Faculty
Rob Turrisi
Ph.D., Psychology, University at Albany - State University of New York, 1988
Professor of Biobehavioral Health
Program Areas: Emerging Adulthood (Leader); Family Science & Intervention; Translation, Dissemination & Implementation
Contact Information
E105 Henderson Building
Phone: (814) 865-7808
Fax: (814) 865-2530
Websites
- Prevention Research Center
- Department Web Page
- Project Descriptions for Skin Cancer/Alcohol Research Lab, Biobehavioral Health
Pattishall Research Lecture 2010
Online Articles and Video
Online Articles
MADD and Archie Comics Team Up to Prevent Underage Drinking
Article in the Digital Journal, online, March 22, 2011
Research Interests
Parent-adolescent relationships; alcohol and substance use prevention; skin cancer prevention
Examples of Current Prevention Projects
Parent-based Interventions to Prevent Student Drinking
(Project ACT, the ENALC Project, Project PACT)
Start Date: 1999
The present study is the further development of a program of research designed to reduce the onset and extent of drinking and contribute to the changing campus norms through implementation of efficacious Parent-Based Interventions (PBIs) based on the work of Turrisi and colleagues (1999; 2000; 2001). The focus is on influencing drinking behavior of the students through an intervention with their parents during their first year of college. The conversations are taking place in one of three conditions; (1) prior to college matriculation during the transition period between high school and college (PCM), (2) Prior to college matriculation and then throughout the fall semester resulting from booster parent "check-ins" (PCMB), or (3) after college matriculation during the fall of the first semester at college (AMC).
Early Intervention to Prevent Student Binge Drinking in Student Athletes
Start Date: 2004
The present study is a continuation and further development of a novel program of research designed to reduce the onset and extent of drinking by students during their first year of college, through provision of efficacious individually oriented interventions prior to college entrance. We aim to influence the drinking behavior of college-bound high school athletes during the spring of their senior year of high school, by enhancing the influence of their parents and/or by introducing them to college student athletes who will serve as peer counselors to provide a brief motivational feedback intervention.
Partner Assistance in Learning and Performing Skin Self-Examination
Start Date: 2005
Funder: National Cancer Institute/NIH
This research project is a joint investigation between the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and The Pennsylvania State University, and is investigating whether married or cohabitating couples learn to and perform skin examination more effectively than solo learning by the person at risk to develop skin cancer. The effect of partner affiliation on dyadic learning is a novel area of research that is particularly relevant to early detection of skin cancer by SSE, which often requires the assistance of a partner to examine areas of the body that are difficult for the individual to see. The present study is examining two hundred participants at risk to develop skin cancer, who are between 50 and 70 years old and have partners, enrolled in a randomized trial with four month evaluation of SSE performance, by self-report responses, monthly diaries as body maps, and physician visits with diagnostic services.
Start Date: 2008
Funder: NIDA
The proposed project is examining the feasibility of applying the Gateway Hypothesis to a specific class of drugs, i.e., performance enhancing substances (PES) to help identify factors that increase the likelihood of AS use Specifically the study will: 1) establish evidence for an association between the use of legal PES and the use of AS, 2) identify mechanisms responsible for the relationship, 3) gather psychometric data on instruments that can be used in a larger scale study and 4) identify factors critical for interventions targeting legal PES use.
Enhancing Patient Communication among Dermatologists
Start Date: 2009
Funder: National Cancer Institute
The objective of this etiological research is to train MDs to deliver a BNI intervention to their patients in the context of a routine office visit. The primary aim of the study is to fully develop a sustainable BNI training program focused on UVL risk and protective behaviors for MDs and evaluate whether MDs can be trained to deliver the BNI to patients with fidelity.
A Community-based ZT Program: Completing the Model of MLDA Enforcement
Start Date: 2009
Funder: NIAAA
In this project we are implementing an enforcement-and-publicity zero-tolerance program in two communities in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Both communities are college towns and have a large number of underage drinkers. The zero-tolerance program will be evaluated using a telephone survey of community residents and a web-survey of university students. In addition, roadside surveys will be used to collect physiological measures of blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) from a random sample of young persons recruited in each community on weekend nights.
An Appearance-based Intervention to Reduce Teen Skin Cancer Risk
Start Date: 2010
Funder: NCI
Project iSTART, a collaboration with East Tennessee State University, is 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 will track these students for two years to examine whether the intervention is able to reduce long-term skin cancer risk behaviors. We will also identify 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 will be the first anti-tanning intervention delivered to high school teens via the internet.
Representative Publications
Selected Publications—Alcohol
Turrisi, R., Larimer, M. E., Mallett, K. A., Kilmer, J. R., Ray, A. E., Mastroleo, N. R., Giesner, I. M., Grossbard, J., Tollison, S., Lostutter, T. W., & Montoya, H. (2009). A randomized clinical trial evaluating a combined alcohol intervention for high-risk college students. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 70(4), 555–567. PMCID: PMC2696296.
Turrisi, R., Abar, C., Mallett, K. A., & Jaccard, J. (2010). An examination of the mediational effects of cognitive and attitudinal factors on a parent intervention to reduce college drinking. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 40, 2500–2526.
Turrisi, R., Ray, A. E., & Abar, C. (2010). When is parenting over? Examining parental monitoring and high-risk alcohol consumption in young adult college students. In J. Jaccard, P. Dittus, & V. Guilamo-Ramos (Eds.), Parental monitoring of adolescents. NY: Columbia University Press.
Turrisi, R., & Ray, A. E. (2010). Sustained parenting and college drinking in first-year students. Developmental Psychobiology, 52(3), 286–294. PMID: 20213752.
Mallett, K. A., Marzell, M., Varvil-Weld, L., Turrisi, R., Guttman, K., & Abar, C. (2011). One-time or repeat offenders? An examination of the patterns of alcohol-related consequences experienced by college students across the freshman year. Addictive Behaviors, 36, 508–511.
Mallett, K. A., Varvil-Weld, L., Turrisi, R., & Read, A. (2011). An examination of college students’ willingness to experience consequences as a unique predictor of alcohol problems. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 25, 41–47.
Selected Publications—Skin Cancer
Turrisi, R., Mastroleo, N. R., Stapleton, J., & Mallett, K. A. (2008). A comparison of 2 brief intervention approaches to reduce indoor tanning behavior in young women who indoor tan very frequently. Archives of Dermatology, 144(11), 1521–1524. PMID: 19015434.
Robinson, J. K., Turrisi, R., Mallett, K. A., Stapleton, J., & Pion, M. (2010). Comparing the efficacy of an in-person intervention with a skin self-examination workbook. Archives of Dermatology, 146(1), 91–94. PMID: 20083705.
Stapleton, J., Turrisi, R., Hillhouse, J., Robinson, J. K., & Abar, B. (2010). A comparison of the efficacy of an appearance-focused skin cancer intervention within indoor tanner subgroups identified by latent profile analysis. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 33, 181–190.
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, in press.