Research Overview
Substance Abuse and HIV Risk Behavior among Adolescents and Young Adults
Dr. Kenneth Griffin is a Professor of Public Health in the Division of Prevention and Health Behavior in the Department of Public Health at Weill Medical College of Cornell University. His research interests focus on the etiology and prevention of substance use and HIV risk behaviors among adolescents and young adults. His etiology work has focused on how social competence and effective self-regulation strategies act as protective factors that reduce the onset and escalation of substance use among youth. His work has also focused on the design, implementation, and evaluation of preventive intervention programs for youth, the mechanisms through which effective programs work, and long-term prevention effects and extension of effects to related risky behaviors. Dr. Griffin has also published studies examining how psychosocial factors such as social support and coping styles affect psychological adjustment in patients with chronic illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis and HIV/AIDS. His research has been supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, and the National Institute of Mental Health.
Dr. Griffin is currently the Principal Investigator for a three-year R01 grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse that examines the long-term effects of a prevention program on substance use and HIV risk behaviors among urban minority young adults who previously received the program in school during early adolescence. He is also the PI on an R21 grant from the National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse to examine how the early onset of adolescent alcohol abuse is related to later risk behaviors among young adults, including alcohol and drug use, HIV risk behaviors, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and other risk behaviors. He is a Co-Investigator on several other major grants as well. Dr. Griffin has authored or co-authored over 70 peer-reviewed journal articles and over 25 book chapters.
Principal Investigator:
Competence-Enhancement Prevention Program Effects on Later Risky Sexual Behavior, R01 DA023890; Funding Source: NIH, National Institute on Drug Abuse; Project Dates: 2007-2010
Adolescent Alcohol Use and Young Adult Psychosocial Functioning, R21 AA016531; Funding Source: NIH, National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse; Project Dates: 2009-2011
