This study focused on the understudied group of smokers who commit to a smoking research study and then subsequently drop out before completing even one session of treatment (pre-inclusion attrition). This is an important group typically not examined in their own right, leaving little knowledge about the characteristics that differentiate them from those who complete treatment. As an initial investigation, the current study examined affective risk factors for attrition in a sample of 53 adults (79% African-American; median income=$30,000-$39,999) enrolled in a smoking cessation study. Twenty-one (40%) participants never attended a session of treatment. Results indicated that lower psychological distress tolerance was related to pre-inclusion attrition, but only among women. Additionally, lower physical distress tolerance corresponded to pre-inclusion attrition, but only among men. These effects remained after including other important affective factors such as anxiety sensitivity and current depressive symptoms. No other predictors examined corresponded with pre-inclusion attrition in the present sample. Results indicate the need for more research attention to this at-risk group of smokers who do not continue on to cessation intervention.

This study investigates how unemployment, traumatic sexual experiences, substance use, intimate partner violence, and parental involvement collectively contribute to involvement with child protective system (CPS) and court-restricted access to children among low-income, ethnically diverse fathers. Participants were 164 fathers involved in a statewide fatherhood program. The majority of the fathers in the program were unemployed (76%) and ethnic minorities (66%). Logistic regression revealed that traumatic sexual experiences and number of children were significant predictors of CPS involvement, whereas employment and traumatic sexual experience were associated with court-restricted access to their children. The results elucidate that clinicians and father-hood programs may need to attend to the history of traumatic experiences, as well as other contextual factors, of fathers and identify how, through trauma-focused interventions, to positively affect them and their children.