Project A+ was designed to examine the combined use of alcohol and other substances (ALC+) in order to inform the development and adaptation of effective intervention efforts. This project looks at students’ motives for engaging in ALC+ use, motives to avoid ALC+ use, and contexts where ALC+ use is most prevalent. This research also examines the impact of these motives relative to the influence of peers and situational contexts on ALC+ use occasions. Findings from this study will inform future interventions aimed at reducing comorbid alcohol and substance use among college students.

Funded by the NIH/NIAAA.
Principal Investigator: Kimberly Mallett, Ph.D.

Selected Publications:

Waldron, K. A., Mallett, K. A., Turrisi, R. J., Reavy, R., Wolfe, E., & Plisiewicz, A. (2021). Motivations to combine alcohol and nicotine in college students: A validation of the Alcohol and Nicotine Motives Scale. Addictive Behaviors, 112, 106645. PMCID: PMC7572739 [PubMed]

 

Project iSTART, a collaboration with East Tennessee State University, was a web-based, appearance-focused intervention directed at a nationally representative sample of high school girls with a goal of reducing tanning intentions, frequency, and the overall percentage of users while increasing sun protective behavior. We tracked these students for two years to examine whether the intervention was able to reduce long-term skin cancer risk behaviors. We also identified subgroups for whom the intervention is more effective versus less effective, such as having a mother who tans, peer group affiliation, or year in school. High school represents a critical developmental stage for both melanoma risk and for the development of regular, frequent tanning habits, and Project iSTART was the first anti-tanning intervention delivered to high school teens via the internet.

Funded by the NIH/NCI.
Subcontract Principal Investigator: Rob Turrisi, Ph.D.

Selected Publications:

Hillhouse, J., Turrisi, R., Scaglione, N. M., Cleveland, M. J., Baker, K., & Florence, L. C. (2017). A web-based intervention to reduce indoor tanning motivations in adolescents: A randomized controlled trial. Prevention Science, 18(2), 131-140. PMCID: PMC5247320 [PubMed]

Hillhouse, J., Turrisi, R., Cleveland, M. J., Scaglione, N. M., Baker, K., & Florence, L. C. (2016). Theory-driven longitudinal study exploring indoor tanning initiation in teens using a person-centered approach. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 50(1), 48-57. PMCID: PMC4744106 [PubMed]

Quinn, M., Alamian, A., Hillhouse, J., Scott, C., Turrisi, R., & Baker, K. (2015). Prevalence and correlates of indoor tanning and sunless tanning product use among female teens in the United States. Preventive Medicine Reports, 2, 40-43. PMCID: PMC4302332 [PubMed]

Project Options was designed to examine how well Medical Doctors can deliver the 2-3 minute ABC (Addressing Behavior Change) method of physician-patient communication during a routine office visit, following training and supervision. Brief Negotiated Interviews (BNIs) have been shown to be efficacious in modifying health-related behaviors that are extremely resistant to change (e.g., smoking), and may be a promising approach to use in lowering UV risk behaviors. The ABC method was developed to emphasize a collaborative relationship between health care providers and patients when addressing behavior change, rather than MDs dictating change to a patient. A future goal of this research is to determine if the ABC intervention is effective in changing patient behavior.

Funded by the NIH/NCI.
Principal Investigator: Kimberly Mallett, Ph.D.

Selected Publications:

Mallett, K. A., Ackerman, S., Turrisi, R., & Robinson, J. (2015). Rates of sunburn among dermatology patients. JAMA Dermatology, 151(2), 231-232. PMCID: PMC4860264 [PubMed]

Mallett, K. A., Turrisi, R., Billingsley, E., Comer, C. D., Read, A., Varvil-Weld, L., Gaber, R., Favero, S., Guttman, K., & Robinson, J. K. (2012). Enhancing patients’ satisfaction and sun protective behaviors using the ABC method of physician-patient communication. Archives of Dermatology, 148(9), 1087-1089. PMCID: PMC3810289 [PubMed]

Mallett, K. A., Turrisi, R., Guttman, K., Read, A., Billingsley, E., & Robinson, J. (2011). Assessing dermatologists’ ability to deliver a novel intervention to improve patients’ use of sun protection: The ABC method of physician-patient communication. Archives of Dermatology, 147(12), 1451-1453. PMCID: PMC3810295 [PubMed]

Project Achieve was designed to gain a better understanding of how consequence specific constructs, such as willingness to experience and intention to avoid a consequence, influence experiencing alcohol-related consequences in undergraduate students who consume alcohol. It implements both a short-term (1 year) and long-term (over 4 years) longitudinal design to examine factors such as contextual changes (e.g., moving from on-campus to off-campus housing, turning 21) that may affect student endorsement of alcohol consumption. Additionally, subgroups of students who are at higher risk for experiencing consequences and developing chronic alcohol use patterns are examined, as well as optimal ways to target them with intervention efforts.

