baseline, at 15 weeks (mid-intervention) and 12 months after baseline. Mediation analysis, adjusted for confounders, was used to determine the relationship between smoking reduction and suicidality and to explore whether this was mediated through depression. At 12 months, smoking reduction was found to be significantly associated with suicidality change; an association was also seen between smoking reduction and depression and depression and suicidality. After adjusting for depression, the association between smoking reduction and suicidality was attenuated but remained statistically significant; the proportion of the total effect that was mediated through depression was 30%. There was no significant association between suicidality and treatment group (vs. controls) over time. Our study suggests that smoking interventions may have benefits over and above those for improved physical health, by reducing suicidal ideation in people with psychosis.

© 2016 Elsevier Inc. Introduction The primary objective was to evaluate the impact of the ¿Switch-off 4 Healthy Minds¿ (S4HM) intervention on recreational screen-time in adolescents. Methods Cluster randomized controlled trial with study measures at baseline and 6-months (post-intervention). Eligible participants reported exceeding recreational screen-time recommendations (i.e., >¿2¿h/day). In total, 322 adolescents (mean age¿=¿14.4¿±¿0.6¿years) from eight secondary schools in New South Wales, Australia were recruited. The S4HM intervention was guided by Self-Determination Theory and included: an interactive seminar, eHealth messaging, a behavioral contract and parental newsletters. The primary outcome was recreational screen-time. Secondary outcomes included mental health (i.e., well-being, psychological distress, self-perceptions), objectively measured physical activity, and body mass index (BMI). Outcome analyses were conducted using linear mixed models and mediation was examined using a product-of-coefficients test. Results At post-intervention, significant reductions in screen-time were observed in both groups, with a greater reduction observed in the intervention group (-¿50¿min/day versus -¿29¿min, p¿<¿0.05 for both). However, the adjusted difference in change between groups was not statistically significant (mean¿=¿-¿21.3¿min/day, p¿=¿0.255). There were no significant intervention effects for mental health outcomes, physical activity or BMI. Significant mediation effects for autonomous motivation were found. Conclusions Participants in both the S4HM intervention and control groups significantly reduced their screen-time, with no group-by-time effects. Enhancing autonomous motivation might be a useful intervention target for trials aimed at reducing adolescents' recreational screen-time. Trial registration ACTRN12614000163606.

© 2016 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. Engaging and retaining individuals with psychotic disorders in psychosocial treatments is difficult. Early therapeutic alliance, treatment retention, and 12-month outcomes were examined in a subsample of smokers with a psychotic disorder (N = 178) participating in a healthy lifestyles study comparing a telephone versus face-to-face delivered intervention. Therapeutic alliance was assessed using the Agnew Relationship Measure; primary outcomes were treatment retention and changes in symptoms and health behaviors. Contrary to expectations, early alliance did not predict treatment retention. However, elements of both client- and therapist-rated alliance predicted some clinical outcomes (e.g., higher confidence in the therapeutic alliance at session 1 predicted improvements in 12-month depression). Some modest interactions between early alliance and intervention condition were also identified (e.g., clients initially with lower self-perceived initiative, or higher therapist-perceived bonding benefited preferentially from the telephone-delivered intervention), highlighting the need to further examine the interplay between therapeutic alliance and treatment modality.

© 2016 Elsevier B.V. Background Intervention trials for young people at ultra high risk (UHR) for psychosis have shown cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) to have promising effects on treating psychotic symptoms but have not focused on functional outcomes. We hypothesized that compared to an active control, CBT would: (i) reduce the likelihood of, and/or delay, transition to psychosis; (ii) reduce symptom severity while improving social functioning and quality of life, whether or not transition occurred. Method This was a single-blind randomised controlled trial for young people at UHR for psychosis comparing CBT to an active control condition, Non Directive Reflective Listening (NDRL), both in addition to standard care, with a 6 month treatment phase and 12 months of follow-up. Statistical analysis is based on intention-to-treat and used random effect models to estimate treatment effects common to all time-points. Results Fifty-seven young people (mean age = 16.5 years) were randomised to CBT (n = 30) or NDRL (n = 27). Rate of transition to psychosis was 5%; the 3 transitions occurred in the CBT condition (baseline, 2 months, 5 months respectively). The NDRL condition resulted in a significantly greater reduction in distress associated with psychotic symptoms compared to CBT (treatment effect = 36.71, standard error = 16.84, p = 0.029). There were no significant treatment effects on frequency and intensity of psychotic symptoms, global, social or role functioning. Conclusion Our sample was higher functioning, younger and experiencing lower levels of psychotic like experiences than other trials. The significantly better treatment effect of NDRL on distress associated with psychotic symptoms supports the recommendations for a stepped-care model of service delivery. This treatment approach would accommodate the younger UHR population and facilitate timely intervention. Trial registration: ANZCTR 12606000101583

