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ISAP Researchers' Profiles

Nena P. Messina, Ph.D.

Nena P. Messina, Ph.D., is a Criminologist at UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs and has been involved in substance abuse research for over twelve years. Dr. Messina’s areas of expertise include the association between crime, psychiatric disorders, and substance abuse, and the specialized treatment needs of drug-dependent women offenders.  Dr. Messina has recently focused her efforts toward identifying the long-term outcomes of drug-exposed children.

Dr. Messina is currently the Principal Investigator of the Children Exposed to Methamphetamine Use and Manufacture Study, a two-year pilot study to assess the medical, developmental, and placement outcomes of children removed from methamphetamine labs in Los Angeles County.

Dr. Messina is also the PI of the Gender Responsive Treatment for Women in Prison Project, a 2-year experimental study designed to assess the effectiveness of women-focused treatment for women in prison, and the Co-PI of the Gender-Responsive Treatment for Women Offenders Project, a five-year experimental study testing the effectiveness of women-focused treatment for drug court participants.  She was previously the Project Director of the California Department of Corrections Treatment Expansion Project. The purpose of this project was to conduct process and outcome evaluations of 15 prison-based therapeutic community (TC) treatment programs providing services to over 9,000 men and women in 10 prisons throughout California.  Dr. Messina was also the Project Director for the Seamless System for Offenders Project (a large follow-up study on substance abusers on parole/probation across four jurisdictions) while at the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) and the Project Manager of the District of Columbia Treatment Initiative experiment (a treatment outcome experiment assessing the effectiveness of standard or enhanced TC treatment) while at the Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR).  Dr. Messina has collaborated on numerous publications on the psychosocial correlates of substance abuse treatment outcomes and has contributed a great deal to the understanding of co-occurring disorders, specifically Antisocial Personality Disorder and treatment responsivity.

Education and Training

  • California State University, Northridge, CA, B.A., Psychology, 1993
  • University of Maryland, College Park, MD, M.A., Criminology, 1996
  • University of Maryland, College Park, MD, Ph.D., Criminology, 2000

Specialties

  • Drug-dependent women offenders
  • Trauma and Abuse
  • Drug Endangered Children
  • Comorbidity (Antisocial Personality Disorder)

Contact Info

UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs
1640 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Suite 200
Los Angeles, CA 90025
nmessina@ucla.edu

