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ADDICTIVE BEHAVIORS
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Adult
Laboratory studies aimed at identifying behavioral and biological mechanisms underlying the development
and maintenance of substance use problems with an additional focus on predictors of treatment outcome.
• Includes variables such as distress tolerance, emotion dysregulation, anxiety sensitivity, reward sensitivity,risk-taking propensity,and dysregulated HPA axis stress response. • Applications to multiple populations including
smokers in the community and inner-city illicit drug users in residential drug treatment.
Targeting of key mechanisms identified in our laboratory studies for the purpose of developing novel behavioral
treatment approaches, with a focus on the specific needs of low income, minority substance users.
As one example we are developing a distress tolerance treatment for inner-city substance users.
Understanding the underlying social context, personality, and risk behaviors that determine drug of choice
(heroin vs. crack/cocaine) among inner-city drug users, with an additional focus on pathways into risky sexual behavior.
Application of basic social psychological principles across implicit and explicit cognitions to understand the
development of risk taking behavior broadly and the specific link between drug use and sex trade among
crack/cocaine using women.
Youth
Longitudinal predictors of adolescent risk taking behavior, including the combined influence of genes,
environment, and personality. Our approach is especially unique in its use of behavioral strategies for
measuring personality including the use of the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) as a measure of risk-taking
propensity and the Behavioral Indicator of Resiliency to Distress (BIRD) as a measure of distress intolerance.
This work begins in pre- adolescence and continues through adulthood.
Behavioral (psychological and physical distress tolerance) predictors of lapse and relapse among
adolescent daily smokers.
The use of anxiety induction and Neurobehavioral assessment strategies for understanding the
unique co-occurrence of anxiety and risk taking among adolescents.
PERSONALITY DISORDERS
Early predictors of BPD and ASPD among children and adolescents, including genetic links to
callous and unemotional traits among youth.
Examination of emotion regulation and impulsive behavior in the presence and absence of mood
induction.
Behavioral and biological indices of emotionality that differentiate ASPD drug users with and
without psychopathic traits.
Laboratory investigations of emotion dysregulation in BPD and avoidant PD.
An experimental investigation of the relationship between emotional acceptance and
willingness among rape survivors.
MOOD/ANXIETY DISORDERS
Laboratory studies of PTSD among inner-city substance
users with a focus on functional relationship between PTSD and substance dependence.
Laboratory studies to better understand mood and anxiety symptoms among substance users and the
development of novel treatments targeting these comorbid conditions. Resulting treatments include:
• Exposure treatment for heroin users with high anxiety sensitivity.
• Behavioral activation treatment for depressed smokers.
Application of behavioral activation treatment principles to target mood symptoms
experienced by individuals within complex medical conditions such as cancer and diabetes.
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