About

Jennifer Merrill is a Professor in the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences at Brown University. Her research primarily investigates the etiology and consequences of alcohol use among young adults. She has recently completed an R01 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) to study drinking patterns, proximal antecedents, and consequences of high-intensity drinking and alcohol-induced blackouts among emerging adults. Additionally, she is the principal investigator of an R34 from NIAAA focused on developing a mobile-delivered personalized feedback intervention, and was the multiple principal investigator of an R21 examining how young adults who are not in 4-year colleges discuss alcohol on social media. Her expertise encompasses qualitative methods, ecological momentary assessment, alcohol biosensors, and intervention development. Emerging research interests include cannabis use and consequences, as well as the labeling of alcohol product containers. Her work contributes to understanding college drinking behaviors, social media influences, and intervention strategies aimed at reducing harmful alcohol and substance use among young adults.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Medicine
• Environmental health
• Psychiatry
• Clinical psychology
• Demography
• Social psychology
• Sociology
• Developmental psychology
• Psychotherapist
• Chemistry

Selected publications

• Are dating and sexual Protective Behavioral Strategies (PBS) associated with alcohol-related consequences at all levels of alcohol use?

  Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology · 2026-03-09

  article

  = .391). Dating/sexual PBS reduce alcohol-related consequences over 1-month, particularly among students with low to average drinking levels. These findings emphasize the importance of both alcohol-specific and dating/sexual PBS in college alcohol risk reduction interventions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

  PublisherDOI

• Development of an alcohol biosensor non-wear algorithm: laboratory-based machine learning and field-based deployment

  Scientific Reports · 2025-08-25

  articleOpen access

  Wrist-worn alcohol biosensors can continuously track alcohol consumption, but their measurements are disrupted when the device is removed. Left unaddressed, non-wear data compromises observations of alcohol use and subsequent predictions of intoxication. To advance beyond commonly used temperature cutoffs and enable more precise detection of non-wear, we trained a random forest algorithm using laboratory ground truth data. Participants in Study One (N = 36) wore a wrist-worn alcohol biosensor (BACtrack Skyn) across 61 five-hour laboratory sessions, generating ground truth non-wear by removing and re-applying the device at specified times. Algorithm features included temperature, motion, and their time-series quadratic coefficients. According to device-based cross-validation, the algorithm performed with excellent sensitivity to detect non-wear (0.96) and specificity to confirm wear (0.99), out-performing all univariable temperature cutoffs from 25 to 30 °C. The algorithm was then used to evaluate biosensor adherence in Study Two, a four-week field study where participants (N = 114) wore the Skyn and self-reported non-wear intervals each day. The algorithm detected 1.6 h of daily non-wear per participant and had more agreement with self-report compared with the temperature cutoff method. This non-wear algorithm can assess biosensor adherence in field studies and may also facilitate precise data imputation, resulting in more objective models of alcohol-related outcomes.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Day-level negative outcomes of failed control over drinking.

  Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science · 2025-12-11

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  = 203 young adults reporting heavy drinking, 57% female, 74% White) were recruited between 2021 and 2023. Participants completed 28 days of ecological momentary assessment of drinking intentions, alcohol use, blackouts, and other alcohol-related consequences. Daily FC was operationalized as (a) unplanned drinking (i.e., drinking after earlier day denial of intentions to drink), (b) surpassing intended levels of intoxication reported early evening (predrinking), and (c) surpassing intended levels of intoxication reported at first drink. In multilevel models, unplanned (vs. planned) drinking days were related to fewer drinks and lower odds of blackouts. Getting more intoxicated than intended early evening was related to more drinks and higher odds of experiencing 1+ other negative consequences; getting more intoxicated than intended at the first drink was related to all three outcomes: more drinks and higher odds of blackouts/other consequences. Day-level risks of FC depend on how it is operationalized. In this sample, the heaviest and most problematic drinking appears to occur on planned, rather than unplanned, drinking days and when intended intoxication levels are exceeded. Efforts to reduce heavy drinking and negative outcomes may benefit from incorporating skills to facilitate adherence to predefined plans for desired intoxication levels. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

  PublisherDOI

• Lower perceptions of day‐level peer drinking strengthen the impact of personal drinking on negative and positive consequences

