About

Dr. Damaris Jane Rohsenow is a Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences at Brown University and serves as the associate director of the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies. She has a distinguished career spanning over four decades, focusing on studying basic processes and conducting treatment outcome studies for addictive disorders including smoking, alcohol abuse, and cocaine abuse, utilizing both behavioral and pharmacologic approaches. She is also the co-director of a postdoctoral T32 training grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse on Substance Abuse Intervention Outcome Research. Her research includes developing and testing treatments for substance use disorders, with particular attention to underserved populations such as Latinx and Black Americans, and investigating the effects of medications and behavioral interventions on smoking and alcohol use. Dr. Rohsenow has contributed extensively to the field through her publications, including co-authoring the second edition of 'Treating Alcohol Dependence.' She is currently involved in large-scale studies, including a multi-site initiative under the HEAL program to implement medication-assisted treatment for opioid dependence in criminal justice settings, aiming to reduce opioid-related deaths among high-risk populations. Additionally, she has mentored numerous faculty, residents, and postdoctoral fellows, and actively participates in training programs related to substance abuse intervention research.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Psychology
• Clinical psychology
• Environmental health
• Internal medicine
• Nursing
• Psychiatry

Selected publications

• Care management staff perspectives on stigma and barriers to substance use treatment experienced by latine adults who use substances

  Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports · 2025-05-10

  articleOpen access

  Background: Stigma related to substance use or addiction contributes to health care inequality. Structural stigma - embedded in societal conditions, policies, practices, and cultural norms - has been less studied than interpersonal (e.g., provider bias) and individual level stigma processes. The perspectives of staff working with patients who navigate health care systems can help to identify substance use stigma at the structural and interpersonal levels. The study aimed to examine staff perceptions of structural and interpersonal stigma processes, their association with barriers to substance use disorder (SUD) care, the interplay between different levels of stigma, and their impacts at the individual level. Methods: Care management staff (n = 20, 75 % community health workers, CHWs) from a complex care management program were interviewed about the challenges Latine compared to non-Latine patients faced in accessing care for substance use treatment. Thematic analysis was used to analyze interview transcripts. The Structural Stigma framework was used to guide analysis. Results: Structural and interpersonal stigma processes as well as intersectional stigma were associated with barriers to SUD care. Latine patients were reported as being frequently affected by intersecting systems of oppression due to multiple stigmatized identities (e.g., persons with substance use and as immigrants) than non-Latine patients. Structural and interpersonal stigma processes were associated with self-stigma and hindered help-seeking behaviors. Conclusion: Care management staff offer unique perspectives into how stigma at multiple levels is experienced by patients and perpetuated. Stigma processes may discourage the initiation of needed substance use care among Latine persons experiencing oppression.

  PublisherDOI

• Evidence-Based Addiction Care During Incarceration Reduces Post-Release Overdoses

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Validation of group process assessment for youth who misuse substances: Group level coding

  Journal of Community Safety and Well-Being · 2024-12-13

  articleOpen access

  Group interventions are commonly used for treating youth. Assessing group processes during intervention has presented challenges. The present study evaluated the psychometric properties of a group process-group level measure. This measure examined behaviours (e.g., positive or deviant) of incarcerated youth during group substance use interventions. Adolescents and counsellors completed a series of questions after each group session (n = 584 sessions). Observers rated group behaviour from 153 video-recorded sessions. The results supported internal consistency (median α = 0.78), inter-rater reliability (median α = .63), and validity (e.g., r = 0.12–0.82, p < 0.01). Importantly, a measure with demonstrated reliability and validity at the group level can be part of quality control for researchers and practitioners when individual-level ratings are not needed or too costly.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Medications for opioid use disorders among incarcerated persons and those in the community supervision setting: exploration of implementation issues with key stakeholders

