People
Robert Schlauch
Associate Professor
CONTACT
Office: PCD 4120
Phone: 813/974-4767
Email
LINKS
EDUCATION
- Postdoctoral Fellow (T32), Research Institute on Addictions, University at Buffalo, 2010-2013
- Ph.D. Clinical Psychology, Florida State University, 2010
- Clinical Internship, Division of Substance Abuse, Yale School of Medicine, 2009-2010
- M.A. Clinical Psychology, Florida State University, 2007
- B.A. Psychology, State University of New York at Stony Brook, 2002
RESEARCH
Research Interests:
My research interests focus broadly in understanding the role of individual differences in alcohol and drug use behavior. Specifically, I am interested in applying multidisciplinary approaches to the study of: a) processes associated with positive treatment outcomes, with a particular emphasis on craving and pretreatment change, b) risk factors for the development of substance use disorders (SUDs), including positive and negative reinforcement pathways to use, c) the interplay between substance use, comorbid disorders, personality, and aggression, including intimate partner violence, and d) the moderating role of individual difference variables in alcohol related disinhibited behaviors. Related to my work on craving, I am also interested (in collaboration with Dr. Diana Rancourt) in the applicability of craving as a transdiagnostic construct for disordered eating and compensatory behaviors. Secondary interests include methodological issues in clinical science broadly, and substance use research specifically.
CURRENT PROJECTS:
Clinical Course of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) Recovery (funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; R01 AA030005: 2022-2027). In this 5-year R01 we are examining within a novel theoretical framework. Specifically, we aim to 1) establish operational definitions of types of change in clinical course via examination of both thresholds for severity of symptom presentation and duration of each 鈥渆pisode鈥�, 2) describe patterns of recovery, including the frequency of within-person transitions between types of change in clinical course to better understand the dynamic nature of recovery, and 3) examine the within-person predictive relationships between theoretically important cognitive, behavioral, and affective process variables and changes in heavy drinking and AUD symptoms during and after treatment.
Ambivalence Model of Craving (past funding by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; K23 AA021768: 2013-2019). In this program of research my lab examines the incremental and predictive validity of measuring craving experiences as the concurrent activation of both approach (desires to use) and avoidance inclinations (desires to not use). Utilizing both clinical trial and daily process methodology, our work in this area has examined the dynamic longitudinal relationships between daily approach and avoidance inclinations and drinking behaviors in college, community, and clinical samples.
Influence of Pretreatment Changes on Mechanism of Change Research. In this program of research, my colleagues and I are conducting secondary analyses of numerous treatment outcome datasets to examine the influence of pretreatment changes in drinking behavior on mechanisms of change research. Preliminary data on pretreatment change suggests that approximately 50% of those seeking treatment for alcohol dependence rapidly decrease their drinking prior to beginning treatment and then maintain such changes throughout treatment. Such findings challenge the assumption that 鈥渕ajor changes鈥� begin only after treatment entry and suggests that 鈥渢reatment鈥� is only part of a process that begins weeks or months prior to treatment entry, significantly impacting the study of mechanisms of change.
Craving and Disordered Eating/Compensatory Behaviors: In this program of research, in collaboration with Dr. Diana Rancourt, we are examining the applicability of craving to serve as a transdiagnostic construct for disordered eating and compensatory behaviors. Specifically, we have been applying several theoretical models of craving from the substance use literature to better understand problematic behaviors associated with eating disorders, including the Ambivalence Model of Craving (i.e., approach and avoidance inclinations).
SPECIALTY AREA
Clinical
HONORS AND AWARD
2017 Distinguished Scientific Early Career Contribution Award (American Psychological Association, Division 50 鈥� Society of Addictive Psychology)
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
(*indicates undergraduate student, graduate student, or postdoctoral fellow)
*Walsh, B.E., *Manzler, C.A., Noyes, E.T., & Schlauch, R.C. (2024). Daily reciprocal relations between abstinence self-efficacy and drinking in a clinical sample with alcohol use disorder. Addictive Behaviors.
*Davis, J.A. & Schlauch, R.C. (2024). Gender differences in college drinkers: A test of the precarious manhood hypothesis. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 43, 152-179.
*Walsh, B.E., Dvorak, R.D., *Ebbinghaus, A., *Gius, B. K., *Levine, J. A., *Cortina, W. & Schlauch, R. C. (2023). Disaggregating Within- and Between-Person Effects of Affect on Drinking Behavior in a Clinical Sample. Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science, 132, 1051-1059.
*Davis, J.A., *Gius, B., Crane, C.A., Maisto, S.A., & Schlauch, R.C. (2023). Pretreatment change in drinking: Theoretical and methodological implications for alcohol use disorder treatment outcome research. Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, 47, 1406-1420.
*Rivera, A.P., Maisto, S.A., Connors, G.J. & Schlauch, R.C. (2023) Therapists' first impression of treatment motivation moderates the relationship between the client-rated therapeutic alliance and drinking outcomes during treatment. Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, 47, 806-821.
*Gius, B.K. & Schlauch, R.C. (2021). Approach and avoidance alcohol inclinations in heavy drinking college students: An ecological momentary assessment study. Addictive Behaviors, 123, 1-8.
*Levine, J.A., *Gius, B.K., *Boghdadi, G., Connors, G.J., Maisto, S.A., & Schlauch, R.C. (2020). Between- and within-person associations between alcohol use and psychological distress during and following treatment: A Test of the bidirectional relationships. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 44, 2326-2335.
Schlauch, R.C., Crane, C.A., Connors, G.J., Dearing, R.L., & Maisto, S.A (2019). The Role of Craving in the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorders: The Importance of Pretreatment Changes and Competing Desires. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 199, 144-150.
*Noyes, E.T., *Levine, J.A., Schlauch, R.C., Crane, C.A., Connors, G.J., Maisto, S.A., & Dearing, R.L. (2018). Impact of pretreatment change on mechanism of behavior change research: An applied example using alcohol abstinence self-efficacy. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 79, 223-228.
Schlauch, R.C., *Rice, S.L., Connors, G.J., & Lang, A.R. (2015). Ambivalence Model of Craving: A latent profile analysis of cue-elicited alcohol craving in an inpatient clinical sample. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 76, 764-772.