Laura MacPherson, Ph.D.

Background Information:

Dr. MacPherson received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the San Diego State University/University of California , San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology in 2005 following completion of her clinical internship at the Brown Medical School Clinical Psychology Training Consortium. She joined the Department of Psychology at the University of Maryland , College Park in 2007 as a Research Assistant Professor and serves as Associate Director of the Center for Addictions, Personality, and Emotion Research.

Research Interests:

Dr. MacPherson's clinical and research interests broadly include a developmentally-informed examination of the progression and cessation of addictive behaviors among adolescents and young adults to improve youth-tailored interventions. Current projects and interests include: 1) examining distress tolerance as a mechanism underlying relapse among adolescent smokers, 2) identifying trajectories of appetitive (e.g., risk taking propensity) and avoidant (e.g., distress tolerance) reinforcement based processes as they relate to changes in adolescent substance use and risk behaviors over time, 3) developing and testing behavioral activation-based cessation interventions for adult and adolescent smokers with a focus on reward processing mechanisms underlying treatment effects, and 4) developing instruments targeting motivational and behavioral self-change processes in adolescent and young adult substance use.

Dr. MacPherson mentors graduate students in the Clinical Psychology Program in conjunction with Dr. Lejuez through the Center for Addictions, Emotion, and Personality Research (CAPER). Interested students should be sure to mention both Dr. MacPherson and Dr. Lejuez in their application for admission.

Selected Publications:

MacPherson, L., Richards, J.F., Collado, A., C.W. Lejuez. (in press). A functional analytic framework for understanding adolescent risk taking behavior. In, Milich, R. (Ed.). Inhibitory Control and Drug Abuse Prevention:  From Research to Translation

Reynolds, E.K., MacPherson, L., Matusiewicz, A., Francis, W., & Lejuez, C.W. (in press). Discrepancies between early adolescents and their mothers in perceived parental monitoring predict engagement in youth risk behavior. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology: Special Section on Informant Discrepancies.

MacPherson, L., Reynolds, E.K., Cassidy, J., Daughters, S., Mayes, L., Wang, F., & Lejuez, C.W. (2010). Positive and negative reinforcement underlying risk behavior in early adolescents. Prevention Science , 11, 331-342.

MacPherson, L., Magidson, J., Reynolds, E.K., Kahler, C.W., & Lejuez, C.W. (2010). Changes in sensation seeking and risk-taking propensity predict increases in alcohol use among early adolescents. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 34, 1400-1408.

MacPherson, L., Tull, M. T., Matusiewicz, A., Rodman, S., Strong, D.R., Kahler, C.W., Hopko, D., Zvolensky, M., Brown, R.B., & Lejuez, C.W. (2010). Randomized controlled trial of behavioral activation smoking cessation treatment for smokers with elevated depressive symptoms. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 78, 55-61

MacPherson, L. & Myers, M.G. (2010). Examination of a process model of adolescent smoking self-change efforts in relation to gender. Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse , 19, 48-65,

MacPherson, L., Stipelman, B.A., Duplinsky, M., Brown, R.A., & Lejuez, C.W. (2008). Distress tolerance and pre-smoking treatment attrition: Examination of moderating relationships. Addictive Behaviors , 33 , 1385-1393.

MacPherson, L., Strong, D.R., & Myers, M.G. (2008). Using an item response model to examine the nicotine dependence construct as characterized by the HONC and the mFTQ among adolescent smokers. Addictive Behaviors , 33 , 880-894.

MacPherson, L., Strong, D.R., Kahler, C.W., Abrantes, A.M., Ramsey, S., & Brown, R.A. (2007). Association of post smoking treatment change with future smoking and cessation efforts among adolescents with psychiatric comorbidity. Nicotine and Tobacco Research , 9 , 1297-1307.

MacPherson, L., Myers, M.G., & Johnson, M. (2006). Adolescent definitions of change in smoking behavior: An investigation. Nicotine and Tobacco Research , 8 , 683-687.

MacPherson, L., Frissell, K.C., Brown , S.A. , & Myers, M.G. (2006). Adolescent substance use problems. In Mash, E.J., & Barkley, R.A. (Eds.). Treatment of childhood disorders (Third Edition). pp. 731-777.

Myers, M.G., & MacPherson, L. (2004). Smoking cessation efforts among substance-abusing adolescents. Drug and Alcohol Dependence , 73 , 209-213.

Grants:

Behavioral Intervention for Low Income Depressed Smokers in Drug Treatment Principal Investigator: Laura MacPherson, Ph.D. Agency: American Cancer Society Type and Number: Research Scholar Award, 120511-RSGT-11-011-01-CPPB Project Period: 4 years Total Costs: $799,000

Stage II Trial of Novel Behavioral Activation Intervention for Smoking Cessation
Principal Investigator: Laura MacPherson, Ph.D.
Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
Type and Number: 2R01 DA018730
Project Period: 4 years
Total Costs: $1,326,929

Behavioral Activation Intervention, Reward Processing, and Youth Smoking Cessation
Principal Investigator: Laura MacPherson, Ph.D.
Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
Type and Number: R21 DA029445
Project Period: 3 years
Total Costs: $610,154

Behavioral Technologies for Predicting HIV Risk
Principal Investigator: Carl W. Lejuez, Ph.D.
Role: Co-Principal Investigator
Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
Type and Number: R01 DA018647
Project Period: 5 years
Total Direct Costs: $3,140,215

Distress Tolerance and Adolescent Smoking Cessation
Principal Investigator: Laura MacPherson, Ph.D.
Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
Type and Number: K23 DA023143
Project Period: 3 years
Total Costs: $514,368

Behavioral Measurement of Negative Reinforcement in Adolescent Alcohol Use/Abuse
Principal Investigator: Carl W. Lejuez, Ph.D.
Role: Co-Investigator
Agency: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Type and Number: R21 AA01768
Project Period: 2 years
Total Costs: $ 610,154



Link to Center for Addictions, Personality, and Emotion Research (CAPER) website