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Sarah E. Nelson, Ph.D.

Associate Director for Research
Instructor in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Biographical Sketch

Dr. Sarah E. Nelson is the Associate Director for Research at the Division on Addictions, Cambridge Health Alliance, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School and an Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. She received her PhD in social psychology from the University of Oregon in 2003, where she studied both social cognition and developmental psychopathology.

At the Division, Dr. Nelson has developed three major lines of research. She has (1) initiated conceptual work to expand and refine exposure and vulnerability models related to the etiology of addiction, (2) investigated the psychosocial predictors of repeat DUI offense, and (3) studied the individual trajectories of people who develop gambling problems. The common thread throughout these studies has been the investigation of problem behaviors (e.g., why people act in self- and other- destructive ways): the causes, consequences, and prevention of those behaviors. Her focus is currently on the development of addiction in adolescence and the interface between addiction and other problem behaviors.

Dr. Nelson currently has an R03 grant to test and refine models of exposure and vulnerability to predict the development of problematic alcohol use among adolescents in a longitudinal sample. She is most interested in the interaction of exposure and vulnerability in this development. Based on this current project, she intends to seek funding to expand these models and apply them to the development of multiple addictions and problem behaviors among adolescents.

To study the interface between addiction and other problem behaviors, Dr. Nelson has also focused in the past few years on driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUI) behavior. Her DUI work began with her collaboration on an NIAAA-funded R01 grant to study substance abuse and mental health in repeat DUI offenders. This study involved implementing the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI: World Health Organization, 2005) as the intake assessment at an inpatient program for repeat DUI offenders and following up these offenders one year after intake to investigate recidivism and changes in mental health. Analyses of this sample demonstrated considerable comorbidity among repeat DUI offenders. The extensive comorbidity between addictive disorders and other mental disorders in a group of people brought together only through their alcohol abusing behavior is striking. Currently Dr. Nelson is working on an analysis of the follow-up data from this project, investigating the relationship between comorbidity and DUI re-offense. The findings from this project have the potential to influence treatment for repeat DUI offenders. Dr. Nelson’s continued involvement in this project has led her to develop two related projects. One, in an effort to better understand how addictive and criminal behaviors relate, proposes to investigate the criminal histories of DUI offenders as they relate to DUI recidivism and substance use problems. The other, capitalizing on Dr. Nelson’s past social psychology work on attribution theory, tests whether DUI offenders' perceptions and explanations of their own behavior relate to their recidivism.

Another way in which Dr, Nelson has attempted to better conceptualize both the etiology of addiction and how addiction relates to other problem behaviors is through the study of a behavioral addiction, gambling. By studying a behavioral addiction, research can gain insights into aspects of addiction that are not confounded by the chemical interactions of drug and brain. Dr. Nelson’s gambling-related work has focused on the etiology of gambling problems, specifically the development and stability of gambling problems within individuals.

Selected Publications

In Press

  • LaPlante, D. A., Nelson, S. E., LaBrie, R. A., & Shaffer, H. J. (In Press). The relationships among disordered gambling, type of gambling, and gambling involvement in the British Gambling Prevalence Survey 2007. European Journal of Public Health.

  • Martin, R. J., Usdan, S., Nelson, S. E., Umstattd, R., LaPlante, D. A., Perko, M., & Shaffer, H. J. (In Press). Using the theory of planned behavior to predict gambling behavior. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.

  • Peller, A. J., Najavits, L. M., Nelson, S. E., LaBrie, R. A., & Shaffer, H. J. (In Press). PTSD among a treatment sample of repeat DUI offenders. Journal of Traumatic Stress.

2010

  • Albanese, M. J., Nelson, S. E., Peller, A. J., & Shaffer, H. J. (2010). Bipolar disorder as a risk factor for repeat DUI behavior. Journal of Affective Disorders, 121, 253-257.

  • Nelson, S. E., Kleschinsky, J. H., LaBrie, R. A., Kaplan, S. A., & Shaffer, H. J. (2010). One decade of self exclusion: Missouri Casino self-excluders four to ten years after enrollment. Journal of Gambling Studies, 26, 129-141.

