Objective: To evaluate the effect of brief counseling on patient readiness for behavioral change and cessation/reduction of tobacco and alcohol use. Methods: This clinical trial randomized patients in blocks, stratified by risk factor. Adult smokers or at-risk drinkers undergoing surgical or diagnostic procedures were recruited. Outcome assessments and analyses were blinded. Brief counseling was compared with educational materials for the outcomes progress in stage of change and smoking/alcohol cessation/reduction. Results: Overall, 222 participants were randomly assigned to the intervention group and 218 to the control group. Among them, 28 and 18 patients were lost to follow-up, respectively. Progress in change stage was 94.1% at 1 month in both groups (RR = 1.00; 95%CI 0.95-1.05) and 94.8 vs. 90.5% at 3 months (RR = 1.05; 95%CI 0.99-1.11) in the intervention and control groups, respectively. Smoking cessation and alcohol reduction rates at 3 months were 57.2 vs. 41% (RR = 1.40; 95%CI 1.14-1.71) in the intervention and control groups, respectively. Only brief counseling led to significant differences in smoking cessation (51.4 vs. 35.1%; RR = 1.46; 95%CI 1.12-1.92). Conclusions: Brief counseling and educational materials improved patient motivation for behavioral change, but brief counseling had a greater effect on smoking cessation. Clinical trial registration: NCT03521622

Resumen En este estudio se buscó analizar los procesos de evaluación en el campo de la psicología forense en Colombia, teniendo como producto argumentativo un marco teórico acerca de la definición de la Psicología Forense (funciones y rol), sus problemas éticos, su aplicación en los diferentes campos del derecho, y sus contraflujos más recurrentes como el tipo de instrumentos y entrevistas que utiliza el psicólogo. De acuerdo con lo anterior y teniendo en cuenta los criterios de selección de los peritos para las pruebas, se diseñó una entrevista estructurada aplicada a una muestra de psicólogos del campo forense a nivel nacional realizando un análisis de corte cuantitativo sobre la experiencia del psicólogo forense, su participación en los diferentes clases de perito, las técnicas y criterios que usa como soporte en cualquier proceso, y por último, algunas conclusiones acerca del posicionamiento en que se encuentra el psicólogo forense en Colombia.

Abstract In this study, we sought to analyze the evaluation processes in the field of forensic psychology in Colombia, having as argumentative product a theoretical framework about the definition of forensic psychology (functions and role), its ethical problems, its application in different fields of law, and its most recurrent counter-flows as the type of instruments and interviews used by the psychologist. In accordance with the foregoing and taking into account the selection criteria of the experts for the tests, a structured interview was designed applied to a sample of forensic field psychologists at a national level performing a quantitative analysis on the experience of the forensic psychologist, their participation in the different types of expert works, the techniques and criteria used as support in any process, and finally, some conclusions about the position in which the forensic psychologist is in Colombia.