Research Interests
- Addiction
- Alcohol
- Social processes
Research Description
My work focuses on basic social and emotional processes driving alcohol use as well as the application of novel methods and measures within addiction science more broadly. In the Alcohol Research Laboratory, we employ lab-based alcohol-administration procedures, as well as ambulatory measures assessing alcohol response outside the laboratory, to better understand basic factors that might motivate heavy drinking. A primary aim of this program of work is to examine alcohol's impact within social contexts and how alcohol’s social and emotional rewards might ultimately contribute to the etiology of alcohol use disorder. Within our laboratory research, we have employed a range of measures including analyses of facial muscle movement during live interaction, eye tracking, and also electroencephalography recordings. Within our ambulatory research, we employ photographic measures of drinking contexts and alcohol biosensors that assess drinking via transdermal means. Our laboratory also has developed a focus on research synthesis and meta-analysis, the application of machine learning methods within addiction science, as well as the validation of alcohol biosensing technology.
Education
Ph.D., University of of Pittsburgh
External Links
Recent Publications
Fairbairn, C. E., Velia, B. A., Creswell, K. G., & Sayette, M. A. (2020). A dynamic analysis of the effect of alcohol consumption on humor enjoyment in a social context. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 86, [103903]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2019.103903
Fairbairn, C. E., Rosen, I. G., Luczak, S. E., & Venerable, W. J. (2019). Estimating the quantity and time course of alcohol consumption from transdermal alcohol sensor data: A combined laboratory-ambulatory study. Alcohol, 81, 111-116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcohol.2018.08.015
Fairbairn, C. E. A., & Kang, D. (2019). Temporal Dynamics of Transdermal Alcohol Concentration Measured via New-Generation Wrist-Worn Biosensor. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 43(10), 2060-2069. https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.14172
Fairbairn, C. E. A., & Velia, B. A. (2019). Understanding social factors in alcohol reward and risk for problem drinking. In K. D. Federmeier (Ed.), Psychology of Learning and Motivation - Advances in Research and Theory (pp. 107-130). (Psychology of Learning and Motivation - Advances in Research and Theory; Vol. 71). Academic Press Inc.. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.plm.2019.05.001
Kang, D., Fairbairn, C. E., & Ariss, T. A. (2019). A meta-analysis of the effect of substance use interventions on emotion outcomes. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 87(12), 1106-1123. https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000450