© 2016 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. ABSTRACT: Background: There is a growing body of research linking sedentary behavior with increased risk of chronic disease and all-cause mortality. It is increasingly recommended that service providers address the multiple behavioral risk factors associated with these chronic diseases as part of routine substance abuse treatment. Objectives: The study objective was to investigate rates of physical activity and sedentary behavior in a residential substance abuse population. In addition, efficacy of a sedentary behavior intervention, ¿Sit Switch,¿ was examined for feasibility in this context. Methods: Participants (n = 54) were residents of The Salvation Army Recovery Service Centres located in Canberra and on the Gold Coast, Australia. Actigraph GT3X+ accelerometers were used to measure rates and patterns of sedentariness and physical activity. A nonrandomized controlled study of a single-session group intervention aimed at decreasing prolonged sitting (¿Sit Switch¿) was conducted. Education, motivational-interviewing, and goal setting components underpinned the ¿Sit Switch¿ intervention. Results: Individuals were highly sedentary, spending 73% of daily activity at sedentary intensity engaged in inadequate levels of moderate physical activity (6.6%/day). The single session educational program did not lead to any significant changes in sedentary behavior. Conclusion/Importance: High levels of sedentariness and low levels of physical activity engagement are evident in residents in substance abuse treatment programs. It is strongly recommended that sedentariness, a modifiable risk behavior with independent consequences for cardiovascular disease and cancer, be addressed within residential programs.

© 2015 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc. In the present study, we examined the views and experiences of patients admitted to an acute psychiatry unit before and after the implementation of a totally smoke-free policy. Forty-six inpatients completed a questionnaire assessing their views before the smoking ban. Another 52 inpatients completed a questionnaire assessing their views and experiences after the smoking ban. Before the totally smoke-free policy, 69.6% smoked, with 67.7% smoking more when admitted to the psychiatry ward. Before the smoking ban, 54.4% reported that the totally smoke-free policy would be 'negative' or 'very negative,' and 30.5% said it would be 'positive' or 'very positive.' After the totally smoke-free policy, 57.7% smoked heavily before hospital (mean cigarettes/day = 24.9), with consumption dramatically reducing following admission to a totally smoke-free psychiatric unit (mean cigarettes/day = 8.3). After the totally smoke-free policy, 36.5% reported that it was 'negative' or 'very negative,' and 50% reported that it was 'positive' or 'very positive.' Overall, inpatients reported improved acceptance of the policy following implementation. Inpatients stated that the most difficult thing about the smoking ban was experiencing increased negative emotions, while the most positive aspect was the improved physical environment of the ward. Inpatients who smoke must be appropriately supported using a range of strategies, and in the present study, we suggest relevant clinical implications.

© 2015 Kelly et al.; licensee BioMed Central. Background: Cardiovascular disease and cancer are leading causes of mortality for people with a history of alcohol or other substance use disorders. These chronic diseases share the same four primary behavioural risk factors i.e. excessive alcohol use, smoking, low intake of fruit and vegetables and physical inactivity. In addition to addressing problematic alcohol use, there is the potential for substance abuse treatment services to also address these other behaviours. Healthy Recovery is an 8-session group-based intervention that targets these multiple behavioural health risk factors and was developed specifically for people attending substance abuse treatment. This protocol describes a Cancer Institute NSW funded study that assesses the effectiveness of delivering Healthy Recovery for people who are attending residential alcohol and other substance abuse treatment. Methods/Design: The study uses a stepped wedge randomised controlled design, where randomisation occurs at the service level. Participants will be recruited from residential rehabilitation programs provided by The Australian Salvation Army. All participants who (1) currently smoke tobacco and (2) are expected to be in the residential program for the duration of the 5-week intervention will be asked to participate in the study. Those participants residing at the facilities assigned to the treatment condition will complete Healthy Recovery. The intervention is manual guided and will be delivered over a 5-week period, with participants attending 8 group sessions. All participants will continue to complete The Salvation Army residential program, a predominantly 12-step based, modified therapeutic community. Participants in the control condition will complete treatment as usual. Research staff blind to treatment allocation will complete the primary and secondary outcome assessments at baseline and then at weeks 8, 20 and 32 weeks post intervention. Discussion: This study will provide comprehensive data on the effect of delivering a healthy lifestyle intervention (i.e. Healthy Recovery) within a residential substance abuse setting. If shown to be effective, this intervention can be disseminated within other residential substance abuse programs. Trial registration: Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Register (ANZCTR): ACTRN12615000165583. Registered 19th February 2015.

