Lynette L. Craft, PhD

Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine

Dr. Craft received her BS in Psychology from Indiana University in 1991. She completed her master’s degree in Exercise Science in 1998 from Arizona State University. Her doctoral degree in Kinesiology was completed in 2002 from Michigan State University where her area of specialization was Exercise Psychology, with cognates in Exercise Physiology and Epidemiology. Dr. Craft completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Health Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine, and then remained in that department as a faculty member from 2004-2006. Dr. Craft joined the Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University as an Assistant Professor.

Research Interests

Dr. Craft is a Kinesiologist whose research focuses on the mental and physical impact of exercise in individuals with clinical depression. Specifically, she studies the use of exercise as an adjunct to traditional treatments for depression and the mechanisms underlying the exercise-depression relationship. Recently, Dr. Craft has also begun to examine the role of physical activity in chronic disease prevention and is investigating the ways in which regular physical activity contributes to chronic disease risk reduction among those with affective disorders.

Research Funding

Dr. Craft is the previous recipient of a Clinical Research Feasibility Funds Grant (NIH) to investigate the psychosocial determinants of physical activity among women with depression. She is also a former Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) Scholar. BIRCWH funding (NIH) supported her investigation of the psychological and physiological effects of exercise in minority women with depression. Additionally, Dr. Craft has been funded by the American Cancer Society to study the relationship between physical activity and biomarkers of colon health.

Professional Memberships

American College of Sports Medicine
Society for Behavioral Medicine
Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology

Selected Publications

1. Otto, MW, Church, TS, Craft, LL, Greer, TL, Smits, JAS, & Trivedi, MH. (2007). Exercise for mood and anxiety disorders. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 68 (5), 669-676.

2. Craft, LL (2005). Exercise and clinical depression: Examining two psychological mechanisms. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 6(2), 151-171.

3. Craft, LL, & Perna, FM (2004). The benefits of exercise for the clinically depressed. The Primary Care Companion to The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 6 (3), 104-111.

4. Craft, LL, Allor, KA, & Pivarnik, JM (2003). Predictors of physical competence in adolescent females. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 32, 431-438.

5. Craft, LL, & Landers, DM (1998). The effect of exercise on clinical depression and depression resulting from mental illness: A meta-analysis. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 20, 339-357.

6. Craft, LL, Freund, KM, Culpepper, L, & Perna, FM (2007). Intervention study of exercise for depressive symptoms in women. Journal of Women’s Health, 16(10), 1499-1509.
7. Craft LL, Perna FA, Freund Kim, Culpepper L. Psychosocial correlates of exercise in women with se-reported depressive symptoms. J Phys Act Health. 2008 May;5(3):469-80.