Bonnie Spring, PhD, ABPP

Professor of Preventive Medicine

Dr. Spring earned her BA in Psychology from Bucknell University in 1971, followed by MA (1975) and PhD (1977) degrees in Psychology from Harvard University. She joined the faculty of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University in September 2005 as Professor, Director of Behavioral Medicine, and Co-Program Leader in Cancer Prevention. Previously she held academic appointments at University of Illinois - Chicago, University of Health Sciences/Chicago Medical School, and Harvard University. Dr. Spring is currently President Elect of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Chairperson of the interdisciplinary Council on Training in Evidence-Based Behavioral Practice and an Editorial Board Member for the series, "Treatments that Work" (Oxford UP). She is a Consulting Editor for Health Psychology, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology and Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings. She is a winner of Society of Behavioral Medicine's Distinguished Research Mentor Award and served on the National Institute of Health Behavioral Medicine Study Section. She is a fellow in the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, Society for Behavioral Medicine, American Psychological Society; American Psychological Association (Divisions 12, 38 and 28), and a Diplomate in Clinical Health Psychology, American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP).

Research Interests

Health promotion; multiple risk behaviors (cigarette smoking; poor quality diet and obesity, physical inactivity, stress and depression), behavioral interventions, and e-technology Dr. Spring's research aims towards understanding mechanisms that maintain unhealthy behaviors in order to translate that knowledge into the development of effective interventions that promote sustained healthful change. Most of her group's ongoing work concerns health risk behaviors including cigarette smoking, poor quality diet and physical inactivity. The research begins with basic mechanism-oriented studies that aim to characterize the psychobiological substrates that underpin an unhealthy behavior. Then work progresses to clinical trials that intervene upon the underlying mechanisms, test the consequences for healthy behavior change, and examine the mechanisms that mediated healthful behavior change.

A current research emphasis concerns identifying optimal ways to modify several unhealthy behaviors at a time (for example, eating, physical activity, and smoking). There is particular interest in using electronic technology to extend the reach of behavioral interventions. Other active areas of research concern health disparities, food "addiction," and hard-to-reach smokers (with comorbid psychopathology or weight concerns).

Projects

Multiple Behavior Change in Diet and Activity

ACCISS: Activating Collaborative CIS Support via targeted provider mailing

PDA+ for Obesity Treatment

Resources for Training in Evidence-Based Behavioral Practice

Recent Publications

1. Spring, B., Doran, N., Pagoto, S., Schneider, K., Pingitore, R. & Hedeker, D. (2004) Randomized Controlled Trial for Behavioral Smoking and Weight Control Treatment: Effect of Concurrent versus Sequential Intervention. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72(5), 785-796.
2. Spring, B., Pagoto, S., Whitlock, E., Kaufmann, P., Glasgow, R., Smith, K., Trudeau, K., & Davidson, K. (2005) Invitation to a dialogue between researchers and clinicians about evidence-based behavioral medicine, Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 30(2), 125-137.
3. Spring, B., Hitsman, B., Pingitore, R., McChargue, D.E., Gunnarsdottir, D., Corsica, J., Pergadia, J., Doran, N., Crayton, J.W., Baruah, S., Hedeker, D. (2006) Effect of Tryptophan Depletion on Smokers and Non-Smokers with and without a History of Major Depression. Biological Psychiatry, 61, 70-77.

4. Glasgow, R.E., Davidson, K.W., Dobkin, P.L., Ockene, J., & Spring, B. (2006) Practical behavioral trials to advance evidence-based behavioral medicine. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 31(1):5-13

5. Epstein, L.H., Handley, E.A., Dearing, K.K., Roemmich, J.N. & Spring, B. (2006) The influence of price on purchase of healthy and unhealthy alternatives in youth. Psychological Science, 17 (1): 82-89.

6. Doran, N., Spring, B., Borrelli, B., McChargue, D., Hitsman, B., Niaura, R., & Hedeker, D. (2006). Elevated positive mood: A mixed blessing for abstinence. Psychology of Addictive Behavior,, 20, 36-43.

7. Sánchez-Johnsen, L., Ahluwalia, J.S., Fitzgibbon, M., Spring, B. (2006) Ethnic similarities and differences in reasons for smoking. Addictive Behaviors, 31, 544-548.

8. Doran, N., McChargue, D., Spring, B., Vanderveen, J., Cook, J.W., & Richmond, M. (2006) Effect of nicotine on negative affect among more impulsive smokers. Experimental & Clinical Psychopharmacology, 14(3), 287-295.