© 2015 Elsevier B.V. Background Alcohol misuse and depression represent two major social and health problems globally. These conditions commonly co-occur and both are associated with significant cognitive impairment. Despite this, few studies have examined the impact on cognitive functioning of co-occurring alcohol misuse and depression. This study aims to critically review findings from peer-reviewed published articles examining neuropsychological test performance among samples of people with co-occurring alcohol misuse and depression. Method A comprehensive literature search was conducted, yielding six studies reporting neuropsychological profiles of people with co-occurring alcohol misuse and depression. Results comparing cognitive functioning of people with this comorbidity to those with alcohol misuse alone, depression alone, healthy controls and published norms were examined as well as those describing the correlation between depressive symptoms and cognitive functioning in people with alcohol use disorders. Results In the majority of instances, the comorbid groups did not differ significantly from those with depression only or alcohol misuse only, nor from healthy controls or published norms. In the cases where a difference in neuropsychological test scores between groups was found, it was not consistently identified across studies. However, visual memory was identified in two studies as being impaired in comorbid samples and is worthy of inclusion in future studies. Limitations Due to the small number of included studies and the large variation in inclusion criteria as well as differing assessment tools and methodologies between studies, the review did not include a quantitative synthesis. Conclusions Research into cognitive deficits among people with singly occurring versus co-occurring alcohol misuse and depression is accumulating. Evidence suggests that the neuropsychological performance among samples with this comorbidity is generally not severely impaired and is unlikely to preclude benefit from treatment.

© 2015 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc. The implementation of smoke-free policies in inpatient psychiatric facilities, including patient adherence, mental health nursing staff support, and provision of nicotine-dependence treatment to patients, has been reported to be poor. The extent to which the quality of smoke-free policy implementation is associated with patient views of a policy is unknown. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 181 patients (53.6%, n = 97 smokers; and 46.4%, n = 84 non-smokers) in an Australian inpatient psychiatric facility with a total smoke-free policy. Smokers' adherence to the policy was poor (83.5% smoked). Only half (53.6%) perceived staff to be supportive of the policy. Most smokers used nicotine-replacement therapy (75.3%); although few received optimal nicotine-dependence treatment (19.6%). Overall, 45.9% of patients viewed the smoke-free policy in the unit as positive (29.9% smokers; 64.3% non-smokers). For smokers, adhering to the ban, perceiving staff to be supportive, and reporting that the nicotine-replacement therapy reduced cravings to smoke were associated with a more positive view towards the smoke-free policy. These findings support the importance of patient adherence, mental health nursing staff support, and adequate provision of nicotine-dependence treatment in strengthening smoke-free policy implementation in inpatient psychiatric settings.

© 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. Converging evidence from epidemiological, clinical and neuropsychological research suggests a link between cannabis use and increased risk of psychosis. Long-term cannabis use has also been related to deficit-like "negative" symptoms and cognitive impairment that resemble some of the clinical and cognitive features of schizophrenia. The current functional brain imaging study investigated the impact of a history of heavy cannabis use on impaired executive function in first-episode schizophrenia patients. Whilst performing the Tower of London task in a magnetic resonance imaging scanner, event-related blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) brain activation was compared between four age and gender-matched groups: 12 first-episode schizophrenia patients; 17 long-term cannabis users; seven cannabis using first-episode schizophrenia patients; and 17 healthy control subjects. BOLD activation was assessed as a function of increasing task difficulty within and between groups as well as the main effects of cannabis use and the diagnosis of schizophrenia. Cannabis users and non-drug using first-episode schizophrenia patients exhibited equivalently reduced dorsolateral prefrontal activation in response to task difficulty. A trend towards additional prefrontal and left superior parietal cortical activation deficits was observed in cannabis-using first-episode schizophrenia patients while a history of cannabis use accounted for increased activation in the visual cortex. Cannabis users and schizophrenia patients fail to adequately activate the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, thus pointing to a common working memory impairment which is particularly evident in cannabis-using first-episode schizophrenia patients. A history of heavy cannabis use, on the other hand, accounted for increased primary visual processing, suggesting compensatory imagery processing of the task.

© 2015 The Authors. Smoking prevalence in schizophrenia is significantly elevated relative to other clinical and to non-clinical groups. The cognitive self-medication hypothesis attributes this to the beneficial effects of nicotine on illness-related cognitive deficits. Significant effects of nicotine have been observed on visual spatial working memory (VSWM), sustained attention (Continuous Performance Test - Identical Pairs; CPT-IP) and prepulse inhibition (PPI). It remains unclear whether these neurophysiological and neurocognitive effects of nicotine influence self-reported smoking motivation. To explore the relationship between nicotine effects on cognition and self-reported smoking motivation in schizophrenia and non-psychiatric control smokers, the impact of smoking abstinence and reinstatement was examined across three cognitive indices (VSWM, CPT-IP, PPI) and compared to self-reported smoking motivation (Modified Reasons for Smoking Scale revised to include 'cognitive motivators'). Cognitive function was assessed after 'typical' smoking and overnight abstinence. Schizophrenia smokers (but not controls) demonstrated significantly less error on the VSWM task in the smoking relative to abstinent condition. Control (but not schizophrenia) smokers, showed evidence of CPT-IP improvement in the smoking relative to abstinent condition. The overall profile of smoking motivation was comparable between groups. However, significant relationships between subjective and objective indices of smoking related cognitive change were observed for controls. Differential effects of nicotine on cognition have been hypothesised to influence the pattern and persistence of smoking in schizophrenia. These preliminary findings indicate that evidence for such effects is apparent even in small samples - particularly for VSWM. This is the first study to show that neurocognitive effects of smoking may influence self-reported smoking motivation.

© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. Depression and inflammatory markers have a reliable cross-sectional association although less is known about the prospective relationship. The current study investigated whether pro-inflammatory markers are prospectively associated with depression, and whether indicators of unhealthy lifestyle, physical health and psychosocial functioning may drive this association. Participants were drawn from the Hunter Community Study, a community-dwelling cohort of individuals aged 55-85 years (N=1410). Participants completed baseline physiological assessment, health-related questionnaires, and blood sampling for the analysis of inflammatory markers, C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin (IL)-6. Participants completed the same depressive symptom questionnaire again after 3.5-5.5 years. Depression outcomes at follow-up were analysed dichotomously using established scale cut-off scores and continuously as a "residual score", representing the variation in follow-up depressive symptoms not explained by baseline symptoms and age. Analyses were conducted on males and females separately. At baseline, indicators of unhealthy lifestyle, physical health and psychosocial functioning were associated with depressive symptoms and inflammatory markers. For males, there were no relationships between inflammatory markers and follow-up depression outcomes. In females, IL-6 was significantly associated with depression outcomes in univariate, but not multivariate analyses. However, IL-6 significantly mediated the association between the predictors of waist-to-hip ratio, smoking and psychological coping at baseline, and follow-up depression outcomes. The results support the inflammatory hypothesis of depression, although females may be more vulnerable to effects. The findings raise the possibility that unhealthy lifestyle and psychosocial stress may drive inflammation and subsequent depressive symptoms.

© 2015. SMART Recovery groups are cognitive-behaviorally oriented mutual support groups for individuals with addictions. The aim of the study was to assess the extent to which the quality of group facilitation, group cohesion and the use of between session homework activities contribute to self-rated use of cognitive-behavioral skills amongst group participants. Participants attending SMART Recovery groups in Australia completed a cross sectional survey (N = 124). The survey included measures of cognitive and behavioral skill utilization, group cohesion, quality of group facilitation and a rating of how frequently participants leave group meetings with an achievable between session homework plan. On average, participants had been attending SMART Recovery meetings for 9. months. Participants were most likely to attend SMART Recovery for problematic alcohol use. Regression analyses indicated that group cohesion significantly predicted use of cognitive restructuring, but that only provision of homework at the end of each group session predicted self-reported behavioral activation. Both group cohesion and leaving a group with an achievable homework plan predicted participant use of cognitive behavioral skills. The concrete actions associated with homework activities may facilitate behavioral activation. There is a need for longitudinal research to examine the relationship between the utilization of cognitive and behavioral skills and participant outcomes (e.g. substance use, mental health) for people attending SMART Recovery groups.

© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. Introduction: People with severe mental disorders typically experience a range of health problems; consequently, interventions addressing multiple health behaviors may provide an efficient way to tackle this major public health issue. This two-arm randomized controlled trial among people with psychotic disorders examined the efficacy of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) plus either a faceto- face or predominantly telephone delivered intervention for smoking cessation and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk reduction. Methods: Following baseline assessment and completion of a common, individually delivered 90-minute face-to-face intervention, participants (n = 235) were randomized to receive NRT plus: (1) a "Healthy Lifestyles" intervention for smoking cessation and CVD risk behaviors or (2) a predominantly telephone-based intervention (designed to control for NRT provision, session frequency, and other monitoring activities). Research assistants blind to treatment allocation performed assessments at 15 weeks (mid-intervention) and 12 months after baseline. Results: There were no significant differences between intervention conditions in CVD risk or smoking outcomes at 15 weeks or 12 months, with improvements in both conditions (eg, 12 months: 6.4% confirmed point prevalence abstinence rate; 17% experiencing a 50% or greater smoking reduction; mean reduction of 8.6 cigarettes per day; mean improvement in functioning of 9.8 points). Conclusions: The health disparity experienced by people with psychotic disorders is high. Faceto- face Healthy Lifestyle interventions appear to be feasible and somewhat effective. However, given the accessibility of telephone delivered interventions, potentially combined with lower cost, further studies are needed to evaluate telephone delivered smoking cessation and lifestyle interventions for people with psychotic disorders.

