Welcome to the Tobacco Research & Intervention lab webpage!

Under the direction of Marc L. Steinberg, Ph.D., the Tobacco Research & Intervention lab focuses on tobacco use and dependence, including tobacco dependence treatment development, tobacco use in smokers with psychiatric comorbidity, the relationship between smoking and task persistence/distress tolerance, and motivational interviewing as an approach to encourage smokers to make a quit attempt.

We have used human laboratory designs to study predictors of initiation of quit attempts (i.e., task persistence / distress tolerance) and clinical trials to develop treatments to encourage and facilitate quit attempts (i.e., variations of cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, and reduction-to-quit strategies).


Recent Publications include:

  • Steinberg ML, Billingsley BB*, Rosen RL*, Epstein EE, Lu S-E, Williams JM. A Novel Intervention Increases Task Persistence in Smokers with Schizophrenia: A Proof of Concept Study. Schizophrenia Research, 2020: 215:453-454. 10.1016/j.schres.2019.09.011
  • Williams JM, Steinberg ML, Wang H, Chaguturu V, Poulsen R, Tobia A, Palmeri B. Practice Change after Training Psychiatry Residents in Tobacco Use Disorder. Psychiatric Services. In press. Doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.201900272
  • Bold KW, Rosen RL*, Steinberg ML, Epstein EE, McCrady BS, Williams JM. Smoking Characteristics and Alcohol Use among Women in Treatment for Alcohol Use Disorder. Addictive Behaviors, In press. doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2019.106137
  • Piper ME, Bullen C, Krishnan-Sarin S, Rigotti NA, Steinberg ML, Streck JM, Joseph AM. Defining and measuring abstinence in clinical trials of smoking cessation interventions: An updated review. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, in press. https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntz110
  • Rosen RL*, Borges AM, Kibbey MM, Steinberg ML, Leyro TM, Farris SG. Distress intolerance and withdrawal severity among daily smokers: The role of smoking abstinence expectancies. Addictive Behaviors. 2019:99, 106048. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2019.106048
  • Rosen RL* & Steinberg ML. Interest in Quitting E-Cigarettes among Adults in the United States. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, in press. ntz062, https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntz062
  • Baker AL, Robson D, Lawn S, Steinberg ML, Bucci S, McNeil A, Castle DJ, Bonevski B. Reducing Smoking Among People With Schizophrenia: Perspectives on Priorities for Advancing Research. Front Psychiatry. 2018;9(December):1-5. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00711.
  • Steinberg ML, Lu S-E, Williams JM. Varenicline for smoking reduction in smokers not yet ready to quit: A double-blind, proof-of-concept randomized clinical trial. Addictive Behaviors, 84, 20-26, 2018. 10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.03.026

* indicates mentee at time of publication