A transdisciplinary approach to health behavior change research

After receiving the 2016 Outstanding Student/Trainee Abstract Award in Multiple Health Behavior Change (MHBC) Research from the Society of Behavioral Medicine in March, USC doctoral candidate Christopher Warren spoke with the society’s MHBC special interest group about his research approach and interests.

Warren, a Predoctoral Fellow in Health Behavior Research at the Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research, was honored for his abstract, “Childhood Sleep Patterns Predict Future Substance Use Behaviors: A Mediational Pathway through Inhibitory Control Deficits.” 

“This research tested mechanisms through which insufficient sleep increases risk of initiating cigarette and alcohol use during early adolescence,” he said. “By studying the mediational role of inhibitory control, this research builds upon a growing evidence base arguing for the importance of executive functions in promoting multiple health behaviors like nutrition and physical activity as well as in preventing substance use, sexual risk-taking, and obesogenic behaviors.”

Read the full Q&A: “Using a Transdisciplinary Approach to Multiple Health Behavior Change Research”