Mitchel Karno, Ph.D.

ISAP Researchers' Profiles

Mitchell Karno, Ph.D.

Mitchell Karno, Ph.D. (Clinical Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1997), is Associate Research Psychologist in UCLA’s Department of Psychiatry and is the Director of Alcohol Studies at ISAP. Dr. Karno's primary research areas include patient-treatment matching, mechanisms of behavior change for alcoholism, and screening for alcohol problems. Dr. Karno is Principal Investigator for multiple studies funded by the National Institutes of Health, including a study to assess which types of therapist interventions are most and least effective for different patients during alcohol treatment, and a study examining factors associated with help-seeking and change in substance use in the general population. Dr. Karno is Assistant Editor of the journal Addiction.

Education and Training

  • University of California, San Diego, B.A., Psychology, 1991
  • University of California, Santa Barbara, M.A., Psychology, 1993
  • University of California, Santa Barbara, Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, 1997
  • Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, Post-Doc, Alcohol Research, 1997-2000

Specialties

  • Alcoholism treatment
  • Patient-treatment matching
  • Mechanisms of action of treatment

Contact Info

UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs
11075 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 100
Los Angeles, CA 90025
karno@ucla.edu

Selected Publications

  1. Karno, M.P, Beutler, L.E., & Harwood, T.M. (2002).  Interactions between psychotherapy procedures and patient attributes that predict alcohol treatment effectiveness:  A preliminary report.  Addictive Behaviors, 27, 779-797. PMID: 12201384
  2. Karno, M.P. & Longabaugh, R. (2003).  Patient depressive symptoms and therapist focus on emotional material:  A new look at Project MATCH.  Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 64(5), 607-615. 65, 501-512. PMID: 14572181
  3. Karno, M.P. & Longabaugh, R. (2004).  What do we know?  Process analysis and the search for a better understanding of Project MATCH’s anger-by-treatment matching effect.  Journal of Studies on Alcohol, PMID: 15376825
  4. Karno, M.P.& Longabaugh, R. (2005).  Less directiveness by therapists improves drinking outcomes of reactant clients in alcoholism treatment.  Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73(2), 262-267. PMID: 15796633
  5. Karno, M.P. & Longabaugh, R. (2005). An examination of how therapist directiveness interacts with patient anger and reactance to predict alcohol use. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 66, 825-832. PMID: 16459944
  6. Longabaugh, R., Donovan, D.M., Karno, M.P., McCrady, B.S., Morgenstern, J., & Tonigan, J.S. (2005). Active ingredients: How and why evidence-based alcohol behavioral treatment interventions work. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 29(2), 235-247. PMID: 15714046
  7. Harwood, T.M., Beutler, L.E., Castillo, S., & Karno, M. (2006). Common and specific effects of couples treatment for alcoholism: A test of the generic model of psychotherapy. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, and Practice, 79, 365-384. PMID: 16945197
  8. Karno, M.P. (2007). A Case Study of Mediators of Treatment Effectiveness. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 31(10 supp), 33-39. PMID: 17880344
  9. Karno, M.P. & Longabaugh, R. (2007). Does matching matter? Examining matches and mismatches between patient attributes and therapy techniques in alcoholism treatment. Addiction, 102, 587-596. PMID: 17309536
  10. Karno, M.P., Grella, C.E., Niv, N., Warda, U., & Moore, A.A. (2008). Do substance type and diagnosis make a difference? A study of remission from alcohol- versus drug-use disorders using the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 69(4), 491-495. PMID: 18612563
  11. Grella, C.E., Karno, M.P., Warda, U.S., Niv, N., and Moore, A.A. (2009). Perceptions of need and help received for alcohol or drug dependence in a national probability survey.  Psychiatric Services, 60, 1068-1074.  PMID: 19648194
  12. Karno, M.P., Longabaugh, R, and Herbeck, D. (2009).   Patient reactance as a moderator of the effect of therapist structure on post treatment alcohol use. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 70(6), 929-936. PMID: 19895770
  13. Karno, M.P., Longabaugh, R., and Herbeck, D. (2010). What explains the relationship between the Therapist Structure X Patient Reactance interaction and drinking outcome?  An examination of potential mediators. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 24, 600-607.  PMID: 21038931
  14. Lin, J.C., Karno, M.P., Tang, L., Barry, K.L., Blow, F.C., Davis, J.W., Ramirez, K., Welgreen, S., Hoffing, M., Moore, A.A. (2010). Determinants of early reductions in drinking among older at-risk drinkers participating in the intervention arm of a trial to reduce at-risk drinking in primary care.  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. PMID: 20070414
  15. Lin, J.C., Karno, M.P., Tang, L., Barry, K.L., Blow, F., Davis, J.W., Ramirez, K.D., Welgreen, S., Hoffing, M., Moore, A.A. (2010).  Do Health Educator Telephone Calls Reduce At-Risk Drinking Among Older Adults in Primary Care?  Journal of General Internal Medicine.  PMID: 20101471

Last updated - 02/10/2012

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