  Addiction Science & Clinical Practice · 2024-12-18 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  INTRODUCTION: Receipt of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) critically reduces opioid-related mortality during the post-incarceration period. Optimal provision of this care to individuals on community supervision (i.e., probation) requires an understanding of this unique and complex system at the local level. METHODS: We conducted in-depth individual interviews with key treatment providers and probation staff (n = 10) involved with the provision of MOUD to individuals on community supervision in the Northeast. Interviews explored perspectives on the provision of MOUD and support services during the community supervision period. Thematic analysis was conducted to describe inductive and deductive codes, subcodes, and themes. RESULTS: Stakeholders shared diverse attitudes about the benefits and drawbacks of MOUD utilization. The provision of MOUD during the community supervision period was perceived to be influenced by both treatment and probation organizational characteristics, including the structures and values of the agencies. As such, the specific context of the community supervision setting facilitated and impeded MOUD delivery. Persistent challenges to enhancing MOUD delivery to this population remain including widespread MOUD stigma, inter-agency communication issues, and structural barriers to healthcare (i.e., transportation, finances). CONCLUSIONS: There are opportunities to enhance access to evidence-based OUD treatment for persons on community supervision by engaging probation agencies and community treatment staff in systems change.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• “Healthier health in more ways than one”: Perspectives on a program for changing both smoking and obesity-related health behaviors

  Eating Behaviors · 2024-04-01 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Development and evaluation of a measure of drinking behavior in response to acculturation stressors for Latinx adults entering alcohol treatment

  Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment · 2023-01-13 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Cognitive behavioral therapy for substance use disorders

  Elsevier eBooks · 2023-01-01 · 1 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Circumstances Around Cigarette Use after Enforced Abstinence From Smoking in an American Prison

  Journal of Addiction Medicine · 2022-08-02 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  OBJECTIVES: Most adults return to smoking after enforced tobacco abstinence when incarcerated in US prisons. Little is known about the specific relapse triggers on reentry. This study examines situational, affective, and motivational antecedents of return to smoking immediately after release from a tobacco-free prison. METHODS: Assessments were administered before release and 1 and 7 days after release to 190 incarcerated adults who were smokers before incarceration. Those reporting smoking within 7 days after release were asked about circumstances surrounding their first cigarette. RESULTS: Two-thirds reported smoking in the 7 days after release (76% of those in the first day) with the first cigarette smoked 21 hours after release on average. Smoking occurred more quickly for women than men and for those who planned to smoke after release ( P values from 0.05 to 0.001). Forty-one percent of participants smoked while waiting for a ride or on the way home, 68% were given their first cigarette, 28% reported first smoking when reuniting with others, 42% first smoked with smokers, and 26% first smoked as celebration. The moods most reported before smoking were happy (60%) or excited (41.5%). Factors reported that could have prevented smoking were avoiding other smokers (27%), avoiding stress (16%), not drinking/using drugs (12%), and not having access to cigarettes (11%). CONCLUSIONS: High rates of return to smoking occurred rapidly when around other smokers, using other substances, and in a positive mood. Interventions that focus specifically on these factors and can be immediately accessed upon release are required to help sustain people's desired abstinence.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Treatment outcomes associated with medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) among criminal justice-referred admissions to residential treatment in the U.S., 2015–2018

  Drug and Alcohol Dependence · 2022-05-14 · 12 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Using implementation interventions and peer recovery support to improve opioid treatment outcomes in community supervision: Protocol

  Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment · 2021 · 17 citations

  • Medicine
  • Nursing
  • Psychology
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Very Low-Nicotine Cigarettes in Smokers with SUD: Smoking, Substance Use Effects

  NIH · $2.9M · 2013–2021

• NIH Grant R01DA004859

  NIH · $2.6M · 1998

• NIH Grant R01DA024652

  NIH · $3.4M · 2014

• Substance Abuse Intervention Outcome Research Training

  NIH · $5.7M · 2003–2028

• NIH Grant R01DA023995

  NIH · $3.0M · 2014

Frequent coauthors

• Peter M. Monti

  534 shared

• Suzanne M. Colby

  Providence College

  352 shared

• Robert M. Swift

  Providence VA Medical Center

  338 shared

• Rosemarie A. Martin

  Brown University

  217 shared

• David B. Abrams

  New York University

  206 shared

• Barbara Flannery

  Indiana University School of Medicine

  200 shared

• Jennifer W. Tidey

  Brown University

  163 shared

• Ned L. Cooney

  Yale University

  130 shared