Thad R Leffingwell

Oklahoma State University | Oklahoma State · Department of Psychology

The continuous observed decline of graduate students’ mental health is a significant public health concern. The graduate school environment presents unique challenges and difficulties associated with graduate training, which may be exacerbated for graduate students who hold minoritized identities. Drawing on intersectionality theory and minority st...

Objective: Research on misperceived descriptive and injunctive drinking norms, or normative perceptions of frequency, quantity, and acceptability of drinking, has rarely been extended to American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) college student populations. Ethnic identity, or strength of one's ties to their AI/AN culture, has been hypothesized as a p...

Background The present study evaluated the two-factor structure of the Protective Behavioral Strategies for Marijuana Scale (PBSM-SF) Short-Form, a 13-item measure of harm reduction behaviors related to cannabis use. Additionally, the PBSM was evaluated for measurement invariance based on sex and state cannabis legalization status. Method Particip...

College students have shown elevated mental distress during the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19). The extent and persistence of mental distress as COVID-19 restrictions have continued is unclear. This study used latent profile analysis to identify student mental health risk subgroups and to evaluate subgroups in relation with substance use. A...

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a major public health concern. Web-based personalized feedback interventions (PFIs) may be a cost-effective and efficient way to treat NSSI. In order to develop a PFI, it is imperative to assess descriptive and injunctive norms. The current study examines descriptive and injunctive norms of NSSI within college stud...

The primary aim of the current study is to determine the incremental efficacy of adding a novel values component to a personalized feedback intervention for young adult drinking. Undergraduate students (N = 254) were randomized to receive either traditional, traditional with values assessment, or values enhanced feedback. Results showed significant...

Objective: The present study developed a measure assessing the emotional responses, "Displacement Imposition," of cigarette and e-cigarette users on a college campus with a smoking/vaping ban. It also examined the relationship between Displacement Imposition and readiness to quit smoking/vaping, and how this relationship differed between cigarette...

Objectives: Sexual Strategies Theory suggests people fall on a continuum between having short-term mating orientation (STMO) and long-term mating orientation. One way STMO individuals signal mating goals is via risky drinking. The current study therefore aims to investigate drinks per week (DPW) as a mediator between STMO and risky sexual behavior...

Motivational interviewing (MI) is an evidence‐based and patient‐centered approach to encouraging changes to habits, most typically targeting health risk behaviors including substance misuse and addictions, treatment adherence, diet, or physical activity. MI eschews education, professional advice, and persuasion in favor of conversational strategies...

Background Personalized normative alcohol feedback (PNF) is associated with decreased alcohol use among young adults. However, limited research has examined the influence of depressive symptoms on PNF efficacy. This study examined symptoms of depression as a moderator of college student response to a computerized PNF intervention for alcohol use....

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between unrealistic optimism (UO) and risky sexual behavior (RSB) and related consequences in a college student sample. Participants believed they had significantly lower personal risk of engagement in alcohol-related sexual activity, unintended pregnancy, and STIs than the average colleg...

Introduction: Personalized feedback interventions (PFIs) are associated with small but reliable decreases in alcohol consumption among college students. While they often include information regarding protective behavioral strategies (PBS), PFIs do not typically include feedback aimed to modify normative perceptions of PBS. This study aimed to enha...

Motivational interviewing (MI) is an evidence-based and patient-centered approach to encouraging changes to habits, most typically targeting health-risk behaviors. MI eschews education, professional advice, and persuasion in favor of conversational strategies designed to elicit the patient’s own concerns, intentions, and reasons for change. This ch...

Objectives: College student alcohol interventions utilizing public health messaging describe consequences that are delayed and significantly negative, a strategy shown to be ineffective. It is possible that messaging related to immediate, likely, and less negative consequences may be better at reducing problematic drinking. Although research has in...

Poor sleep health is associated with numerous health concerns, and sleep problems are exacerbated by cigarette smoking. Although rates of traditional tobacco use are declining, rates of electronic cigarette (e‐cigarette) use are comparatively high and growing. Given that nicotine is a primary mechanism by which smoking negatively impacts sleep heal...

