Final Quiz

One of your clients comes to you with a research article exploring which clients respond best to a treatment for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). You are not familiar with the journal or authors. Looking at the Abstract, you see that the study sampled 150 volunteers living on the street and assessed their OUD severity before, during, and after treatment. What might be an important methodological issue that you would want to keep in mind while incorporating the study findings into your practice?

You’ve been reviewing some of the research on problem gambling. You know that the label “problem gambling” includes cases that reach the diagnostic threshold for Gambling Disorder as well as sub-clinical cases. You find that at least several well-designed studies have found a relationship between problem gambling and suicide. However, the vast majority of this research is cross-sectional. Keeping this methodological limitation in mind, how should you use this scientific finding? 

You’re curious about negative life experiences that make people more susceptible to returning to substance misuse after they’ve entered a period of recovery. You collect three peer-reviewed journal articles that addressed this question. One used a prospective cohort design. The authors recruited participants who completed treatment for a Substance Use Disorder and followed them over time, asking them about life events and possible substance use. The second article described a case study of people who had the experience of returning to substance misuse. The third article described a cross-sectional survey of people who presented for treatment after returning to substance misuse. Which study was best positioned to answer your question?

You have noticed that several clients in treatment for Gambling Disorder have mentioned that they used to play sports competitively. Based on these observations, you are interested in studying whether playing sports in high school and/or college increases the risk of developing of Gambling Disorder. Put these next steps in order from first to last.

A client in treatment for an Alcohol Use Disorder comes to you with a new concern. She stumbled upon a website that advertises a for-profit gambling treatment center. The website hosted a “self quiz” for Gambling Disorder. According to her “quiz” results, your client has a severe Gambling Disorder. As a result, your client is very worried. How should you respond?

One of your clients who has a previous history of gambling problems is becoming concerned about his son, who has started to talk about buying “loot boxes” in video games he plays. As your client understands it, loot boxes simulate the gambling experience. The client is wondering whether there is any risk of his son having gambling problems, especially given how young he is. Based on your knowledge about risk factors for Gambling Disorder, which of the following characteristics might put your client’s son at higher risk for developing gambling problems?

A client is looking for tools to quit smoking, frustrated by nicotine dependence and unsuccessful past attempts to quit or cut back. You ask when he typically has strong urges to smoke, and he mentions that he usually smokes when he’s placing sports bets on his phone app. He also mentions being stressed over finances lately, which makes him want to gamble and smoke more. What would be the best course of action with regards to the client’s gambling?

You read a case study that explored ways to improve working alliance in substance use treatment. You notice that the large majority (>90%) of both therapists and clients enrolled in the study identified as White/non-Hispanic. What, if any, major limitations does this study present?

Which of the following are reasons that researchers might pre-register their research in public health and addiction sciences?

With your help and a lot of work, your client has stopped smoking cigarettes for six months.  Which of the following therapeutic goals MOST CLOSELY matches the Maintenance stage of the Readiness for Change ladder?

A new client of yours has been struggling with her drinking. She reports that she had previously been consuming a beer or two most evenings to take the edge off, but has recently been increasing to several beers each evening to achieve the same effect. She has tried cutting back numerous times but keeps giving into her cravings. You ask her if she’s been feeling any physical symptoms, such as nausea or headaches, when cutting back, but she denies these symptoms. Based on this presentation, you believe the client is experiencing which of the following?

Which of the following statements about experimental study designs is NOT true?

According to research, which of the following is an effect of addiction stigma?

One of your clients has been struggling to maintain abstinence from opioid use. She explains that a continuing issue is that almost all of her current friends still use opioids themselves, which is making it difficult for her to quit. Based on your knowledge of the Theory of Triadic Influence, which stream of the theory does this situation represent?

Which of the following does NOT reflect a leg of the Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) triad?

You want to study how a mindfulness intervention affects clients who are struggling to maintain their recovery from Gambling Disorder. You design a study to test the effectiveness of your new intervention. How could you maximize your study’s ecological validity?

You’re reading a study that used a longitudinal design to explore the effectiveness of a promising new treatment for Alcohol Use Disorder, with an eye toward incorporating the treatment into your own practice. The study assigned all participants to the new intervention and assessed their symptoms and functioning at baseline, 3 months after baseline, and 6 months after baseline. When you get to the results section, you notice that treatment was generally effective; but, the researchers retained only 35% of participants from the first assessment to the last assessment. Moreover, you learn that participants who completed all study waves had less severe symptoms at baseline than participants who dropped out along the way. What do you do with this information?

You’ve conducted a quasi-experimental study to explore the effectiveness of a multi-media campaign designed to encourage people to get vaccinated against a communicable disease. Your data reveal that communities that decided to launch the multi-media campaign had higher rates of vaccine uptake than those that did not. What limits your ability to infer that the campaign had a causal effect on vaccine uptake?

What are some unique considerations for clients experiencing Gambling Disorder alongside another addictive disorder? (Select all that apply.)

You’re conducting a school-based study on drug use among adolescents. You want to reduce both recall bias and social desirability bias in your assessments. Which of the following approaches would best achieve these goals?