Funded by the NIH/NIAAA.
Principal Investigator: Kimberly Mallett, Ph.D.

Selected Publications:

Trager, B. M., Mallett, K. A., Turrisi, R., Sell, N. M., & Hultgren, B. A. (2019). Willingness as a mediator of the effects of personality on alcohol-related consequences between the first and second years of college: A longitudinal prospective study. Addictive Behaviors, 89, 172-177. PMCID: PMC6581033 [PubMed]

Cleveland, M. J., Mallett, K. A., Turrisi, R., Sell, N. M., Reavy, R., & Trager, B. (2018). Using latent transition analysis to compare effects of residency status on alcohol-related consequences during the first two years of college. Addictive Behaviors, 87, 276-282. PMCID: PMC6984403 [PubMed]

Reavy, R., Cleveland, M. J., Mallett, K. A., Scaglione, N. M., Sell, N. M., & Turrisi, R. (2016). An examination of the relationship between consequence-specific normative belief patterns and alcohol-related consequences among college students. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 40(12), 2631-2638. PMCID: PMC5133153 [PubMed]

Mallett, K. A., Scaglione, N. M., Reavy, R., & Turrisi, R. (2015). Longitudinal patterns of alcohol mixed with energy drink use among college students and their associations with risky drinking and problems. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 76(3), 389-396. PMCID: PMC4440297 [PubMed]

Mallett, K. A., Turrisi, R., Cleveland, M. J., Scaglione, N. M., Reavy, R., Sell, N. M., & Varvil-Weld, L. (2015). A dual process examination of alcohol-related consequences among first-year college students. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 76(6), 862-871. PMCID: PMC4712656 [PubMed]

Scaglione, N. M., Mallett, K. A., Turrisi, R., Reavy, R., Cleveland, M. J., & Ackerman, S. (2015). Who will experience the most alcohol problems in college? The roles of middle and high school drinking tendencies. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 39(10), 2039-2046. PMCID: PMC4592443 [PubMed]

Project Options 2 was designed to build upon a previously funded NCI-study and was designed to examine how well Medical Doctors can deliver the 2-3 minute ABC (Addressing Behavior Change) method of physician-patient communication during a routine office visit, following training and supervision. Using the ABC intervention to change UV risk behaviors is a strategy based on the principles of Motivational Interviewing (MI), which is a client centered approach originally developed in the addictive behaviors field with the intent of promoting and supporting behavior change through empathic communication. The ABC intervention emphasizes a collaborative relationship between health care providers and patients when addressing behavior change rather than MDs dictating change to a patient. The main goal of the research is to determine if the ABC intervention is effective in modifying patient behavior.

Funded by the NIH/NCI.
Principal Investigator: Kimberly Mallett, Ph.D.

Selected Publications:

Mallett, K. A., Turrisi, R., Billingsley, E., Trager, B., Ackerman, S., Reavy, R., & Robinson, J. K. (2018). Evaluation of a brief dermatologist-delivered intervention vs usual care on sun protection behavior. JAMA Dermatology, 154(9), 1010-1016. PMCID: PMC6143040 [PubMed]

The Primary Care Physician Study (PCP) was designed to develop an interactive melanoma early detection skills training program for primary care physicians and practicing clinicians, using the principles of mastery learning. Through a randomized controlled trial, this study looks to see if the program reduces the number of benign lesions and increases the number of malignant ones referred to dermatology. At the conclusion of the project, the data will be analyzed to look for change in physician knowledge, attitude, competence and diagnostic performance, and referral of lesions to dermatology.

Funded by the NIH/NCI.
Subcontract Principal Investigator: Rob Turrisi, Ph.D.

Selected Publications:

Robinson, J. K., Jain, N., Marghoob, A. A., McGaghie, W., MacLean, M., Gerami, P., Hultgren, B., Turrisi, R., Mallett, K., & Martin, G. J. (2018). A randomized trial on the efficacy of mastery learning for primary care provider melanoma opportunistic screening skills and practice. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 33(6), 855-862. PMCID: PMC5975143 [PubMed]

Robinson, J. K., MacLean, M., Reavy, R., Turrisi, R., Mallett, K., & Martin, G. J. (2018). Dermoscopy of concerning pigmented lesions and primary care providers’ referrals at intervals after randomized trial of mastery learning. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 33(6), 799-800. PMCID: PMC5975175 [PubMed]

Project Skin Watch was designed to enhance the ability of patients with a history of melanoma and their significant others to self-identify the recurrence of skin cancer in order to promote early detection and treatment. The focus of the study is to teach individuals who are at an increased risk of developing melanoma and their partners how to detect future melanomas through the utilization of skin self-examinations. Further, the study implements a longitudinal design and compares intervention delivery mechanisms (take home manual vs. in-person training) which will help us identify whether the intervention enhances early detection as well as the optimal method of intervention delivery.