  • Schuman-Olivier, Z., Albanese, M., Nelson, S. E., Roland, L., Puopolo, F., Klinker, L. & Shaffer, H. J. (2010). Self-treatment: Illicit buprenorphine use by opioid dependent treatment seekers. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 39, 41-50.

  • Shaffer, H. J., Peller, A., J., LaPlante, D. A., Nelson, S. E., & LaBrie, R. A. (2010). Toward a paradigm shift in Internet gambling research: From opinion and self-report to actual behavior. Addiction Research & Theory, 18(3), 270-283.

2009

  • Kleschinsky, J. H., Bosworth, L. B., Nelson, S.E., Walsh, E. K., & Shaffer, H.J. (2009). Persistence pays off: Follow-up methods for difficult-to-track longitudinal samples. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 70(5), 751-761.

  • LaPlante, D. A., Kleschinsky, J. H., LaBrie, R. A., Nelson, S. E., & Shaffer, H. J. (2009). Sitting at the virtual poker table: A prospective epidemiological study of actual Internet poker gambling behavior. Computers in Human Behavior, 25(3), 711-717.

  • LaPlante, D. A., Nelson, S. E., LaBrie, R. A., and Shaffer, H. J. (2009). Disordered gambling, type of gambling and gambling involvement in the British Gambling Prevalence Survey 2007. European Journal of Public Health: Advance Access. DOI:10.1093/eurpub/ckp177.

  • Nelson, S. E., Gebauer, L., LaBrie, R. A., & Shaffer, H. J. (2009). Gambling problem symptom patterns and stability across individual and timeframe. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 23(3), 523-533.

2008

  • LaBrie R.A., Kaplan, S.A., LaPlante, D.A., Nelson, S.E., and Shaffer, H.J. (2008). Inside the virtual casino: A prospective longitudinal study of actual Internet casino gambling. European Journal of Public Health, 18(4), 410-416.

  • LaPlante, D. A., Nelson, S. E., Odegaard, S. S., LaBrie, R. A., Shaffer, H. J. (2008). Substance and psychiatric disorders among men and women repeat driving under the influence offenders who accept a treatment-sentencing option. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 69(2), 209-217.

  • LaPlante, D. A., Nelson, S. E., LaBrie, R. A., Shaffer, H. J. (2008). Stability and progression of disordered gambling: Lessons from longitudinal studies. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 53(1), 52-60.

  • Nelson, S. E., LaPlante, D. A., Peller, A. J., Schumann, A., LaBrie, R. A., & Shaffer, H. J. (2008). Real limits in the virtual world: Self-limiting behavior of Internet gamblers. Journal of Gambling Studies, 24(4), 463-477.

2007

  • Dishion, T. J., & Nelson, S. E. (2007). Male adolescent friendships: Relationship dynamics that predict adult adjustment. In R. Engels, H. Stattin, & M. Kerr (Eds.), Friends, lovers, and groups: Key relationships in adolescence. West Sussex, England: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  • LaBrie, R. A., Nelson, S. E., LaPlante, D. A., Peller, A. J., Caro, G., Shaffer, H. J. (2007). Missouri casino self-excluders: Distributions across space and time. Journal of Gambling Studies, 23(2), 231-243.

  • LaBrie, R. A., LaPlante, D. A., Nelson, S. E., Schumann, A., Shaffer, H. J. (2007). Assessing the playing field: A longitudinal study of Internet sports gambling behavior. Journal of Gambling Studies, 23(3), 347-362.

  • Malle, B. F., Knobe, J., & Nelson, S. E. (2007). Actor-observer asymmetries in behavior explanations: New answers to an old question. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 23(3), 347-362.

  • Nelson, S. E., LaPlante, D. A., Peller, A. J., LaBrie, R. A., Caro, G., Shaffer, H. J. (2007). Implementation of a computerized psychiatric assessment tool at a DUI treatment facility: A case example. Administration and Policy in Mental Health, 34(5), 489-493.

  • Shaffer, H. J., Nelson, S. E., LaPlante, D. A., LaBrie, R. A., Caro, G., Albanese, M. (2007). The epidemiology of psychiatric disorders among repeat DUI offenders accepting a treatment sentencing option. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 75(5), 795-804.

