Research Scientist
Ph.D., Experimental Psychology
Texas Christian University
Email: j.becan@tcu.edu
Jennifer Becan joined the IBR in 2006 and has served as both Investigator and PI on NIDA-funded research projects investigating substance use treatment processes, intervention adaptation and effectiveness, and the role contextual factors and implementation strategies play in improving treatment services. Dr. Becan currently serves as a PI on two NIDA-funded projects – Mapping Approaches to Prepare for Implementation Transfer (MAP-IT) and Substance Use and Health Risk Intervention (SUHRI). MAP-IT examines the preliminary intervention efficacy and skill development among agency leadership and frontline staff regarding the deliberate, ongoing, and agency-driven preparation for implementing evidence-based practices. SUHRI assesses the feasibility of a unique, tablet-based intervention to teach and encourage positive, prosocial, and healthy behavioral choices as well as enhance the motivation for justice-involved youth to enroll and participate in substance use treatment and related health services.
Dr. Becan serves as Project Director on the Family Assessment, Motivation, and Linkage Intervention (FAMLI), which is developing and testing a caregiver-youth intervention designed to increase motivation for change and facilitate successful navigation of logistical challenges (e.g., how to recognize and overcome a problem and how to find help when you need it). Additionally, Dr. Becan serves as an Investigator and Project Director for the TCU hub of the Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (JCOIN). This five-year project targets opioid use disorder (OUD) and is designed to increase access to and retention in behavioral health and medication-assisted treatment programs among adults involved in the justice system.
Dr. Becan also serves as an Investigator on the ACTION study, a 5-year project designed to compare two models of linking and retaining individuals recently released from custody to community-based HIV and OUD prevention and treatment service cascades of care. Dr. Becan serves as a grant reviewer for both NIH and SAMHSA, is a recipient of the NIH Training Institute Award for Dissemination and Implementation Research on Health (TI-DIRH), and serves on the Addiction Health Services Research (AHSR) conference planning committee.
Selected Advisory and Service Activities
Journal Reviewer: Addictions; Implementation Science; Evaluation and Program Planning; Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment; Psychological Services; Criminal Justice and Behavior; Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research
Grants Application Reviewer: National Institutes of Health; National Institute on Drug Abuse; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Conference Planning Committee: Addiction Health Services Research (AHSR)
Selected Publications
Knight, D.K., Belenko, S., Dennis, M.L., Wasserman, G. A., Joe, G. W., Aarons, G. A., Bartkowski, J. P., Becan, J. E., Elkington, K. S., Hogue, A., McReynolds, L. S., Robertson, A. A., Yang, Y., & Wiley, T. R. A. (2022). The comparative effectiveness of Core versus Core+Enhanced implementation strategies in a randomized controlled trial to improve substance use treatment receipt among justice-involved youth. BMC Health Services Research, 22(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-08902-6
Knight, D. K., Becan, J. E., Olson, D., Davis, N. P., Jones, J., Wiese, A., Carey, P., Howell, D., & Knight, K. (2021). Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (JCOIN): The TCU research hub. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. 1
