A cultural adaptation of motivational interviewing to address heavy drinking among Hispanics

Although the need for cultural adaptations is often noted in addiction research, there are few templates to guide the process. The rationale for a social contextual framework to culturally adapt motivational interviewing for an immigrant heavy drinking Latino population in the U.S. Northeast is presented. The aim of the pilot study was to obtain data on acceptability of this approach. Participant responses to the adaptation were examined qualitatively and quantitatively in a preliminary study. Participants recruited from the community met criteria for risky drinking (men, ≥5 drinks/occasion or ≥14 drinks/week; women, ≥4 drinks/occasion or ≥7 drinks/week). Participants (n = 25) who completed baseline assessments and a culturally adapted brief motivational interview (CAMI) were asked to complete a qualitative exit interview to give feedback on their interview experience. Participants reported being highly engaged with treatment (M = 3.58 on a scale of 1-4, SD = .50), and felt very satisfied with treatment (M = 3.58 on a scale of 1-4, SD = .93). Nearly all (95%) reported that understanding their culture was important to understanding their drinking behavior. Results support the acceptability and relevance of this adaptation from participants' perspectives.     

Telling It Slant: Gender Roles,Power, and Narrative Style in the First Ladies' Autobiographies

This article examines the first ladies' autobiographies as works that reveal their author-subjects' perspectives and interpretations. Attention is focused on the White House years and, more specifically, on the author-subjects' depiction of their performance of the gender-based roles attributed to the first ladyship. Consistent patterns are identified in the autobiographers' narrative styles, with a slant (persuasive) narrative style predominating and a direct (argumentative) narrative style typically reserved to countering critics. The implications of this interpretation, for the individual first ladies and for the institution of the first ladyship, are profound.     

Motivational interviewing in health promotion: it sounds like something is changing.

Motivational interviewing (MI), initially developed for addiction counseling, has increasingly been applied in public health, medical, and health promotion settings. This article provides an overview of MI, outlining its philosophic orientation and essential strategies. Major outcome studies are reviewed, nuances associated with the use of MI in health promotion and chronic disease prevention are described, and future directions are offered.     

A Theory of Physical Activity Maintenance

Regular physical activity is related to numerous psychological and physical benefits. Physical activity interventions have had varying degrees of success with adoption; however, maintenance over the long term is even more difficult to achieve, as the majority of individuals who start a physical activity program drop out or relapse. Although the physical activity maintenance literature is scant, there is evidence that the predictors of adoption are different from those of maintenance. Thus, it follows that physical activity adoption and maintenance require unique approaches. The explanatory power of such predictors, however, is limited by the absence of a cogent theoretical framework. Therefore, this paper presents the Physical Activity Maintenance (PAM) theory, which incorporates individual psychosocial variables (goal-setting, motivation, and self-efficacy), and contextual variables of the environment and life stress (triggers of relapse). Goal-setting is framed as satisfaction, attainment, and commitment; motivation as self-motivation and expectations; and self-efficacy as both barrier and relapse. The contextual variables may facilitate or impede physical activity maintenance directly and indirectly via the individual psychosocial variables. The PAM is presented to stimulate research on physical activity maintenance and advance our understanding of how and why people do and do not maintain physical activity long term.