In recent years, the science of developing and implementing interventions addressing school-related risk factors has produced many advances. This article addresses the promise of a cross-disciplinary practice approach known as motivational interviewing in school settings. Specifically, the supporting evidence as well as the process and principles of motivational interviewing are described for those unfamiliar with motivational interviewing nomenclature. A description of recent school-based innovations using the principles of motivational interviewing is then provided. Next, some potential applications for applying the motivational interviewing approach in educational settings to enhance the adoption, development, and implementation of effective school-based interventions designed to promote academic achievement and prevent or ameliorate challenging behavior are proposed. The article concludes with a discussion of future directions of motivational interviewing approaches within the context of school mental health.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a motivational interviewing intervention (MII) on regimen adherence and diabetes markers among African Americans with diabetes. Sixty-two participants were assigned to the usual care (UC; n = 36) or MII (n = 26) groups. UC participants received the usual clinic care. MII participants received a maximum of six motivational interviewing (MI) sessions over 3 months. Outcome variables were obtained at baseline and 3-month follow-up. Data were obtained using medical records, self-reports, and glucose monitor and accelerometer print-outs. MII significantly increased the odds of participants adhering to recommended physical activity level (66.7% vs. 38.8%, odds ratio = 2.92, 95% confidence interval = [1.6, 14.3], p = .018) and significantly decreased glucose levels (p = .043) and body mass index (p = .046) over time when compared with UC. Findings support using MI as an intervention for improving health outcomes and regimen adherence rates among the study population.

An increasing body of research evidence supports the use of 12-step program affiliation as an effective adjunct and aftercare for formal treatment. Recently, three brief (9- or 10-item) measures of affiliation have been developed. However, the brief scales are difficult to interpret, and the question of exactly what is affiliation (or disaffiliation) remains unclear. This analysis examines the question of what is the essence of affiliation vs. disaffiliation. Data from the Project MATCH 1-year posttreatment Alcoholics Anonymous Involvement (AAI) scale (N=1506) are used to identify the most salient items of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) affiliation predicting 1-year posttreatment drinking outcomes. Analysis using stepwise regression suggests that a three-item solution can explain a similar amount of variance in the proportion of days abstinent in months 9 through 12 posttreatment, as does using the nine items. These three "core items predicting recovery" include AA attendance, sum of steps completed, and identifying self as an AA member. As an affiliation composite scale, these three items are easier to interpret and administer than the full AAI scale, and when combined, possess adequate reliability (alpha=0.72).

This study compared the 40-item Alcohol Abstinence Self-Efficacy (AASE) scale with domains of confidence and temptation to a new 12-item version developed by the authors consisting of the same domains. There were 126 participants who completed the survey. Psychometric analysis demonstrated high reliability and validity consisting of high correlations between domains of confidence (α = .92) and temptation (α = .88) in the 40-item version of the scale compared to the briefer version. The 12-item version appears to provide a clinically reliable and valid measure of AASE domains of confidence and temptation, providing a more efficient tool for clinical practice.

No abstract

We describe interventionist training procedures for a pilot intervention study that tested the effects of a nurse-delivered Motivational Interviewing (MI) intervention on diabetes self-care among adults diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus. It reports on findings from MI fidelity assessments. Training consisted of didactic workshops plus practicum. Fidelity of MI was assessed using the MI Treatment Integrity (MITI) Scale. Fidelity assessments were conducted on 18 (25%) audiotaped MI sessions, which were randomly selected from a total of 72 sessions with 26 participants. Scores of the MITI were in the proficient and competent range. Results suggest that training strategies were sufficient to promote satisfactory interventionist fidelity to MI.

No abstract

No abstract