Publications by authors named "Bryan Benitez"

Article Synopsis
  • The study examines the effectiveness of a culturally-adapted digital cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) program for Spanish-speaking Hispanic adults struggling with substance use disorder (SUD).
  • It involved 85 participants who were either given standard treatment or standard treatment plus the Spanish CBT4CBT program, with assessments conducted over 6 months.
  • Results showed that those who engaged in the supplemental program improved their coping skills more than those who received standard treatment alone, and better coping skills were linked to reduced substance use.
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Article Synopsis
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for alcohol use disorder, but access can be challenging; digital versions like CBT4CBT might improve this access.
  • A clinical trial was held in Connecticut to compare the effectiveness of standard treatment, clinician-delivered CBT, and digital CBT over 8 weeks with follow-ups at 1, 3, and 6 months.
  • Results showed that participants using digital CBT had the highest percentage of days abstinent from alcohol, highlighting its potential as a valuable treatment option.
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Purpose Of Review: Impulsivity is considered an important construct in the cycle of addiction, yet the effect of evidence-based treatments on impulsivity is unclear. The goal of this paper was to review the evidence regarding the effect of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), one of the most studied psychotherapies for addiction, on measures of impulsivity in addictive disorders.

Recent Findings: There is a robust literature implicating impulsivity as risk factor for development of a range of addictions and poorer treatment outcomes.

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Background: A strong cooperative bond between the patient and provider ("therapeutic alliance") is robustly associated with better alcohol use disorder (AUD) treatment outcomes. Although digital treatments for AUD have significant potential, the function of the alliance during digital programs is unclear. We compared the validity of patient-reported measures of the alliance with a digital treatment ("digital alliance") for AUD and the alliance with their clinician ("clinician alliance").

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Latinx individuals are the largest ethnic minoritized group in the United States (US) at 19% of the population. However, they remain underrepresented in clinical research, accounting for less than 8% of clinical trial participants. Consideration of cultural values could help overcome barriers to inclusion in clinical trials and result in better recruitment and retention of Latinx individuals.

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Article Synopsis
  • Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) is a psychotherapy aimed at treating prolonged grief disorder (PGD), characterized by intense longing for a deceased person.
  • The study involved qualitative interviews with 29 bereaved hospice caregivers, emphasizing how participants' knowledge and personality influence their expectations of ART treatment outcomes.
  • Researchers identified three main themes regarding participant expectations and proposed further hypotheses for future studies, highlighting the importance of individual factors in psychotherapy effectiveness.
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Objective: Clinical trials for substance use disorder (SUD) often assess outcomes by aggregating substance use data into weekly proportions. However, daily substance use patterns may reveal how motivation changes during treatment. Neurocognitive principles of recency and expectancy indicate the salience of treatment mechanisms would increase on days proximal to therapy sessions.

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Background: Consistent self-care slows the progression of heart failure (HF). Gratitude, the practice of appreciating the positive aspects of life, may influence self-efficacy, which in turn is known to improve self-care. However, little is known about the relationships among gratitude, self-efficacy, and medication adherence in HF.

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Background: Most symptom management takes place in the community, conducted by patient and/or informal carer dyads with guidance from clinicians. Given the prevalence of cancer, there is a critical need for examination of the impact of managing multiple symptoms, particularly those that cluster with fatigue, on informal carers.

Objectives: To (1) examine clustering of patient fatigue-related symptom severity and distress in individuals with cancer and (2) test the hypothesis that patient fatigue-related symptom clusters (severity, distress) will be positively associated with carer depressive symptoms.

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An extensive empirical and theoretical literature has characterized anticipatory/expectancy processes as integral to motivation, including motivation to consume alcohol. To examine whether these processes could be probed on a moment to moment basis as they activate to motivate near term drinking, we sampled future-oriented expectancy verbal associates (i.e.

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