9. Pagoto, S.L., Spring, B., Cook, J.W., McChargue, D. & Schneider, K.. (2006) High BMI and reduced engagement and enjoyment of pleasant events. Personality and Individual Differences, 40, 1421-1431.

10. Spring, B., Pagoto, S., Knatterud, G., Kozak, A., & Hedeker, D. (2007) Examination of the analytic quality of behavioral health randomized clinical trials. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 63, 53-71.

11. Spring, B., Doran, N., Pagoto, S., McChargue, D., Werth Cook, J., Bailey, K., Crayton, J., & Hedeker, D. (2007) Fluoxetine, Smoking, and History of Major Depression: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 75(1): 85-94.

12. Lynch, E., Liu, K., Spring, B., Hankinson, A., Wei, G.S., Greenland, P. (2007) Association of Race and Education with Body Size Perception: the CARDIA Study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 165(9):1055-1062.

13. Hitsman B., Spring B., Pingitore R. Munafo M., Hedeker D. (2007) Effect of tryptophan depletion on the attentional salience of smoking cues. Psychopharmacology. 192(3):317-324.

14. Unrod, M., Smith, M., Spring, B., DePue, J., Redd, W., & Winkel, G. (2007) Randomized controlled trial of a computer-tailored intervention to increase smoking cessation counseling by primary care physicians. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 22(4):478-84.

15. Werth Cook, J., Spring, B., & McChargue, D. (2007) Influence of nicotine on positive affect in anhedonic smokers. Psychopharmacology, 192(1):87-95.

16. Pagoto, S.L., Spring, B., Coups, E.J., Mulvaney, S., Coutu, M-F., Ozakinci, G. (2007) Barriers and Facilitators of Evidence-Based Practice Perceived by Behavioral Science Health Professionals. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 63(7).

17. Spring, B. (2007) Evidence-Based Practice in Clinical Psychology: What it is; Why it matters; What you need to know. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 63(7).

18. Weaver, F.M., LaVela, S., Miskevics, S., Clemmons, N., Janke, E.A., & Spring, B. (in press) Smoking Behavior and Readiness to Change in Male Veterans with Spinal Cord Injuries. Rehabilitation Psychology. 2007 Aug Vol 52(3) 304-310

19. Schneider, K., Spring, B. & Pagoto, S. (in press) Affective benefits of exercise during nicotine withdrawal: Influence of weight concern. Psychology of Addictive Behavior. 2007 Jun;21(2):255-260

20. Smith, Meredith Y., Cromwell, J., DePue, J., Spring, B., Redd, W., Unrod, M. (in press) Cost-effectiveness of a computer-tailored smoking cessation intervention in primary care. Managed Care, 16, 48-55.

21. Doran, N., McChargue, D., & Spring, B. (2007) Effect of impulsivity on craving and subjective reactivity to smoking cues. Psychopharmacology, 194(2), 279-288.

22. Spring, B., Werth Cook, J., Appelhans, B., Maloney, A., Richmond, M., Vaughn, J., Vanderveen, J., Hedeker, D. (2008) Nicotine Effects on Affective Response in Depression-Prone Smokers. Psychopharmacology, 196(3):461-471

23. Spring, B., Schneider, K., Smith, M., Kendzor, D., Appelhans, B., Hedeker, D., Pagoto, S. (in press) Abuse potential of carbohydrates for overweight carbohydrate cravers. Psychopharmacology

24. Spring B, Cook JW, Appelhans B, Maloney A, Richmond M, Vaughn J, Vanderveen J, Hedeker D. Nicotine effects on affective response in depression-prone smokers. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2008 Feb;196(3):461-71. Epub 2007 Oct 25.

25. Spring B, Schneider K, Smith M, Kendzor D, Appelhans B, Hedeker D, Pagoto S. Abuse potential of carbohydrates for overweight carbohydrate cravers. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2008 Feb 14;[Epub ahead of print]

26. Prochaska JJ, Spring B, Nigg CR. Multiple health behavior change research: an introduction and overview. Prev Med. 2008 Mar;46(3):181-8.
27. Spring B, Schneider K, Smith M, Kendzor D, Appelhans, B, Hedeker D, Pagoto S. Abuse potential of carbohydrates for overweight carbohydrate cravers. Psychopharmacology. Vol 197(4) May 2008, 637-647.
28. Doran N, Cook J, McChargue D, Myers M, Spring B. Cue-elicited negative affect in impulsive smokers. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors. Vol 22(2) Jun 2008, 249-256.

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