Greetings! Today it is my pleasure to introduce the Division 28 Student Poster Award winners. Kelly Dunn and Shiloh Jordan were recognized for excellence in research at the 2006 APA convention in New Orleans, LA, and they will each receive a $100 cash prize. Posters were judged based on scientific merit and the presentation of the experiments.

Kelly Dunn is currently a graduate student in the University of Vermont’s Experimental Human Behavioral Pharmacology program. Her current research focuses on opioid-dependent populations and includes characterizing the continued abuse of Oxycodone in methadone-maintained patients, utilizing contingency management to promote smoking cessation in methadone-maintained patients, and developing/implementing a novel treatment for prescription opioid abuse. Kelly’s award-winning poster described a study in which she sought to determine the frequency of ongoing Oxycodone abuse in a clinical sample of Methadone-maintained patients, as well as how their demographic and drug use characteristics compare to non-abusing patients. Twenty-six percent of the methadone-maintained patients in Kelly’s sample provided a oxycodone-positive urine sample during the study, and these patients were more likely to report a preference for prescription opioids at intake, to have been in treatment a shorter duration and to be considered less stable in treatment by clinic staff than participants who provided no oxycodone-positive urine samples. Oxycodone-positive patients also reported more severe problems on the Drug and Opiate composites of the Addiction Severity index (ASI). However, oxycodone-positive patients also exhibited several characteristics that suggest lower drug use severity than the oxycodone-negative group, including more education, preference towards non-injection routes of administration, older age of opioid initiation, and significantly less severe problems on the Alcohol composites of the ASI. Kelly and her colleagues concluded that oxycodone monitoring should be incorporated into standard urinalysis testing protocols during methadone-maintained treatment, especially for patients with a history of prescription opioid abuse.

Shiloh Jordan is a graduate student in the University of Missouri-Columbia’s Counseling Psychology program. One of her current interests is studying the role of gender in the differential experiences of women and men in substance abuse, including the development of harm-reduction interventions that are gender-specific. In her award-winning research, Shiloh was interested in reducing the quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption in female college undergraduates. Additionally, Shiloh and colleagues sought to increase protective behaviors (e.g., planning how to get home before drinking, eating before drinking) and decrease image-related behaviors (e.g., restricting calories in eating to drink, increasing physical exercise to burn calories from drinking). An adapted or an adapted and abbreviated version of the ASTP (Alcohol Skills Training Program) and BASICS (Brief Alcohol Skills Intervention for College Students) were used in three different groups. Women in the adapted group received a 2-hour co-ed workshop and an individual follow-up session, women in the adapted and abbreviated group received a 2-hour all female workshop, and the control group consisted of women who attended an alcohol responsibility fair. Shiloh’s intervention was effective in reducing quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption, and in both treatment groups, the extent to which women engaged in image-related behaviors was reduced. In addition to focusing on reducing high-risk drinking, the results also indicated that the negative consequences of drinking can be greatly reduced by targeting specific drinking-related behaviors in interventions for women.

Again, congratulations, Kelly and Shiloh! It is great to see such exciting research being conducted by students in our division!

As the outgoing student representative, I also have the pleasure of introducing Andrea Vansickle as Division 28Ős new student representative.

Andrea received her B.A. in psychology from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) in 2003. During her time at MCLA, Andrea conducted research in the experimental analysis of behavior under the supervision of Thomas P. Byrne, Ph.D. She is currently a graduate student in the Psychology Department at the University of Kentucky, working under the supervision of Craig R. Rush, Ph.D. Her primary research interests include identifying potential pharmacotherapies for stimulant dependence, and studying ADHD medications, cigarette smoking, and gender differences in drug abuse.

As APA Division 28 student representative, Andrea will reach out to students involved in academic programs that focus on psychopharmacology and substance abuse. She is committed to increasing the diversity of the student affiliate population by contacting programs at both small institutions (public or private) and larger universities across the country. I am confident that Andrea will have a very productive year as student representative! Andrea will be managing the Division 28 Student Listserv, adding to the Division 28 Student Website, maintaining communication between student members of the Division and the Executive Committee, and she will be in contact with other APA student organizations to keep Division 28 students informed of opportunities within APA. If you have any comments or questions, or would like to become more involved in Division 28 or APA, feel free to contact Andrea via e-mail at arvans2@uky.edu.

In my final message as student representative, I would like to thank all of the Division 28 student affiliates. The Executive Committee also deserves my thanks, as they have been an incredibly supportive and fun group to work with. Over the past year, I have been fortunate enough to meet or interact with several students and former students, and it has been a truly enjoyable experience. I hope that each of you will continue to benefit from involvement in the Division throughout your career. Thank you,

Student Representative, Division of
Psychopharmacology
and Substance Abuse