Selected Publications

  1. Messina, N., Wish, E., Nemes, S., & Wraight, B. (2000).  Correlates of underreporting of post-discharge cocaine use among therapeutic community clients.  Journal of Drug Issues, 30(1), 119-132.
  2. Messina, N., Wish, E., & Nemes, S. (2000). Predictors of treatment outcomes in men and women admitted to a therapeutic community.  The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse,26(2), 207-228.
  3. Messina, N., Nemes, S., Wish, E., & Wraight, B. (2001).  Opening the black box: The impact of inpatient treatment services on client outcomes. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 20 (2), 177-183.
  4. Messina, N., & Prendergast, M. (2001).  Therapeutic community treatment for women in prison: Some success, but the jury is still out. Offender Substance Abuse Report, 1(4), 49-50, 54-56.
  5. Messina, N., Wish, E., Hoffman, J., & Nemes, S. (2001).  Diagnosing antisocial personality disorder among substance abusers: The SCID versus the MCMI-II. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse,27(4), 699-717.
  6. Messina, N., Wish, E., & Nemes, S.  (2001). Therapeutic community treatment may reduce future incarceration. Federal Probation, 65(3),40-45.
  7. Nemes, S., Wish, E., Wraight, B., & Messina, N.  (2002). Correlates of follow-up difficulty.  Substance Use and Misuse, 37(1), 19-45.
  8. Taxman, F., & Messina, N. (2002).  Civil commitment: A coerced treatment model (Chapt. 22).  In Leukefeld, C.G., Tims, D., & Farabee, D. (Eds.). Treatment of Drug Offenders: Policies and Issues. New York: Springer Publishing Company.
  9. Messina, N. (2002).  The antisocial personality. In Levinson, D. (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment, Vol. 1. Great Barrington, Mass.: Berkshire Reference Works.
  10. Messina, N., Wish, E., Hoffman, J., & Nemes, S. (2002).  Antisocial personality disorder and therapeutic community  treatment outcomes.  The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 28(2), 197-212.
  11. Burdon, W., Farabee, D., Prendergast, M., Messina, N., and Cartier, J. (2002).  Evaluating prison-based therapeutic community substance abuse programs:  The California Initiative.  Federal Probation, 66(3), 3-8.
  12. Messina, N., Burdon, W., & Prendergast, M. (2003).  Assessing the needs of women in institutional therapeutic communities.  Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 37(2), 89-106.
  13. Messina, N., Burdon, W., Prendergast, M., & Patten, M. (2003).  Assessing the needs of women in prison-based therapeutic communities.  Women, Girls, & Criminal Justice, 4(3), 33-48.
  14. Messina, N., Farabee, D., & Rawson, R.  (2003).  Treatment responsivity of cocaine-dependent patients with antisocial personality disorder to cognitive behavioral and contingency management interventions.  Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 71(2), 320-329.
  15. Burdon, W. M., Prendergast, M. L., Eisen, V., & Messina, N. (2003). Sanctions and Rewards in Prison-Based Therapeutic Community Treatment: Promoting Client Engagement in Treatment. Federal Probation, 67(2), 47-52.
  16. Messina, N., Burdon, W., Hagopian, G., & Prendergast, M. (2004). One year return to custody rates among co-disordered offenders.  Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 22, 503-518.
  17. Burdon, W., Messina, N., & Prendergast, M.  (2004). The California treatment expansion initiative: Participant characteristics, aftercare participation, recidivism, and predictors of outcome.  The Prison Journal, 84(1), 61-80.
  18. Longshore, D., Chang, E., Hsieh, S., & Messina, N. (2004).  Self Control and Social Bonds: A Combined Control Perspective on Deviance. Crime and Delinquency, 50(4), 542-564.
  19. Messina, N. & Prendergast, M. (2004).  Therapeutic community treatment for women in prison: Assessing outcomes and needs.  In K. Knight and D. Farabee (Eds.), Chapter 18, 1-12. Treating addicted offenders: A continuum of effective practices. New York: Civic Research Institute.
  20. Marinelli-Casey, P., & Messina, N. (2005). Children and meth, Chapter 6. In J. Obert, M. McCann, P. Marinelli-Casey, & R. Rawson (Eds.), A clinician’s guide to methamphetamine. Center City, Minnesota: Hazelden.
  21. Messina, N., Marinelli-Casey, P., & Rawson, R. (2005). Victims without voices: Children and methamphetamine. Counselor Magazine, 6, 44-46.
  22. Longshore, D., Chang, E., & Messina, N. (2005).  Self control and social bonds: A combined control perspective on juvenile offending. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 21(4), 419-437.
  23. Messina, N., Burdon, W., Hagopian, G., & Prendergast, M. (2006).  Predictors of prison TC treatment outcomes: A comparison of men and women participants. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 32(1), 7-28.
  24. Messina, N. & Grella, C. (2006). Childhood trauma and women’s health outcomes: A California prison population. The American Journal of Public Health.
  25. Messina, N. (2006). Children exposed to parental methamphetamine use and manufacture. California Psychological Association Briefings, Addiction, 168, 7-9.
  26. Messina, N., Burdon, W., & Prendergast, M. (2006). Prison-based treatment outcomes for women. The Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 3, 333-343.
  27. Messina, N., Farabee, D., & Rawson, R. (2006). Cocaine-dependent patients with antisocial personality disorder (Chapter 5). In F. Columbus (Ed.). Cocaine and heroin abuse research.  Hauppauge, New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Last updated - 06/22/2007

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