LaBarre, Linn, Bradizza and Stasiewicz publish article, "Pretreatment Change in Substance Use: Implications for the Social Work Field"

Congratulations to PhD student Charles LaBarre, Visiting Assistant Professor Braden Linn and Professors Clara Bradizza and Paul Stasiewicz on their publication, "Pretreatment Change in Substance Use: Implications for the Social Work Field" in Health & Social Work. 

LaBarre, C., Stasiewicz, P.R., Linn, B.K., & Bradizza, C.M. (2022). Pretreatment change in substance use: Implications for the Social Work Field. Health and Social Work 47, 229-231.

In the substance abuse field, as in the broader field of psychotherapy research, there is a wealth of research on behavioral change during and after treatment. By comparison, fewer studies have focused on pretreatment change. In the general psychotherapy literature, studies of pretreatment change have shown that symptom change consistently occurs after the initial phone call, when an appointment is scheduled, and before the first treatment session (e.g., Kindsvatter et al., 2010; Lawson, 1994; Ness & Murphy, 2001; Weiner-Davis et al., 1987; West et al., 2011). A similar pattern has been observed in the substance use disorder (SUD) field, with several more recent studies reporting behavioral changes occurring before the initial phone call (e.g., Stasiewicz et al., 2013; Stasiewicz et al., 2019). Although it is not typically assessed, pretreatment change is an important individual difference variable that can be used to inform adaptive treatment (i.e., person centered) approaches to improve treatment outcomes and treatment efficiency for individuals with a SUD (Petry et al., 2012).