  Alcohol Clinical and Experimental Research · 2025-04-19 · 3 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  BACKGROUND: Several studies have demonstrated that perceived peer drinking is associated with problem drinking behavior. However, research focusing on the dynamic impact of day-level perceived peer drinking behavior on a given individual's day-to-day deviations in drinking behavior has received less attention. This study sought to test whether day-level deviations in (and person-level averages of) perceived peer drinking quantity moderated the impact of an individual's own day-to-day deviations in (and person-level averages of) drinking quantity on day-level alcohol consequences. METHODS: Young adults (N = 202; 55% female; mean age = 22.03 [SD = 2.75]) who reported high-intensity drinking (8+/10+ drinks/occasion for females/males) engaged in 28 days of ecological momentary assessment. Each day, participants reported on their past-day drinking quantity, perceived peer drinking quantity, and negative/positive alcohol-related consequences experienced. RESULTS: At the day-level, within-person deviations in both personal and perceived peer drinking quantity were associated with increases in negative and positive consequences. However, significant interactions between the two suggested the day-level associations between increases in personal drinking quantity and both negative and positive consequences were weaker when perceived peer drinking was higher (vs. lower) than usual. At the person level, average personal and perceived drinking were unrelated to alcohol consequences. However, there was an interaction such that the association between an individual's average drinking quantity and negative consequences was statistically significant and positive only when average perceived peer drinking was lower than the sample average. CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that perceived peer drinking behavior may play a role in the day-to-day experience of alcohol-related consequences both across and within individuals, particularly when individuals perceive peers to be drinking less. Interventions may benefit from increasing protective strategy utilization when individuals are in situations where they drink more heavily than usual while their peers are drinking less heavily than usual.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Social context and impaired control over alcohol use during naturally occurring drinking episodes

  Psychopharmacology · 2025-10-15 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• University Characteristics as Correlates of Student Alcohol Use: A Multisite National Study

  Substance Use & Misuse · 2025-10-15

  article1st authorCorresponding

  OBJECTIVE: This study examined how university characteristics were associated with students' drinking behavior. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were 6,139 university students from 30 institutions across the U.S. METHODS: Participants reported demographics and completed the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Schools were characterized on variables across three categories: organizational (e.g., presence of fraternity/sorority student organizations), physical and behavioral (e.g., U.S. region), and campus community (e.g., urban-rural classification). School and student characteristics were entered in multilevel models predicting drinking status and AUDIT scores. RESULTS: Controlling for significant individual-level characteristics, higher drinking likelihood was observed among students at schools with a lower percentage of commuters, and those in the Northeast or Midwest (versus West). Students at schools in the Midwest had higher AUDIT scores (versus Southeast; Southwest). CONCLUSIONS: Some school characteristics are related to alcohol use outcomes and may differentially impact students' drinking behavior. Considering university characteristics may help inform school policies to curb heavy drinking.

  PublisherDOI

• Factors that increase risk for alcohol‐induced blackouts in high‐intensity drinking young adults

  Alcohol Clinical and Experimental Research · 2025-05-20

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  BACKGROUND: Alcohol-induced blackouts are prospectively associated with negative drinking outcomes. While typically requiring heavy drinking, blackouts are not reported on all heavy drinking events or by all individuals who drink heavily. This study extends previous research by identifying the young adults most likely to experience blackouts assessed prospectively. Hypotheses focused on previously supported (female sex, White race, younger age, family history of alcohol problems, lower subjective response to alcohol, and higher tolerance) and novel predictors (possible traumatic brain injury; TBI) of alcohol-induced blackouts. METHODS: = 22.07) recruited for high-intensity drinking (8/10+ drinks/occasion for females/males) completed a baseline survey and a 28-day ecological momentary assessment protocol. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to test between-person predictors of fragmentary (temporary) or en bloc (permanent) blackout likelihood during the 28 days, and moderators of the effect of day-level estimated blood alcohol concentration (eBAC) on blackout likelihood. RESULTS: Controlling for event-level and average eBAC, both types of blackouts were more likely among those with higher subjective response to alcohol. Fragmentary blackouts were more likely among younger participants and those with possible prior TBI. Day-level eBAC was more strongly associated with both types of blackouts among non-Hispanic White participants and those with lower mean eBACs. Day-level eBAC was most strongly associated with fragmentary blackouts among those with a first-order family history of alcohol problems. CONCLUSIONS: Younger age and greater sensitivity to alcohol may confer risk for blackouts above and beyond intoxication levels. Future work is needed to understand mechanisms that explain why these factors confer risk for blackouts.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Prior-night sleep as an event-level predictor of alcohol-induced memory loss