Background: JUUL electronic cigarettes have surged in popularity since their emergence on the market in 2015. JUUL is slim and simple in design and is capable of delivering cigarette-like levels of nicotine. However, little research has examined JUUL use patterns, reasons for use, and normative perceptions of JUUL among young adults. Methods: Pa...

Personal Feedback Interventions (PFIs) have been widely used to reduce the amount of time and money individuals spend on gambling. A central component of these interventions is personalized information about an individual’s gambling behavior, often in comparison to others’ gambling. The purpose of the present review and meta-analysis was to evaluat...

Introduction: Relative to non-waterpipe (WP) smokers, WP smokers are more than twice as likely to use alcohol and frequently consume alcohol before or during smoking sessions. Co-use of alcohol and WP may result in greater toxicant exposure compared to WP smoking alone. To date, no study systematically has investigated the impact of acute alcohol...

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for American Indian (AI) young adults. Alcohol use is a well-established risk factor for suicide. On average, AIs ages 12 to 20 exhibit the second-highest rate of binge drinking compared to all other ethnic groups. The current study investigated the relation between alcohol use and suicide ideation in an...

BACKGROUND Recruitment and retention of participants are important factors in empirical studies. Methods that increase recruitment and retention can reduce costs and burden on researchers related to the need for over-recruitment because of attrition. Rideshare services such as Uber and Lyft are a potential means for decreasing this burden. OBJECTI...

Background Recruitment and retention of participants are important factors in empirical studies. Methods that increase recruitment and retention can reduce costs and burden on researchers related to the need for over-recruitment because of attrition. Rideshare services such as Uber and Lyft are a potential means for decreasing this burden. Objecti...

One-third of college students report past-year heavy episodic drinking, making college student alcohol use an important area for continued research. Research has consistently linked early experiences of adversity to problematic substance use in adolescence and adulthood. Given the negative health consequences associated with heavy episodic drinking...

Alcohol-induced amnesia (“blackout”) is a reliable predictor of alcohol-related harm. Given its association with other negative consequences, experience of alcohol-induced amnesia may serve as a teachable moment, after which individuals are more likely to respond to intervention. To test this hypothesis, alcohol-induced amnesia was evaluated as a m...

Disease management remains a challenge for many people living with HIV (PLWH). Digital health interventions (DHIs) may assist with overcoming these challenges and reducing burdens on clinical staff; however, there is limited data regarding methods to improve uptake and acceptability of DHIs among PLWH. This qualitative study aimed to assess patient...

Introduction: Smoking tobacco via a waterpipe (WP) is on the rise, particularly among college students. One reason for this may be normative perceptions of WP tobacco smoking (WTS) among this population. The current study examined the perceived and actual descriptive and injunctive norms of WTS among a college student sample. Methods: Participan...

Introduction: The use of Protective Behavioral Strategies (PBS) has been strongly linked with decreased experience of alcohol-related consequences, making them a potential target for intervention. Additionally, mindfulness is associated with decreased experience of alcohol-related consequences. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate a mo...

Introduction: Research suggests college students rate some alcohol-related consequences less negatively than others, yet it is unclear how or when these differences in perception develop. The current study compared college students' subjective evaluations of alcohol-related consequences that they had and had not experienced in order to test the hy...

Introduction: Completion of alcohol assessments influences treatment outcomes, yet little is known about the aspects of assessment that may contribute to this response. The present study is a randomized controlled trial examining how the themes of alcohol assessments (e.g., assessment of alcohol-related consequences as opposed to drinking patterns...

Background and aims: Concurrent alcohol use and waterpipe (WP) smoking is common among young adults. WP smokers are more than twice as likely to use alcohol as non-users and frequently consume alcohol immediately before and during a WP smoking session. It is unclear what impact alcohol has on WP smoking patterns and resultant exposure to tobacco-r...

Developing discrepancy between one’s values and behaviors is theoretically important in motivating change; however, existing studies lack a validated measure of value-behavior discrepancy for alcohol misuse. The current studies aimed to modify Wilson & DuFrene (2008) Valued Living Questionnaire (VLQ) to assess consistency of alcohol use with import...