© 2014 Informa UK Ltd. We examined the ability of the Cannabis User Disorders Identification Test - Revised (CUDIT-R) to detect change in a treatment sample, including correlation with changes in other clinically relevant areas of functioning, and to determine reliable and clinically significant change thresholds. 133 cannabis-using patients taking part in a treatment trial for concurrent substance use and mood disorder were administered the 8-item CUDIT-R at baseline, 6 and 12 months, in addition to assessment of current cannabis use disorder, mood, alcohol use, motivation and employment status. Significant reductions in CUDIT-R scores were observed and were correlated with change in cannabis diagnosis, and improvement in mood. Higher motivation at baseline predicted greater reduction in CUDIT-R score. Reliable change was identified as occurring when CUDIT-R score changed by two or more, while clinically significant change, benchmarked against an increase or decrease of one DSM-IV cannabis dependence symptom, was equated to a CUDIT-R score changing by 3 or more points.

© 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York. This study investigated whether inflammation may explain the relationship between depression and incident cardiovascular hospitalisations. Participants (55¿85¿years) completed baseline depression and physical assessment. Those without self-reported cardiovascular events were followed prospectively for hospital admissions for angina, myocardial infarction and cerebral infarction (median 937¿days). Across 5140 person-years of risk (N¿=¿1692), there were 47 incident cardiovascular hospitalisations (2.8¿%). Controlling for age and gender, interleukin (IL)-6, C-reactive protein (CRP), body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio were associated with future cardiovascular events. Mediation analysis showed that CRP accounted for 8.1¿% and IL-6 10.9¿% of the effect of depression on cardiovascular events, and including the indirect effect in the model substantially reduced the direct relationship between depression and cardiovascular hospitalisations. BMI and waist-to-hip ratio accounted for indirect effects of 7.7 and 10.4¿%, respectively. Inflammatory markers partly explain the association between depression and cardiovascular events, although other shared factors also likely contribute.

© 2014 Elsevier Inc. Introduction: Excessive recreational screen time (i.e., screen use for entertainment) is a global public health issue associated with adverse mental and physical health outcomes. Considering the growing popularity of screen-based recreation in adolescents, there is a need to identify effective strategies for reducing screen time among adolescents. The aim of this paper is to report the rationale and study protocol for the 'Switch-off 4 Healthy Minds' (S4HM) study, an intervention designed to reduce recreational screen time among adolescents. Methods: The S4HM intervention will be evaluated using a cluster randomized controlled trial in eight secondary schools (. N=. 322 students) in New South Wales, Australia. The 6-month multi-component intervention will encourage adolescents to manage their recreational screen time using a range of evidence-based strategies. The intervention is grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and includes the following components: an interactive seminar for students, eHealth messaging, behavioral contract and parental newsletters. All outcomes will be assessed at baseline and at 6-months (i.e., immediate post-test). The primary outcome is recreational screen time measured by the Adolescent Sedentary Activity Questionnaire (ASAQ). Secondary outcomes include: self-reported psychological well-being, psychological distress, global physical self-concept, resilience, pathological video gaming and aggression, and objectively measured physical activity (accelerometry) and body mass index (BMI). Hypothesized mediators of behavior change will also be explored. Discussion: The S4HM study will involve the evaluation of an innovative, theory-driven, multi-component intervention that targets students and their parents and is designed to reduce recreational screen time in adolescents. The intervention has been designed for scalability and dissemination across Australian secondary schools.

© 2015 Kay-Lambkin et al. Background: Depression and binge drinking behaviours are common clinical problems, which cause substantial functional, economic and health impacts. These conditions peak in young adulthood, and commonly co-occur. Comorbid depression and binge drinking are undertreated in young people, who are reluctant to seek help via traditional pathways to care. The iTreAD project (internet Treatment for Alcohol and Depression) aims to provide and evaluate internet-delivered monitoring and treatment programs for young people with depression and binge drinking concerns. Methods: Three hundred sixty nine participants will be recruited to the trial, and will be aged 18-30 years will be eligible for the study if they report current symptoms of depression (score 5 or more on the depression subscale of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale) and concurrent binge drinking practices (5 or more standard drinks at least twice in the prior month). Following screening and online baseline assessment, participants are randomised to: (a) online monthly self-assessments, (b) online monthly self-assessments¿+¿12-months of access to a 4 week online automated cognitive behaviour therapy program for binge drinking and depression (DEAL); or (c) online monthly assessment¿+¿DEAL¿+¿12-months of access to a social networking site (Breathing Space). Independent, blind follow-up assessments occur at 26, 39, 52 and 64-weeks post-baseline. Discussion: The iTreAD project is the first randomised controlled trial combining online cognitive behaviour therapy, social networking and online monitoring for young people reporting concerns with depression and binge drinking. These treatments represent low-cost, wide-reach youth-appropriate treatment, which will have significantly public health implications for service design, delivery and health policy for this important age group. Trial registration: Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12614000310662. Date registered 24 March 2014.

