Title: Research collaboration matters
Description: This study examined the influence of: 1) research experience; 2) knowledge and education; and 3) agency characteristics on providers' willingness to be involved in research and DEBI use. Grounded in an integrated theoretical framework of organizational and behavioral theories, this study used concurrent mixed methods for a secondary analysis of 20 in-depth interviews and cross-sectional surveys from 141 providers in New York City. Content analysis identified specific research tasks/procedures employed by providers involved in collaboration with researchers, according to whether they do or do not resemble service provision ("proximal") or ("distal"). Multivariate linear regression was applied to determine the influence of these tasks/procedures on willingness to be involved in research and use of DEBIs. The study showed that having been involved in proximal tasks was positively associated with providers' willingness to collaborate with researchers and with their use of DEBIs. Having been involved in distal tasks was negatively associated with providers' use of DEBIs.

Providers' level of education, attitudes toward research, and agency capacity were positively associated with willingness to be involved in research. Providers' level of education, knowledge of DEBIs, and agency capacity were positively associated with use of DEBIs. This study demonstrates how proximal tasks/procedures and other modifiable factors (e.g., education, agency capacity, knowledge) may influence providers to use DEBIs. The findings may help inform: 1) best practices for research collaboration; 2) funding to involve providers in research; and 3) training for researchers and providers to collaborate.