Funded by the NIH/NCI.
Subcontract Principal Investigator: Rob Turrisi, Ph.D.

Selected Publications:

Robinson, J. K., Hultgren, B., Mallett, K., & Turrisi, R. (2017). Self-confidence and embarrassment about partner-assisted skin self-examination for melanoma. JAMA Dermatology, 153(1), 342-344. PMCID: PMC5500009 [PubMed]

Robinson, J. K., Nodal, M., Chavez, L., Ali, Y., Mallett, K., & Turrisi, R. (2017). Enhancing the relevance of skin self-examination for Latinos. JAMA Dermatology, 153(7), 717-719. PMCID: PMC5509464 [PubMed]

Hultgren, B. A., Turrisi, R., Mallett, K. A., Ackerman, S., & Robinson, J. K. (2016). Influence of quality of relationship between patient with melanoma and partner on partner-assisted skin examination education: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Dermatology, 152(2), 184-190. PMCID: PMC4890560 [PubMed]

Robinson, J. K., Wayne, J. D., Martini, M. C., Hultgren, B. A., Mallett, K. A., & Turrisi, R. (2016). Early detection of new melanomas by patients with melanoma and their partners using a structured skin self-examination skills training intervention: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Dermatology, 152(9), 979-985. PMCID: PMC5490386 [PubMed]

Stapleton, J. L., Turrisi, R., Mallett, K. A., & Robinson, J. K. (2015). Correspondence of pigmented lesions identified by melanoma patients trained to perform partner-assisted skin self-examination and dermatological examination. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, & Prevention, 24(8), 1247-1253. PMCID: PMC4526328 [PubMed]

Turrisi, R., Hultgren, B., Mallett, K. A., Martini, M., & Robinson, J. K. (2015). Comparison of efficacy of differing partner-assisted skin examination interventions for melanoma patients: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Dermatology, 151(9), 945-951. PMCID: PMC4565771 [PubMed]

Robinson, J. K., Gaber, R., Hultgren, B., Eilers, S., Blatt, H., Stapleton, J., Mallett, K., Turrisi, R., Duffecy, J., Begale, M., Martini, M., Bilmoria, K., & Wayne, J. (2014). Skin self-examination education for early detection of melanoma: A randomized controlled trial of internet, workbook, and in-person interventions. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 16(1). PMCID: PMC3906663 [PubMed]

Gaber, R., Mallett, K. A., Hultgren, B., Turrisi, R., Gilbertsen, R., Martini, M. C., & Robinson, J. K. (2014). Enhanced fidelity of an educational intervention on skin self-examination through surveillance and standardization. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 4(2), 253-258. PMCID: PMC4235613 [PubMed]

Project Skin Watch was designed to enhance the ability of patients with a history of melanoma and their study partners to self-identify the recurrence of skin cancer in order to promote early detection and treatment. The focus of the study is to teach individuals who are at an increased risk of developing melanoma and their partners how to detect future melanomas through the utilization of skin self-examinations (SSEs). It also looks to contribute critical information to the scientific literature on the impact of early detection of melanomas using SSEs and will be the first to test the SSE intervention in real-world settings.

Funded by the NIH/NCI.
Subcontract Principal Investigator: Rob Turrisi, Ph.D.

Selected Publications:

Robinson, J. K., Abou-El-Seoud, D., Reavy, R., Turrisi, R., & Mallett, K. A. (2020). Persistence of partner-assisted skin self-examination supported by ‘being in this together’: A randomized trial. British Journal of Dermatology, 183(3), 571-573. [PubMed]

Robinson, J. K., Reavy, R., Mallett, K. A., & Turrisi, R. (2020). Remote skin self-examination training of melanoma survivors and their skin check partners: A randomized trial and comparison with in-person training. Cancer Medicine, 9(19), 7301-7309. PMCID: PMC7541148 [PubMed]

Robinson, J. K., Reavy, R., Mallett, K. A., & Turrisi, R. (2019). Remote partner assisted skin self-examination skills training of melanoma survivors and their partners. Australasian Journal of Dermatology, 60(1), e80-382. PMCID: PMC6383786 [PubMed]

Project Achieve Weekends is an administrative supplement to Project Achieve. The major goal of this project is to gain a better understanding of the relationship between comorbid alcohol, nicotine, marijuana, and other illicit drug use and consequences when polysubstances are consumed; the factors associated with polysubstance use (i.e., motives, norms, context); and transitions into and out of risky substance use patterns over time, using a longitudinal, event-level design.

Funded by the NIH/NIAAA/NIDA.
Principal Investigator: Kimberly Mallett, Ph.D.