  SLEEP · 2025-12-20

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  STUDY OBJECTIVES: Alcohol-induced memory loss (also known as "blackout") is prevalent and confers risk for other adverse drinking outcomes. Sleep health is implicated in memory and cognitive functioning broadly, but proximal impacts of sleep on next-day memory loss are understudied. We hypothesized that worse sleep health the night before drinking (fewer hours, misaligned timing, worse sleep quality, greater sleepiness) would (a) increase the odds of next-day memory loss and (b) moderate day-level associations between estimated blood alcohol concentration (eBAC) and blackouts, such that lower eBACs would be required to experience memory loss following nights of worse sleep. METHODS: Heavy-drinking young adults (N = 203, 57 per cent female) in the United States completed baseline self-report measures, followed by 28 days of ecological momentary assessments. RESULTS: Memory loss was reported on 15.4 per cent (n = 366) of drinking days (n = 2380). Multilevel models, controlling for eBAC, indicated that fewer hours of sleep (OR = 0.84 [95% CI: 0.76, 0.92], p < .001), more deviation than usual from mid-sleep timing (OR = 1.43 [1.25, 1.65], p < .001), and worse sleep quality (OR = 0.72 [0.60, 0.85], p < .001) on the night before drinking significantly increased the odds of next-day memory loss. Sleepiness at the start of drinking events was unrelated to memory loss [OR = 0.91 (0.81, 1.03), p = .13]. Sleep parameters did not significantly moderate associations between eBAC and memory loss (p ≥ .08). CONCLUSIONS: Prior-night sleep health increases risk for alcohol-induced memory loss. These behavioral data extend experimental findings to young adults' real-time drinking outcomes. We encourage prevention and intervention efforts highlighting poor sleep as a potential contributor to alcohol-induced memory impairment.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• What apps and websites do those in treatment for substance-related problems use to help them in their recovery? A cross-sectional study of products and use patterns

  Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment · 2025-01-27

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Social media for recovery support for people with substance use disorder. A cross-sectional study of use patterns and motivations

  Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports · 2025-04-09 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  This study examined the use of social media for recovery support among individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) with past-year treatment attendance and tested whether demographic and SUD history factors were associated with use of social media for recovery support. Participants (N = 255; 45 % female, 85 % white, mean age = 41.4 [9.6]) recently treated for SUD completed an online survey. The survey gathered demographics, SUD histories, and social media use data. We report descriptive statistics and logistic regression models testing relationships between social media for recovery support and individual factors. Forty percent of participants used social media for recovery support, and most believed it beneficial. Being female increased use likelihood (OR = 2.56, 95 % CI [1.49, 4.46]), while older age (50 +) was associated with lower use likelihood than young adults (18−35) (OR = 0.35, 95 % CI [0.14, 0.84]). Social media was used primarily to build support systems and follow recovery-related content. Most found support forums on their own, and engaged with the groups for meaningful amounts of time ( > weekly, > 15 minutes). Results highlight how common it is to use social media for recovery support. Given the sparse evidence on its efficacy, more research is urgently needed to establish whether recovery support forums on social media convey actual benefits, and how to shape one’s digital environment to maximize those benefits. • Social media was commonly used for recovery support, and most believed it beneficial. • Female participants were more likely to use social media for recovery support. • Older participants (50 +) were less likely to use social media for recovery support. • Most found recovery groups alone, without support from professionals or peers. • Social media was used most to build support networks with both online and in-person relationships.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Daily personalized drinking feedback delivered via mobile phone

  NIH · $688k · 2022–2026

Frequent coauthors

• Kate B. Carey

  Brown University

  145 shared

• Mary Beth Miller

  University of Missouri

  72 shared

• Kristina M. Jackson

  Pacific Institute For Research and Evaluation

  64 shared

• Nancy P. Barnett

  John Brown University

  60 shared

• Angelo M. DiBello

  Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

  52 shared

• Holly K. Boyle

  Yale University

  47 shared

• Gabriela López

  46 shared

• Brian Borsari

  31 shared