Development of the Opioid-Treatment Linkage Model Resource Guide to Strengthen Parole Officers’ Role in Promoting Linkage to Community Services for Individuals Involved in the Justice System

Brooke Preston, Jennifer Becan, PhD, Jennifer Lux, PhD, Chelsea Wood, MPH, Amanda L. Wiese, MS, Kevin Knight, PhD

As funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (JCOIN) seeks to improve health outcomes for individuals who are at risk for using opioids upon release from correctional facilities. Specifically, JCOIN aims to increase linkage and receipt of community substance use and medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) treatment within 18 communities across Texas, New Mexico, and Illinois. This system-level initiative will leverage and facilitate cooperation between community corrections staff and community-based treatment providers by providing training on innovative and best practices and service provider lists. Specifically, the Opioid-Treatment Linkage Model (O-TLM) Resource Guide is being designed to help provide parole officers knowledge of the Behavioral Health Services Cascade, which outlines the process of screening, assessment, and referral to health providers, and the treatment that clients undergo. The O-TLM Resource Guide includes information on evidence-based practices and resources that will aid parole officers in more effectively guiding their clients through each step of the services cascade. Additionally, local community provider lists and maps are being created to increase parole officers’ awareness of screening, assessment, and treatment facilities within their community. The list includes a comprehensive catalogue of providers, the services they offer, and their contact information. These guides will hopefully make it easier for parole officers to more actively link clients to community substance use and MOUD services that match the specific client needs.

Past research has shown that merely thinking about an attitude object can result in self-generated attitude polarization (Tesser, 1978). The current study examined the effects of a specific type of thought—extrapolating traits about proponents and opponents of a social issue—on participants’ post-manipulation attitudes. Participants completed an online survey in which they either extrapolated traits about people who support or oppose legalized abortions, or listed synonyms of experimenter-provided personality traits. Participants who extrapolated reported more positive attitudes towards those who agreed and more negative attitudes toward those who disagreed with the participant’s position on abortion than participants who wrote synonyms. Additionally, extremity of extrapolated traits predicted more positive (negative) post-manipulation attitudes towards those who agreed (disagreed) with the participant’s position on abortion. Our findings extended past research on mere thought by offering new insights into a specific thought strategy that can lead to attitude polarization.

Historically women and minorities have been underrepresented in the STEM field. What about individuals who identify as minority women? Their representation in the STEM field is even less than that of White women or minority men. How do we change this phenomenon and increase diversity in the STEM field? This is the question many leaders face every day when trying to increase diversity in their STEM oriented companies, college programs, and departments. Previous research has shown that enrichment programs that help “bridge the gap” between the majority and minority in the STEM field can be beneficial to minority individuals' pursuing a career in this area. (Brown et al., 2020). One aspect that contributes to the pursuance and retention of minority individuals in the STEM field is mentorship. The goal of this study is to evaluate the impact of mentorship on female minority high school students that wish to pursue a career in the STEM field. This topic is important to examine because it can help contribute to data on how to diversify the STEM field by targeting students in high school who wish to pursue STEM degrees in college. The mentorship program in this study helps prepare students to pursue STEM degrees in college by pairing them with a mentor who is currently a minority female in college pursuing a STEM degree and addressing topics such as college applications, resume building, mental health, time management, and navigating STEM classes in college. A series of pre-, during-, and post- surveys were administered via Qualtrics during the mentor program in the 2021/2022 academic school year. The surveys assessed participants' attitudes and feelings toward college, their knowledge and understanding of essential things needed to complete a college application, and if they were able to foster a meaningful relationship with their mentor.

The purpose of the present study was to extend previous studies in our lab that evaluated the stability of classes of stimuli that were learned through Equivalence-based instruction (EBI) and Complete Instruction (CI) procedures. Sixty undergraduate students received training to establish three stimulus classes with four members in each class. The students were randomly assigned to two groups: EBI – in which they received training for some of the relations – and CI – that targeted all possible relations between the members of each class. After undergoing training and equivalence test (Phase 1), participants received contingency reorganization training (Phase 2). In the reorganization phase, new relations between stimuli were established as correct. Stability was evaluated in an immediate contingency-reversal post-test. Overall, there was no statistical difference between EBI and CI groups. Participants made more errors in trials that tested derived changed relations than in trials that tested derived unchanged relations between stimuli.

Examining Parental Alcohol Use, Gender, and Peer Relationships as Predictors of Substance Use Severity
Vinisha Inaganti, Brooke Preston, Kha Hoai Bao Vu, Addison Williams

In the United States, issues with substance use among adolescents has grown in its prevalence, and past research has shown a continuity in substance use amongst children with substance involved parents. In adolescence, young men tend to report higher rates of alcohol use when compared to young women. As such, we were interested in examining gender as a moderating factor on the relationship between parental alcohol use and substance use severity. Amazon’s MTurk was used to recruit 185 participants with a history of substance use to complete a series of surveys. Participants reported parental alcohol use during childhood and involvement with pro-social peers. Results revealed gender did not moderate the relationship between parental substance use and respondents’ self-reported substance use. However, there were strong correlations among substance use severity, parental alcohol use, and involvement with pro-social peers. Specifically, respondents who were the child of a mother who experienced problems with alcohol were 3.12 time more likely to have a severe SUD. This effect was not observed when paternal alcohol use was examined as a predictor of substance use severity (p = .651). Respondents involved with pro-social peers are less likely to have a severe substance use disorder (p < .001). Together, children whose mothers struggled with alcohol use were more likely to develop a severe substance use disorder. In contrast, having a father who struggled with alcohol use did not affect respondents’ involvement with substance use. Furthermore, having a peer support system reduces subsequent substance use, regardless of parental alcohol use.