© 2015 Beck et al. Background: The confidence with which researchers can comment on intervention efficacy relies on evaluation and consideration of intervention fidelity. Accordingly, there have been calls to increase the transparency with which fidelity methodology is reported. Despite this, consideration and/or reporting of fidelity methods remains poor. We seek to address this gap by describing the methodology for promoting and facilitating the evaluation of intervention fidelity in The EAT (Eating As Treatment) project: a multi-site stepped wedge randomised controlled trial of a dietitian delivered behaviour change counselling intervention to improve nutrition (primary outcome) in head and neck cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy. Methods/Design: In accordance with recommendations from the National Institutes of Health Behaviour Change Consortium Treatment Fidelity Workgroup, we sought to maximise fidelity in this stepped wedge randomised controlled trial via strategies implemented from study design through to provider training, intervention delivery and receipt. As the EAT intervention is designed to be incorporated into standard dietetic consultations, we also address unique challenges for translational research. Discussion: We offer a strong model for improving the quality of translational findings via real world application of National Institutes of Health Behaviour Change Consortium recommendations. Greater transparency in the reporting of behaviour change research is an important step in improving the progress and quality of behaviour change research. Trial registration number:ACTRN12613000320752(Date of registration 21 March 2013)

The study objective was to evaluate the feasibility of a telephone delivered intervention consisting of motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioural strategies aimed at improving diet and physical activity in people diagnosed with psychotic disorders. Twenty participants diagnosed with a non-acute psychotic disorder were recruited. The intervention consisted of eight telephone delivered sessions targeting fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption and leisure screen time, as well as smoking and alcohol use (as appropriate). F&V frequency and variety, and overall diet quality (measured by the Australian Recommended Food Score, ARFS), leisure screen time, overall sitting and walking time, smoking, alcohol consumption, mood, quality of life, and global functioning were examined before and 4-weeks post-treatment. Nineteen participants (95%) completed all intervention sessions, and 17 (85%) completed follow-up assessments. Significant increases from baseline to post-treatment were seen in ARFS fruit, vegetable and overall diet quality scores, quality of life and global functioning. Significant reductions in leisure screen time and overall sitting time were also seen. Results indicated that a telephone delivered intervention targeting key cardiovascular disease risk behaviours appears to be feasible and relatively effective in the short-term for people diagnosed with psychosis. A randomized controlled trial is warranted to replicate and extend these findings. © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Objective: Smoke-free policies have been introduced in inpatient psychiatric facilities in most developed nations. Such a period of supported abstinence during hospitalization may impact smoking behaviours post discharge, yet little quantitative evidence exists. The aim of this review was to provide the first synthesis of the research evidence examining the impact of a smoke-free psychiatric hospitalization on patients smoking-related behaviours, motivation, and beliefs. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of electronic databases PubMed, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and EMBASE from inception to June 2013. Studies were included if they were conducted in an inpatient psychiatric facility with a smokefree policy and if they examined any change in patients smoking-related behaviours, motivation, or beliefs either during admission, post discharge, or both. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration Risk of Bias Tool. Results: Fourteen studies were included in the review. Of the four studies that assessed change in smoking from admission to post discharge, two indicated a significant decline in cigarette consumption up to 3 months post discharge. Positive changes in motivation to quit and beliefs about quitting ability were identified in two studies. One study reported an increase in the rate of quit attempts and one reported a decline in nicotine dependence levels. Conclusions: A smoke-free psychiatric hospitalization may have © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2014.

While research has identified gender differences in characteristics and outcomes of smokers in the general population, no studies have examined this among smokers with psychosis. This study aimed to explore gender differences among 298 smokers with psychosis (schizophrenia, schizoaffective and bipolar affective disorder) participating in a smoking intervention study. Results revealed a general lack of gender differences on a range of variables for smokers with psychosis including reasons for smoking/quitting, readiness and motivation to quit, use of nicotine replacement therapy, and smoking outcomes including point prevalence or continuous abstinence, and there were no significant predictors of smoking reduction status according to gender at any of the follow-up time-points. The current study did find that female smokers with psychosis were significantly more likely than males to report that they smoked to prevent weight gain. Furthermore, the females reported significantly more reasons for quitting smoking and were more likely to be driven by extrinsic motivators to quit such as immediate reinforcement and social influence, compared to the male smokers with psychosis. Clinical implications include specifically focussing on weight issues and enhancing intrinsic motivation to quit smoking for female smokers with psychosis; and strengthening reasons for quitting among males with psychosis. © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Objectives Openness to experience (O) is a well-established personality factor and is associated with cognitive performance. Little is known about the personality-cognitive relationship in bipolar disorder, an illness with significant variability in mood. Cognitive evaluation is essential in psychopathology assessment as it may reflect underlying disease processes and psychosocial functional capacity. Screening using a proxy personality variable may identify those in need of comprehensive cognitive testing. We hypothesized that O and measures of cognition would associate in both the Bipolar Disorder (BD) and healthy control (HC) samples, whereas neuroticism and extraversion would correlate with cognition only in the BD sample. Methods Data from a longitudinal study of BD were used to study the association between personality factors and cognitive measures of attention, executive functioning, memory and fine motor skills. Regression analyses were used to determine the variables that account for the association between personality and cognition. Results Aspects of O explained significant cognitive variance (~5%) in both groups; this persisted when demographic variables (including BD versus HC status) were considered. Neuroticism and extraversion did not consistently correlate with cognitive performance in either group. Limitations There were more females in the HC group who were slightly younger compared to the BD group. We lack direct measures of positive affect, and there is a reliance on a single measure of personality. Conclusions BD Individuals scoring low on self-reported Openness are potential candidates for more comprehensive cognitive assessments (which represent a limited resource). © 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Integrated psychological treatment addressing co-existing alcohol misuse and depression has not been compared with single-focused treatment. This trial evaluates changes over 36. months following randomization of 284 outpatients to one of four motivational interviewing and cognitive-behavior therapy (MICBT) based interventions: (1) brief integrated intervention (BI); or BI plus 9 further sessions with (2) an integrated-, (3) alcohol-, or (4) depression-focus. Outcome measures included changes in alcohol consumption, depression (BDI-II: Beck Depression Inventory) and functioning (GAF: Global Assessment of Functioning), with average improvements from baseline of 21.8 drinks per week, 12.6 BDI-II units and 8.2 GAF units. Longer interventions tended to be more effective in reducing depression and improving functioning in the long-term, and in improving alcohol consumption in the short-term. Integrated treatment was at least as good as single-focused MICBT. Alcohol-focused treatment was as effective as depression-focused treatment at reducing depression and more effective in reducing alcohol misuse. The best approach seems to be an initial focus on both conditions followed by additional integrated- or alcohol-focused sessions. © 2014 Elsevier Inc.