Objective: Personalized feedback interventions (PFIs) have been associated with decreased alcohol consumption and related problems among college students; however, the necessary and sufficient components responsible for efficacy remain unclear. The present study investigated the relative efficacy of 3 computerized PFIs with differing content, the...

This article describes an innovative Motivational Interviewing (MI) training that is included in the current training program for psychology interns and fellows (trainees) at 1 institution and outlines how this training experience aligns with multiple core training competencies for pediatric psychologists. MI is an evidence-based approach to behavi...

Although personalised feedback interventions (PFIs) for alcohol misuse among college students have demonstrated reliable efficacy, effect sizes are modest and little improvement in efficacy has been observed in the last 15 years. More systematic and explicit application of theory may enhance our understanding of PFI mechanisms and lead to increment...

Objective: To examine the efficacy of a self-affirmation task in deterring college alcohol misuse and the importance of preexisting beliefs in predicting subsequent behavior change. Participants: Heavy-drinking undergraduates (N = 110) participated during the 2011-2012 academic year. Methods: Participants were randomized to complete an affirma...

HIV treatment requires lifelong adherence to medication regimens that comprise inconvenient scheduling, adverse side effects, and lifestyle changes. Antiretroviral adherence and treatment fatigue have been inextricably linked. Adherence in HIV-infected populations has been well investigated; however, little is known about treatment fatigue. This re...

Objective: We sought to systematically review and meta-analyze the literature comparing motivational interviewing (MI) with a control condition for adolescent health behavior change. In the current article, we reviewed only studies targeting health behaviors other than substance use (e.g., sexual risk behavior, physical activity, diet). Method:...

Reports an error in "Personalized Feedback Interventions for College Alcohol Misuse: An Update of Walters & Neighbors (2005)" by Mary Beth Miller, Thad Leffingwell, Kasey Claborn, Ellen Meier, Scott Walters and Clayton Neighbors (Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, Advanced Online Publication, Dec 31, 2012, np). There was an error in the coding of c...

While stimulant medication is commonly prescribed to treat Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in children and adolescents (Merikangas, He, Rapoport, Vitiello, & Olfson, 2013; Zuvekas & Vitiello, 2012) and is considered an empirically supported intervention for those groups (Barkley, Murphy, & Fischer, 2008; Pelham & Fabiano, 2008; Safren et a...

Widespread dissemination of current interventions designed to improve HIV medication adherence is limited by several barriers, including additional time and expense burdens on the health care systems. Electronic interventions could aid in dissemination of interventions in the clinic setting. This study developed and tested the feasibility and accep...

To test the efficacy of a self-administered web-based computer intervention designed to facilitate readiness to alter tobacco use or secondhand smoke exposure among parents of children visiting a pediatric primary care clinic. The computer program included an assessment of the participant's smoking behavior and personalized feedback. Self-identifie...

Despite major advances and success in finding effective interventions for problematic drinking among college students, personalized feedback interventions (PFIs) continue to include a range of components that vary widely across intervention trials. To facilitate research regarding which feedback components may be most effective, the present researc...

Personalized drinking feedback is an evidence-based and increasingly common way of intervening with high-risk college drinking. This article extends an earlier review by Walters and Neighbors (S. T. Walters & C. Neighbors, 2005, Feedback interventions for college alcohol misuse: What, why, and for whom? Addictive Behaviors, 30, 1168-1182) by review...

Transdermal alcohol sensors continuously collect reliable and valid data on alcohol consumption in vivo over the course of hours to weeks. Transdermal alcohol readings are highly correlated with breath alcohol measurements, but transdermal alcohol levels lag behind breath alcohol levels by one or more hours owing to the longer time required for alc...

This study evaluated the efficacy of two brief personalized feedback interventions (PFIs) using identical feedback and motivational interviewing strategies aimed at reducing alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems to two control conditions among a sample of high-risk drinking college students. Students (N = 152) were randomly assigned to a...

Offers advice about the mastering the application process for a psychology clinical training internship, including: making your dissertation sound interesting, interviewing effectively, and tips for writing engaging essays.