Selected Publications:

Hultgren, B., Waldron, K. A., Mallett, K. A., & Turrisi, R. (2021). Alcohol, marijuana, and nicotine use as predictors of impaired driving and riding with an impaired driver among college students who engage in polysubstance use. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 160, 106341. [PubMed]

Mallett, K. A., Turrisi, R., Trager, B. M., Sell, N. M., & Linden-Carmichael, A. (2019). An examination of consequences among college student drinkers on occasions involving alcohol-only, marijuana-only, or combined alcohol and marijuana use. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 33(3), 331-336. PMCID: PMC6521847 [PubMed]

Mallett, K. A., Turrisi, R., Hultgren, B. A., Sell, N., Reavy, R., & Cleveland, M. (2017). When alcohol is only part of the problem: An event-level analysis of negative consequences related to alcohol and other substances. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 31(3), 307-314. PMCID: PMC5422123 [PubMed]

Project ACT was designed to develop and evaluate an intervention strategy to reduce the onset and extent of binge drinking in students during their first year of college. The approach taken was relatively novel in that the focus of the intervention was on influencing binge drinking behavior of the students before they came to college, through their parents, during the critical time between high school graduation and the beginning of college. Almost all current approaches in the binge drinking domain are based on implementing an intervention while the students are at college. By contrast, the present approach attempted to reach students just before they came to college, so as to make them more resistant to influences that encouraged the adoption or continuation of binge drinking behaviors.

Funded by the NIH/NIAAA.
Principal Investigator: Rob Turrisi, Ph.D.

Selected Publications:

Abar, C. C., Mallett, K. A., Turrisi, R., & Abar, B. (2016). First- and second-hand consequences of alcohol use in college: Differential associations with later alcohol use. Journal of Substance Use, 21(1), 107-111. PMCID: PMC4863495 [PubMed]

Abar, C. C., Turrisi, R., & Mallett, K. A. (2014). Differential trajectories of alcohol-related behaviors across the first year of college by parenting profiles. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 28(1), 53-61. PMCID: PMC4296882 [PubMed]

Hultgren, B. A., Cleveland, M. J., Turrisi, R., & Mallett, K. A. (2014). How estimation of drinking influences alcohol-related consequences across the first year of college. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 38(4), 1160-1166. PMCID: PMC3984364 [PubMed]

Mallett, K. A., Marzell, M., Scaglione, N. M., Hultgren, B., & Turrisi, R. (2014). Are all alcohol and energy drink users the same? Examining individual variation in relation to alcohol mixed with energy drink use, risky drinking, and consequences. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 28(1), 97-104. PMCID: PMC4176826 [PubMed]

Marzell, M. Turrisi, R., Mallett, K. A., Ray, A. E., & Scaglione, N. M. (2014). Combining alcohol and energy drinks: An examination of psychosocial constructs and alcohol outcomes among college students using a longitudinal design. Addiction Research and Theory, 22(2), 91-97. PMCID: PMC4207644 [PubMed]

Stapleton, J. L., Turrisi, R., Cleveland, M. J., Ray, A. E., & Lu, S. E. (2014). Pre-college matriculation risk profiles and alcohol consumption patterns during the first semesters of college. Prevention Science, 15(5), 705-715. PMCID: PMC3918484 [PubMed]

Varvil-Weld, L., Crowley, D. M., Turrisi, R., Greenberg, M. T., & Mallett, K. A. (2014). Hurting, helping, or neutral? The effects of parental permissiveness toward adolescent drinking on college student alcohol use and problems. Prevention Science, 15(5), 716-724. PMCID: PMC4263026 [PubMed]

Varvil-Weld, L., Scaglione, N., Cleveland, M., Mallett, K., Turrisi, R., & Abar, C. (2014). Optimizing timing and dosage: Does parent type moderate the effects of variations of a parent-based intervention to reduce college student drinking? Prevention Science, 15(1), 94-102. PMCID: PMC3688671 [PubMed]

Cleveland, M., Hultgren, B., Varvil-Weld, L., Mallett, K. A., Turrisi, R., & Abar, C. (2013). Moderation of a parent-based intervention on transitions in drinking: Examining the role of normative perceptions and attitudes among high- and low-risk first-year college students. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 37(9), 1587-1594. PMCID: PMC3706579 [PubMed]

Turrisi, R., Mallett, K. A., Cleveland, M., Varvil-Weld, L., Abar, C., Scaglione, N. & Hultgren, B. (2013). An evaluation of timing and dosage of a parent based intervention to minimize college students’ alcohol consumption. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 74(1), 30-40. PMCID: PMC3517262 [PubMed]

Varvil-Weld, L., Marzell, M., Turrisi, R., Mallett, K., & Cleveland, M. (2013). Examining the relationship between alcohol-energy drink risk profiles and high-risk drinking behaviors. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 37(8), 1410-1416. PMCID: PMC3694984 [PubMed]