(5). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0740547221000167
Adams, Z. W., Taylor, B. G., Flanagan, E., Kwon, E., Johnson-Kwochka, A. V., Elkington, K. S., Becan, J. E., & Aalsma, M. C. (2021). Opioid Use Disorder Stigma, Discrimination, and Policy Attitudes in a National Sample of U.S. Young Adults. Journal of Adolescent Health. 69 (2), 321- 328. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.12.142
Becan, J. E., Fisher, J. H., Johnson, I. D., Bartkowski, J. P., Seaver, R., Gardner, S. K., Aarons G. A., Renfro, T. L., Muiruri, R., Blackwell, L., Piper, K. N., Wiley, T. A., & Knight, D. K. (2020). Improving substance use services for juvenile justice-involved youth: Complexity of process improvement plans in a large-scale multi-site study. Administration and Policy in Mental Health, 47(4), 501-514. doi: 10.1007/s10488-019-01007-z
Elkington, K. S., Spaulding, A., Gardner, S., Knight, D., Belenko, S., Becan, J. E., Robertson, A. A., Oser, C., & DiClemente, R. (2020). A system-level intervention to encourage collaboration between juvenile justice and public health agencies to promote HIV/STI testing. AIDS Education Prevention, 32(4), 337-355. doi: 10.1521/aeap.2020.32.4.337
Huang, S., Gardner, S., Piper, K. N., Coleman, A. S., Becan, J. E., Robertson, A. A., & Elkington, K. S. (2020). Bridging Systems to Implement HIV/STI Programming Within the Juvenile Justice System: Strengths and Challenges of a Local Change Team Approach. AIDS Education and Prevention, 32(5), 432-453
Moullin, J. C., Dickson, K. S., Stadnick, N. A., Becan, J. E., Wiley, T., Phillips, J., Hatch, M., & Aarons, G. A. (2020). Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, Sustainment (EPIS) framework. In Handbook on Implementation Science. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Becan, J. E., Crawley, R. D., Knight, D. K. (2019). Using a Train-the-Trainer Model to Promote Practice Change among Agencies Serving Justice Involved Youth. Federal Probation Journal.
Knight, D. K., Joe, G. W., Becan, J. E., Crawley, R. D., Theisen, S. E., & Flynn, P. M. (2019). Effectiveness of an intervention for improving intrinsic motivation among adolescent males in a secure substance use treatment setting. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 46(1), 101-114. doi.org/10.1177/0093854818804857
Becan, J.E., Crawley, R.D., & Knight, D.K. (2019). Using a Train-the-Trainer Model to promote practice change among agencies serving justice-involved youth. Federal Probation, 83(3), 47-53.
Knight, D. K., Joe, G. W., Morse, D. T., Smith, C., Knudsen, H., Johnson, I. Wasserman, G., Arrigona, N., McReynolds, L., Becan, J. E., Leukefeld., C., & Wiley, T. (2019). Organizational context and individual adaptability in promoting perceived importance and use of best practices for substance use. Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research. DOI: 10.1007/s11414-018-9618-7.
Becan, J.E., Fisher, J.H., Johnson, I.D. et al. (2020). Improving substance use services for juvenile justice-involved youth: Complexity of process improvement plans in a large scale multi-site study. Adm Policy Mental Health. doi:10.1007/s10488-019-01007-z
Becan, J.E., Bartkowski, J., Knight, D.K., Wiley, T., DiClemente, R., Ducharme, L., Welsh, W., Bowser, D., McCollister, K., Hiller, M., Spaulding, A. C., Flynn, P. M., Swartzendruber, A., Dickson, M., Fisher, J. H., & Aarons, G. A. (2018). A Model for Rigorously Applying the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, and Sustainment (EPIS) Framework in the Design and Measurement of a Large Scale Collaborative Multi-site Study. Health and Justice, 6:9. DOI: 10.1186/s40352-018-0068-3.