Individuals with high self-esteem who engage in risky health behaviours often minimize the associated health risks; individuals with low self-esteem do not demonstrate such minimization. The influence of gender on health risk perceptions is less clear. This study examined the influences of gender and self-esteem upon college students' responses to...

Microsoft® Producer® is a powerful yet user-friendly PowerPoint companion tool for creating on-demand multimedia presentations. Instructors can easily distribute these presentations via compact disc or streaming media over the Internet. We describe the features of the software, system requirements, and other required hardware. We also describe 3 ap...

A movement advocating the use of evidence-based practice (EBP) is increasingly influencing health care and the practice of psychology. Thus, teaching evidence-based practice in psychology (EBPP) is critical to the preparation of future health service psychologists. In this article, the authors address common myths associated with EBP, propose core...

Making Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Work: Clinical Process for New Practitioners Deborah Roth Ledley, Brian P. Marx and Richard G. Heimberg New York: The Guilford Press, 2005. pp. 254. $34.00US (€27.22) (hb). ISBN: 1-59385-142-1 - - Volume 35 Issue 2 - Melissa J. Leedy, Thad R. Leffingwell

Previous research has found that individuals who engage in risky health behaviors respond to health risk messages in a self-serving manner, limiting the impact of health messages among targeted individuals. The present study sought to investigate whether alcohol-using college students would respond to risk messages about alcohol use with a similar...

Tobacco dependence is a serious public health concern. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued a practice guideline of best practices to encourage all health care providers to intervene with tobacco-dependent individuals they encounter. Psychologists may be ideally suited to implement brief tobacco interventions due to their exp...

The purpose of this study was to develop a new measure of incidental behaviors that put college students at increased risk of legal consequences while using alcohol, the Legal Risk Behaviors while using Alcohol (LRBA) scale. Two hundred and twenty one college students who used alcohol were recruited to complete an online study about their use of al...

A movement that gained traction with the initial reports on empirically sup-ported psychological procedures by the American Psychological Association Division 12 Task Force on Promotion and Dissemination of Psychological Procedures (1995; Chambless et al., 1998) has continued to gather momentum, as evidenced by a recent policy statement and preside...

The potential for the occurrence of multiple-role relationships is increased when professors also consult with athletic teams on their campuses. Such multiple-role relationships have potential ethical implications that are unclear and largely unexplored, and consultants may find multiple-role relationships both difficult to deal with and unavoidabl...

Many applicants to clinical and counseling psychology programs are interested in receiving the training needed to practice competently in the professional specialty area of sport psychology. In this article, the authors describe a collaborative training and service relationship between an APA-accredited clinical psychology program and an intercolle...

In an effort to apply the transtheoretical model of change to the area of psychological skills training, questionnaires measuring stage of change, decisional balance, and self-efficacy were developed and cross-validated on two samples of NCAA Division I intercollegiate student-athletes. The measures showed good internal reliability and construct va...

Using alternate forms derived from 6 scales from the Revised Ways of Coping Checklist (P. P. Vitaliano, 1993), the authors obtained daily coping scores from students as they prepared for a demanding test, then obtained a 7-day retrospective measure of their coping. On average, only 25% shared variance was found between the daily and retrospective a...

Abstract. The thermal environment may constrain the evolution of mating behaviour of ectothermal organisms. This study evaluates the impact of the thermal environment on the behaviour of male insects waiting for females at encounter sites. In the morning, males of the desert hackberry butterfly, Asterocampa leilia , perch and wait for females on or...

Previous studies have shown that exposure of skate erythrocytes to hypotonic medium or isosmotic medium with permeant solutes such as ethylene glycol or ammonium chloride increases cell volume. Initial swelling is followed by a regulatory volume decrease accomplished by efflux of cell solutes, including the beta-amino acid taurine. Taurine efflux,...

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2000 This study investigated two brief interventions designed to increase use of psychological skills training resources among college student-athletes. The first intervention utilized psychological skills assessment feedback with normative comparisons. The second intervention included the assessment feedb...