Rebecca Smith
Email: smithr22@vcu.edu
Pronouns: She/her
Rebecca Smith, Ph.D., M.S.W., is a research instructor in the School of Social Work and director of undergraduate research for the Institute for Research on Behavioral and Emotional Health at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). Dr. Smith’s research explores the social, environmental and genetic factors that influence substance use, mental illness and recovery among young adults and people who are justice-involved. Her research seeks to improve health outcomes for at-risk individuals and to inform relevant policy.
Prior to earning her Ph.D. in developmental psychology, Dr. Smith was trained as a clinical social worker. She worked as a clinician at acute psychiatric hospitals, including a forensic psychiatric hospital where she worked with individuals who were dually involved in the behavioral health and criminal legal systems. She continued her work with justice-involved individuals working as a research analyst with the Department of Juvenile Justice. During her doctoral studies, Dr. Smith focused more specifically on young adults with substance use disorders and the factors that facilitated their recovery.
Before joining VCU, Dr. Smith worked as a principal research associate at the Pew Charitable Trusts. Her research focused on best practices for helping individuals experiencing behavioral health crises and on individuals dually involved in the behavioral health and criminal legal systems.
Areas of expertise
- Adolescent and Youth Development
- Adolescent and Youth Mental Health
- Adverse Childhood Experiences
- Community-Based Participatory Research
- Individuals Living with Severe Mental Illnesses
- Mental Health and Criminal Justice Involvement
- Quantitative Research
- Substance Misuse and Addictive Behaviors
- Substance Use Intervention and Long-Term Recovery
Education and credentials
Ph.D., developmental psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University
M.S.W., clinical social work, Virginia Commonwealth University
B.S., psychology, University of Mary Washington
Work
Selected publications
Smith, R. L., Bannard, T., McDaniel, J., Aliev, F., Brown, A., Holliday, E., Vest, N., DeFrantz-Dufor, W., Recovery Science Research Collaborative, & Dick, D. M. (2024). Characteristics of students participating in Collegiate Recovery Programs and the impact of COVID-19: An updated national longitudinal study. Addiction Research & Theory, 32(1), 58-67.
Vest, N., Hennessy, E., Castedo de Martell, S., & Smith, R. (2023). A socio-ecological model for Collegiate Recovery Programs. Addiction Research & Theory, 31(2), 92-99.
Smith, R. L., Dick, D. M., Amstadter, A., Thomas, N., Spit for Science Working Group, & Salvatore, J. E. (2023). A longitudinal study examining associations between interpersonal trauma and romantic relationships characteristics among college students. Development & Psychopathology, 35(3), 1346-1357.
Sheerin, C.M., Kuo, S.I., Smith, R.L., Bannard, T., Gentry, A.E., The Spit for Science Working Group, Vassileva*, J., Dick*, D.M., Amstadter*, A.B. (2022). COVID and college: How the pandemic impacted alcohol use disorder status among students. Journal of American College Health, 1-9.
Ksinan, A. J., Smith, R. L., Barr, P. B., & Vazsonyi, A. T. (2021). The associations of polygenic scores for risky behaviors and parenting behaviors with adolescent externalizing problems. Behavior Genetics, 52(1), 26-37.
Smith, R. L., Dick, D. M., Amstadter, A., Thomas, N., Spit for Science Working Group, & Salvatore, J. E. (2021). A longitudinal study of the moderating effects of romantic relationships on the associations between alcohol use and trauma in college students. Addiction, 116(11), 3008-3018.
*Cho, S. -B., *Smith, R. L., Bucholz, K., Chan, G., Edenberg, H. J., Hesselbrock, V., Kramer, J., McCutcheon, V. V., Nurnberger, J., Schuckit, M., Zang, Y., Dick, D. M., & Salvatore, J. E. (2021). Using a developmental perspective to examine the moderating effects of marriage on heavy episodic drinking in high-risk young adults. Development & Psychopathology, 33(3), 1097-1106.
Smith, R. L., Salvatore, J. E., Aliev, F., Neale, Z., Barr, P., & Dick, D. M. (2019). Genes, roommates, and residence halls: A multidimensional study of the role of peer drinking on college students’ alcohol use. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 43(6), 1254-1262.
Shakeshaft, C., Smith, R. L., Keener, S. T., & Shakeshaft, E. (2019). Standard of care for protecting students from educator sexual misconduct. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 28(1), 105-124.
*Denotes shared first authorship
Professional highlights
Selected presentations
- Smith, R. L., McIntyre, T., & Van Deinse, T. (2023, November). Overrepresentation of adults with mental illnesses and co-occurring substance use disorders in the criminal system. Symposium chaired and paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Philadelphia, PA.
- Dick, D., Smith, R. L., & Bannard, T. (2022, June). Measuring the impact of Collegiate Recovery Programs: Data from the National Longitudinal Collegiate Recovery Survey. Invited keynote presentation at the annual ARHE/ARS/AAPG Annual National Recovery Conference, Richmond, VA.
- Smith, R. L., Bannard, T., Dick, D. M. (2022, May). Investigating the role of Collegiate Recovery Programs as relapse prevention. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Prevention Research, Seattle, Washington.
- Sheerin, C., Kuo, S., Smith, R. L., Bannard, T., Spit for Science Working Group, Vassileva, J., Dick, D., & Amstadter, A. (2021, June). COVID and college: How the pandemic impacted aud status among students. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, virtual.
- Long, E., Green, L., Smith, R., Supplee, L., Jordan, E., Scott, J. T., & Crowley, M. (2020, December). Tools for measuring federal lawmakers’ use of research evidence: Legislative surveys and bill coding. Paper presented at the virtual Annual Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation.
- Long, E.C., Smith, R., Scott, J. T., & Crowley D. M. (2020, July). Lessons learned from surveying congressional staff on using science. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Prevention Research, Washington, DC.
Selected research projects and funding
- Co-Investigator of sub-award (2024-2029): “Fast Track to Certified Substance Abuse Counselor (CSAC) Program,” Virginia Opioid Abatement Authority, 5680026ST
- Project Coordinator (2020-2022): "National Longitudinal Collegiate Recovery Study," Virginia State Opioid Response Grant, Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Development Services
- Principal Investigator (2021-2022): “Characterizing patterns and predictors of recovery from alcohol use disorders: A genetically informed, longitudinal design,” National Institutes of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, F31AA028720
Affiliations and service
- Institute for Research on Behavioral and Emotional Health
- Appointed reviewer, Human Research Review Committee, Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice
Ad-hoc reviewer
- Frontiers in Psychiatry
- Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology
- Personal Relationships
- Psychological Medicine
- Substance Use & Misuse
Teaching areas and interests
- Community-Based Research
- Experiential Learning
- Lifespan Development
- Mental Health and Criminal Justice Involvement
- Substance Misuse and Recovery
- Trauma
Recent courses taught
- BIOL 391/PSYC 494/SLWK 391 - Spit for Science: Conducting and Understanding Research