Introduction and Aims.: Understanding how tobacco, alcohol and mental health are related is important for developing population-level policies and individual-level treatments that target comorbidities. The current study aimed to examine sociodemographic characteristics and mental health comorbidities associated with the odds of using tobacco and harmful levels of alcohol concurrently. Design and Methods.: Data were drawn from the 45 and Up Study, a large cohort study with 267153 adults aged 45 years and over in New South Wales, Australia. Participants completed a survey assessing alcohol, smoking, psychological distress, treatment for depression and anxiety, and a range of socioeconomic status indicators. Univariate analyses and three multiple-logistic regression models were used to determine associations with (i) tobacco but not alcohol use; (ii) alcohol but not tobacco use; and (iii) concurrent tobacco and risky levels of alcohol use. Results.: Being female, younger, lower individual and area-level socioeconomic status (SES) and depression and psychological distress were associated with tobacco use alone. Factors associated with alcohol use alone were older age, male gender, higher SES, and lower psychological distress and no recent depression treatment. Factors associated with concurrent risky alcohol consumption and tobacco use included being 45-64, being male, less education, earning <$30000, being employed, and living in lower-SES areas, treatment for depression, and high distress on the Kessler-10. Discussion and Conclusions.: Results suggest strong links between SES, treatment for depression, psychological distress, and concurrent tobacco and alcohol use. This has implications for public health policies and clinical treatment for tobacco and alcohol use, suggesting greater emphasis on addressing multiple health and social concerns. © 2013 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

Aims: To determine whether violent behaviour increases during periods of methamphetamine use and whether this is due to methamphetamine-induced psychotic symptoms. Design: A fixed-effects (within-subject) analysis of four non-contiguous 1-month observation periods from a longitudinal prospective cohort study. Setting: Sydney and Brisbane, Australia. Participants: A total of 278 participants aged 16 years or older who met DSM-IV criteria for methamphetamine dependence on entry to the study but who did not meet DSM-IV criteria for life-time schizophrenia or mania. Measurements: Violent behaviour was defined as severe hostility in the past month on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) (corresponding to assault/damage to property). Days of methamphetamine and other substance use in the past month were assessed using the Opiate Treatment Index. Positive psychotic symptoms in the past month were identified using the BPRS. Findings: There was a dose-related increase in violent behaviour when an individual was using methamphetamine compared with when they were not after adjusting for other substance use and socio-demographics [cf. no use in the past month: 1-15 days of use odds ratio (OR)=2.8, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.6-4.9; 16+ days of use OR=9.5, 95% CI=4.8-19.1]. The odds of violent behaviour were further increased by psychotic symptoms (OR=2.0, 95% CI=1.1-3.6), which accounted for 22-30% of violent behaviour related to methamphetamine use. Heavy alcohol consumption also increased the risk of violent behaviour (OR=3.1, 95% CI=1.4-7.0) and accounted for 12-18% of the violence risk related to methamphetamine use. Conclusions: There is a dose-related increase in violent behaviour during periods of methamphetamine use that is largely independent of the violence risk associated with psychotic symptoms. © 2014 Society for the Study of Addiction.

