Welcome

The Vermont Center on Behavior and Health (VCBH), led by Director Stephen T. Higgins, PhD, is an interdisciplinary research center committed to investigating relationships between personal behavior patterns (i.e., lifestyle) and risk for chronic disease and premature death. Our work has historically focused on health disparities for the most vulnerable populations, particularly among the socioeconomically disadvantaged where these risk factors are overrepresented.

 

VCBH logo

Located in Burlington, VT at the University of Vermont, Larner College of Medicine, VCBH researchers have a specific focus on understanding mechanisms underpinning risk and developing effective interventions and policies to promote healthy behavior. A common thread across VCBH research projects is the application of knowledge from the disciplines of behavioral economics and behavioral pharmacology to increase understanding of vulnerability to unhealthy behavior and the use of incentives and other behavioral and pharmacological interventions to support healthy behavior change interventions and policies.

Stay Connected with VCBH

Join our mailing list to get the latest
on news and events.

Follow us on our social media channels

Twitter icon circle Facebook icon circle LinkedIn icon YouTube Icon

Upcoming VCBH Events

Monthly Lecture Series:

February 19:
Michael Amlung, PhD
University of Kansas

March 19:
Matt Price, PhD
University of Vermont

Visit the Center on Rural Addiction

CORA_transparents

 


VCBH Career Opportunities

Postdoctoral Research Fellowships
Click here for more information.

VCBH News

New Study: Cumulative-Risk Model Documents Persistent Disparities in Adolescent Cigarette Smoking

December 11, 2024 by Katelyn Queen, PhD

In a new publication from Tyler Erath, PhD, research indicates that adolescent smoking risk increases corresponding to the cumulative number of psychosocial and health risks experienced in their cumulative-risk model.

Tyler Erath, PhD

Approximately 88% of adults who smoke initiated smoking as adolescents, indicating a critical need to address adolescent cigarette smoking. Prevention and treatment efforts have resulted in record-setting reductions in adolescent smoking. However, less is known about whether these reductions have occurred across all populations or whether there are disparities in adolescent smoking prevalence among vulnerable and/or at-risk populations. 

Now, new research from Tyler Erath, PhD, Fang Fang Chen, PhD, and Stephen Higgins, PhD, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, indicates that adolescent smoking risk increases corresponding to the cumulative number of psychosocial and health risks experienced in their cumulative-risk model. 

To evaluate the impact of cumulative risk factors on past-month and daily smoking, the researchers assessed smoking prevalence over an 18-year period among 244,519 adolescents aged 12-17 in relation to their cumulative risk experienced. They found that smoking significantly decreased across all cumulative-risk groups over time but not equitably. Adolescents with high cumulative risk had past-month smoking odds 46 times greater than those in the low-risk group. For daily smoking, the odds for a high cumulative-risk adolescent were 97 times greater than for an adolescent with low cumulative risk. In addition, these disparities were found to be widening over time as overall smoking prevalence has decreased, with the least proportional decline in smoking occurring in adolescents with greater cumulative risk. 

In this publication, Erath and colleagues highlight the utility of a cumulative-risk model in predicting smoking prevalence in adolescents, underscoring that these risks often co-occur. These results indicate the need to prioritize treatment and preventions efforts in populations with higher cumulative-risk burden. They plan to continue this line of research with future work investigating whether a cumulative-risk model predicts other substance use outcomes including adolescent e-cigarette use. 

This work was supported by the Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science (TCORS) award U54DA036114 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and Food and Drug Administration; National Institute of General Medical Sciences Center of Biomedical Research Excellence Award P30GM149331; and National Institute on Drug Abuse Institutional Training Award T32DA007242.

To learn more, read the full publication here

Read full story