2005 - 2006

  • LaPlante, D. A., Nelson, S. E., LaBrie, R. A., Shaffer, H. J. (2006). Men and women playing games: Gender and the gambling preferences of Iowa Gambling Treatment Program participants. Journal of Gambling Studies, 22(1), 65-80.

  • Nelson, S. E., LaPlante, D. A., LaBrie, R. A., & Shaffer, H. J. (2006). The proxy effect: Gender and gambling problem trajectories of Iowa Gambling Treatment Program participants. Journal of Gambling Studies, 22(2), 221-240.

  • Shaffer, H. J., Stanton, M. V., & Nelson, S. E. (2006). Trends in gambling studies research: Quantifying, categorizing, and describing citations. Journal of Gambling Studies, 22(4), 427-442.

  • Dishion, T. J., Nelson, S. E., & Yasui, M. (2005). Predicting early adolescent gang involvement from middle school adaptation. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 34(1), 62-73.

2003 - 2004

  • Dishion, T. J., Nelson, S. E., & Bullock, B. M. (2004). Premature adolescent autonomy: Family management and deviant peer process in the amplification of problem behavior. Journal of Adolescence, 27(5), 515-530.

  • Dishion, T. J., Nelson, S. E., Bullock, B. M., & Winter, C. E. (2004). Adolescent friendship as a dynamic system: Entropy and deviance in the etiology and course of male antisocial behavior. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 32(6), 651-663.

  • Nelson, S. E., & Dishion, T. J. (2004). From boys to men: Predicting adult aggression from middle childhood sociometric status. Development and Psychopathology, 16, 441-459.

  • Shaffer, H. J., LaBrie, R. A., LaPlante, D. A., Nelson, S. E., & Stanton, M. V. (2004). The road less traveled: Moving from distribution to determinants in the study of gambling epidemiology. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 49(8), 504-516.

  • Dishion, T. J., Nelson, S. E., & Kavanagh, K. (2003). The Family Check-Up for high-risk young adolescents: Motivating parent monitoring and reducing problem behavior. Behavior Therapy, 34, 553-571.

  • Malle, B. F., & Nelson, S. E. (2003). Judging mens rea: The tension between folk concepts and legal concepts of intentionality. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 21(5), 563-580.

2002 and earlier

  • Dishion, T. J., Kavanagh, K., Schneiger, A., Nelson, S. E., & Kaufmann, N. K. (2002). Preventing early adolescent substance use: A family-centered strategy for the public middle school. Prevention Science, 3(3), 191-201.

  • Malle, B. F., Knobe, J., O’Laughlin, M. J., Pearce, G. E., & Nelson, S. E. (2000). Conceptual structure and social functions of behavior explanations: Beyond person-situation attributions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 309-326.

Reports

  • Kleschinsky, J. H., Kaplan, S. A., Nelson, S. E., LaBrie, R. A., & Shaffer, H. J. (2008). The Missouri Voluntary Exclusion Program: Participant Experience Across 10 Years. Boston, MA: Division on Addictions, Cambridge Health Alliance, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School.

  • Nelson, S. E., Maurice, I. R., Shaffer, H. J. (2008). St. Francis House Moving Ahead Program (MAP): Phase II report. Boston, MA: Division on Addictions, Cambridge Health Alliance, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School.

  • Nelson, S. E., Maurice, I. R., Shaffer, H. J. (2008). St. Francis House Moving Ahead Program (MAP): Phase I report. Boston, MA: Division on Addictions, Cambridge Health Alliance, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School.

  • Shaffer, H. J., LaBrie, R. A., LaPlante, D. A., Kidman, R. C., & Nelson, S. E. (2004). The Iowa Department of Public Health Gambling Treatment Services: Follow-up study (Technical Report #20304-200). Boston: Harvard Medical School.

  • Shaffer, H. J., LaBrie, R. A., LaPlante, D. A., & Nelson, S. B. (2004). Disordered gambling in Missouri: Regional differences in the need for treatment. Phase I Report prepared for: The Greater Kansas City Community Foundation in partial fulfillment of the research grant “Evaluation Services with Regard to the Regional Impact of Compulsive Gambling” supported by the Port Authority Problem Gambling Fund.
© 2008 Harvard Medical School Division on Addictions. All Rights Reserved. Last Updated:  July 22, 2010