© The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. Introduction: Persons with a mental disorder smoke at higher rates and suffer disproportionate tobacco-related burden compared with the general population. The aim of this study was to determine if a smoking cessation intervention initiated during a psychiatric hospitalization and continued postdischarge was effective in reducing smoking behaviors among persons with a mental disorder. Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted at an Australian inpatient psychiatric facility. Participants were 205 patient smokers allocated to a treatment as usual control (n = 101) or a smoking cessation intervention (n = 104) incorporating psychosocial and pharmacological support for 4 months postdischarge. Follow-up assessments were conducted at 1 week, 2, 4, and 6 months postdischarge and included abstinence from cigarettes, quit attempts, daily cigarette consumption, and nicotine dependence. Results: Rates of continuous and 7-day point prevalence abstinence did not differ between treatment conditions at the 6-month follow-up; however, point prevalence abstinence was significantly higher for intervention (11.5%) compared with control (2%) participants at 4 months (OR = 6.46, p = .01). Participants in the intervention condition reported significantly more quit attempts (F[1, 202.5] = 15.23, p = .0001), lower daily cigarette consumption (F[4, 586] = 6.5, p < .001), and lower levels of nicotine dependence (F[3, 406] = 8.5, p < .0001) compared with controls at all follow-up assessments. Conclusions: Postdischarge cessation support was effective in encouraging quit attempts and reducing cigarette consumption up to 6 months postdischarge. Additional support strategies are required to facilitate longer-term cessation benefits for smokers with a mental disorder.

Introduction and Aims: This study aimed to examine the perceived risks and benefits of quitting in smokers diagnosed with psychosis, including potential gender differences and comparisons to smokers in the general population. Design and Methods: Data were collected from 200 people diagnosed with psychosis participating in a randomised controlled trial testing the effectiveness of a multi-component intervention for smoking cessation and cardiovascular disease risk reduction in people with severe mental illness. Results were compared with both treatment and non-treatment seeking smokers in the general population. Results: Male and female smokers with psychosis generally had similar perceived risks and benefits of quitting. Females rated it significantly more likely that they would experience weight gain and negative affect upon quitting than males diagnosed with psychosis. Compared with smokers in the general population also seeking smoking cessation treatment, this sample of smokers with psychosis demonstrated fewer gender differences and lower ratings of perceived risks and benefits of quitting. The pattern of risk and benefit ratings in smokers diagnosed with psychosis was similar to those of non-treatment seeking smokers in the general population. Discussion and Conclusions: These results increase our understanding of smoking in people with severe mental illness, and can directly inform smoking interventions to maximise successful abstinence for this group of smokers. For female smokers with psychosis, smoking cessation interventions need to address concerns regarding weight gain and negative affect. Intervention strategies aimed at enhancing beliefs about the benefits of quitting smoking for both male and female smokers with psychosis are necessary. © 2013 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

Background: Trauma exposure and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are common among clients of substance use services. Existing treatments for these co-occurring conditions tend to be lengthy, treatment retention is relatively poor, and they require extensive training and clinical supervision. The aim of the present study was to conduct a preliminary examination of the feasibility and acceptability of a brief intervention for PTSD symptoms among individuals seeking substance use treatment. Methods: An uncontrolled open-label pilot study was conducted among 29 inpatients of a medicated detoxification unit in Sydney, Australia. All participants completed a baseline interview followed by the brief intervention. The intervention consists of a single, one-hour manualised session providing psychoeducation pertaining to common trauma reactions and symptom management. PTSD and substance use outcomes were assessed at 1-week, 1-month and 3-month post-intervention. Results: PTSD symptom severity (assessed using the Clinicians Administered PTSD Scale) decreased significantly from baseline to 1-week follow up (ß - 10.87, 95%CI: - 19.75 to - 1.99) and again between the 1-week and 3-month follow-ups (ß - 15.38, 95%CI: - 23.20 to - 7.57). Despite these reductions, the majority of participants continued to meet criteria for a diagnosis of PTSD and there was no change in participants' negative post-traumatic cognitions. Participants expressed high levels of satisfaction with the intervention. Conclusions: Brief psychoeducation for traumatised clients attending substance use services appears to be feasible, acceptable, and may be of some benefit in reducing PTSD symptoms. However, participants continued to experience symptoms at severe levels; thus, brief intervention may best be conceptualised as a "stepping stone" to further trauma treatment. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.

Brief interventions are effective for problem drinking and reductions are known to occur in association with screening and assessment. The present study sought to assess, among participants (N= 202) in a clinical trial, how much change occurred between baseline assessment and a one-session brief intervention (S1), and the predictors of early change. The primary focus was on changes in the Beck Depression Inventory Fast Screen scores and alcohol consumption (standard drinks per week) prior to random allocation to nine further sessions addressing either depression, alcohol, or both problems. There were large and clinically significant reductions between baseline and S1, with the strongest predictors being baseline scores in the relevant domain and change in the other domain. Client engagement was also predictive of early depression changes. Monitoring progress in both domains from first contact, and provision of empathic care, followed by brief intervention appear to be useful for this high prevalence comorbidity. © 2013 Elsevier Inc.