Joe, G. W., Becan, J. E., Knight, D. K., & Flynn, P. M. (2017). A structural model of treatment program and individual counselor leadership in innovation transfer. BMC Health Services Research, 17:230. DOI: 10.1186/s12913-017-2170.[abstract]
Knight, D. K., Belenko, S., Wiley, T., Robertson, A. A., Arrigona, N., Dennis, M., Bartkowski, J. P., McReynolds, L. S., Becan, J. E., Knudsen, H. K., Wasserman, G. A., Rose, E., DiClemente, R., Leukefeld, C., & the JJ-TRIALS Cooperative. (2016). Juvenile Justice—Translational Research on Interventions for Adolescents in the Legal System (JJ-TRIALS): A cluster randomized trial targeting system-wide improvement in substance use services. Implementation Science, 11(1), 57. DOI: 10.1186/s13012-016-0423-5 [abstract]
Knight, D. K., Joe, G. W., Crawley, R. D., Becan, J. E., Dansereau, D. F., & Flynn, P. M. (2016). The effectiveness of the Treatment Readiness and Induction Program (TRIP) for improving during-treatment outcomes. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 62, 20-27. PMCID: PMC4304896 [abstract]
Becan, J. E., Knight, D. K., Crawley, R. D., Joe, G. W., & Flynn, P. M. (2015). Effectiveness of the Treatment Readiness and Induction Program for increasing adolescent motivation for change. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 50, 38-49. PMCID: PMC4304896 [abstract]
Crawley, R. D., Becan, J. E., Knight, D. K., Joe, G. W., & Flynn, P. M. (2015). Predictors of physical altercation among adolescents in residential substance abuse treatment. Deviant Behavior, 36(12), 996-1018. PMCID: PMC4662565 [Available on 2016-10-29] [abstract]
Knight, D. K., Dansereau, D. F., Becan, J. E., Rowan, G. A., & Flynn, P. M. (2015). Effectiveness of a theoretically-based judgment and decision making intervention for adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 44, 1024-1038. PMCID: PMC4208977 [abstract]
Landrum, B., Knight, D. K., Becan, J. E., & Flynn, P. M. (2015). To stay or not to stay: Adolescent client, parent, and counselor perspectives on leaving substance abuse treatment early. Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse, 24, 344-354.
Joe, G. W., Knight, D. K., Becan, J. E., & Flynn, P. M. (2014). Recovery among adolescents: Models for post-treatment gains in drug abuse treatments. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 46, 362-373. PMCID: PMC3947115 [abstract]
Knight, D. K., Becan, J. E., Landrum, B., Joe, G. W., & Flynn, P. M. (2014). Screening and assessment tools for measuring adolescent client needs and functioning in substance abuse treatment. Substance Use & Misuse, 49(7), 902-918. PMCID: PMC3998717 [abstract]
Knight, D. K., Becan, J. E., & Flynn, P. M. (2013, June). The impact of staff turnover on workplace demands and coworker relationships. Counselor: A Magazine for Addiction Professionals, 14(3), 20-23.
Becan, J. E., Knight, D. K., & Flynn, P. M. (2012). Innovation adoption as facilitated by a change-oriented workplace. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 42(2), 179-190. PMCID: PMC3268854 [abstract]
Knight, D. K., Becan, J. E., & Flynn, P. M. (2012). Organizational consequences of staff turnover in outpatient substance abuse treatment programs. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 42(2), 143-150. [abstract]
Knight, D. K., Landrum, B., Becan, J. E., & Flynn, P. M. (2012). Program needs and change orientation: Implications for counselor turnover. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 42(2), 159-168. PMCID: PMC3268900 [abstract]
Lehman, W. E. K., Becan, J. E., Joe, G. W., Knight, D. K., & Flynn, P. M. (2012). Resources and training in outpatient substance abuse treatment facilities. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 42(2), 169-178. PMCID: PMC3268892 [abstract]
Edwards, J. R., Knight, D. K., Flynn, P. M. (2011). Organizational correlates of service availability in outpatient substance abuse treatment programs. Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, 38, 432-443. [abstract]
Knight, D. K., Broome, K. M., Edwards, J. R., & Flynn, P. M. (2011). Supervisory turnover in outpatient substance abuse treatment. Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research, 38, 80-90. PMCID: PMC2888979 [abstract]
Edwards, J. R., Knight, D. K., Broome, K. M., & Flynn, P. M. (2010). The development and validation of a transformational leadership survey for substance use treatment programs. Substance Use & Misuse, 45(9), 1279-1302. [abstract]
Knight, D. K., Edwards, J. R., & Flynn, P. M. (2010). Predictors of change in the provision of services within outpatient substance abuse treatment programs. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 16, 553-563. PMCID: PMC2978524 [abstract]
Broome, K. M., Knight, D. K., Edwards, J. R., & Flynn, P. M. (2009). Leadership, burnout, and job satisfaction in outpatient drug-free treatment programs. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 37(2), 160-170. PMCID: PMC2752305 [abstract]