Robert F. Leeman, Ph.D.

Leeman

Check out Dr. Leeman’s Podcast Episode Here

Contact Information

Dr. Robert Leeman
College of Health and Human Performance
Department of Health Education and Behavior
Florida Gym 14
P.O. Box 118210
Gainesville, FL 32611-8210
Laboratory: Yon Hall, East End, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
Phone: (352) 294-1808
Email: robert.leeman@ufl.edu
Website: Department of Health Education & Behavior Profile
Lab Website: Edge Lab
T32 Training Grant Website (SHARC)
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Position

Mary F. Lane Endowed Professor / Associate Professor, Department of Health Education and Behavior, College of Health and Human Performance.

Research Summary

Dr. Leeman’s primary research interests are in the relationships between various difficulties with self-control and addictive behaviors, particularly alcohol, tobacco and cocaine/opioid co-use.

Training

Postdoctoral Fellowship in Substance Abuse, Yale School of Medicine (2007), Primary Mentor–Dr. Stephanie O’Malley
Ph.D. in Psychology, University of Pennsylvania (2005)
M.A. in Psychology, University of Pennsylvania (2002)
B.A. in Psychology and Screen Studies, Clark University (1998)

Current Research

Dr. Leeman’s current research interests concern young adult alcohol use and cocaine/opioid co-use. Regarding young adult alcohol use, he is particularly interested in associations between alcohol use and difficulties with self-control. An example of this is impaired control over alcohol use, which is the difficulty that some drinkers have with adhering to limits they have placed on their alcohol consumption. Dr. Leeman and his colleagues have developed a novel human laboratory paradigm to model impaired control (Leeman et al., 2013). One current use of this paradigm is to test a procedure to correct cognitive bias underlying frequent alcohol use. In another recent line of research, he and his colleagues are testing a different cognitive bias retraining procedure for opioid-maintained cocaine users. They have also adapted, for use in the United States, a very brief (10 minutes or less), web-based alcohol reduction intervention for undergraduates that has been utilized successfully in Australia and New Zealand. Dr. Leeman is also involved in several collaborative projects aimed at predicting risk of problem substance use, primarily among adolescents and young adults.

Recent Publications

  • Bold, K. W., Fucito, L. M., Corbin, W. R., DeMartini, K. S., Leeman, R. F., Kranzler, H. R., & O’Malley, S. S. (2016). Daily relations among affect, urge, targeted naltrexone, and alcohol use in young adults. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 24, 367-375.
  • Leeman, R. F., DeMartini, K. S., Gueorguieva, R., Nogueira, C., Corbin, W. R., Neighbors, C., & O’Malley, S. S. (2016). Randomized controlled trial of a very brief, multicomponent web-based alcohol intervention for undergraduates with a focus on protective behavioral strategies. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 84, 1008-1015. doi: 10.1037/ccp0000132
  • Leeman, R. F., Sun, Q., Bogart, D., Beseler, C. L., & Sofuolgu, M. (2016). Comparisons of cocaine-only, opioid-only and users of both substances in Wave 1 of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC). Substance Use and Misuse, 51, 553-564. doi: 10.3109/10826084.2015.1122063
  • Bold, K. W., Fucito, L. M., DeMartini, K. S., Leeman, R. F., Corbin, W. R., & O’Malley, S. S. (2017). Urgency traits moderate daily relations between affect and drinking to intoxication among young adults. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 170, 59-65. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2016.10.035.
  • Leeman, R. F., Hefner, K, Frohe, T., Murray, A, Rosenheck, R.A., Watts, B.V., & Sofuoglu, M. (2017). Exclusion of participants based on substance use status: Findings from randomized controlled trials of treatments for PTSD. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 89, 33-40. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2016.10.006.
  • Royzman, E., Cusimano, C., & Leeman, R. F. (2017). What lies beneath: Fear versus disgust as affective underpinnings of absolutist opposition to genetically modified foods and other new technologies. Judgment and Decision Making, 12, 466-480.
  • Sartor, C. E., Ecker, A. H., Kraus, S. W., Leeman, R. F., Dukes, K. N., & Foster, D. W. (2017). Perceived safety and controllability of events: Markers of risk for marijuana use in young adults? Addictive Behaviors, 66, 114-117. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2016.11.018
  • Berey, B., Leeman, R. F., Pittman, B, & O’Malley, S. S. (2017). Relationships among impulsivity, subjective response, alcohol use and related problems. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 78, 835-843. doi: 10.15288/jsad.2017.78.835
  • Chen, X., Wang, Y., Leeman, R. F., Li, F., Zhao, J., & Bruijnzeel, A. W. (2018). Videoassisted topographical measurement of cigarette smoking: Exploration of an objective approach to evaluate nicotine dependence. Tobacco Prevention & Cessation, 41, 21. doi: https://doi.org/10.18332/tpc/90821.
  • Ebbert, A., Patock-Peckham, J. A., Luk, J., Voorhies, K., Warner, O., & Leeman, R. F. (2018). The mediating role of anxiety sensitivity in uncontrolled drinking: A look at gender specific parental influences. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 42, 914-925. doi: 10.1111/acer.13631
  • Frohe, T., Leeman, R. F., Patock-Peckham, J. A., Ecker, A., Kraus, S., & Foster, D. (2018). Correlates of marijuana vape-pen use and knowledge among U.S. college students. Addictive Behaviors Reports, 7, 32-39. doi: 10.1016/j.abrep.2017.11.004
  • Kim, S., Connaughton, D. P., Leeman, R. F., & Hoon Lee, J. (2018) Concussion knowledge of youth sport athletes, coaches and parents: A review. Journal of Amateur Sport, 4, 82-107.
  • Leeman, R. F., Nogueira, C., Wiers, R. W, Cousijn, J., Serafini, K., DeMartini, K. S., Bargh, J. A., & O’Malley, S. S. (2018). A test of multi-session automatic action tendency retraining to reduce alcohol consumption among young adults in the context of a human laboratory paradigm. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 42, 803-813. doi: 10.1111/acer.13613
  • Patock-Peckham, J. A., Canning, J. R., & Leeman, R. F. (2018). Shame is bad and guilt is good: An examination of the impaired control over drinking pathway to alcohol use and
    related problems. Personality and Individual Differences, 121, 62-66. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2017.09.023