HEALTH PROMOTION & RESEARCH LABORATORY
Bonnie Spring, Ph.D.

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Department of Psychology
1007 W. Harrison st. Chicago, IL. 60607
Tel : 312-355-2141 Fax: 312-355-2155

Background
I graduated with a bachelor’s degree from The State University of New York at Oswego in 1993.  At Oswego, I completed work in the areas of psychology and philosophy. I received my Ph.D. from Oklahoma State University in 1998, under the direction of Frank L. Collins, Jr. Ph.D. During my tenure at Oklahoma State University, I primarily examined behavioral and physiological mechanisms associated with the exacerbation or attenuation of withdrawal symptoms among smokers and smokeless tobacco users. I completed my clinical internship at the Boston Consortium/Boston VAMC (home of one of the National Centers for PTSD) where I became interested in the overwhelming number of individuals presenting with co-morbid substance abuse problems and psychopathology (e.g., combat-related PTSD, depression, schizophrenia). Such clinical and research experiences prompted me to join Bonnie Spring’s team as a postdoctoral research associate following my internship.  My particular interest with Dr. Spring’s research was the characterization of psychobiological substrates that underlie cigarette smoking. Following my postdoctoral training, I received funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Veterans Affairs to examine the influence of negative moods and cigarette craving on nicotine dependent individuals with and without a history of depression.  At present, I hold a joint appointment at the University of Illinois at Chicago as a Research Assistant Professor and at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital as a Health Research Scientist.

Research Focus
Overall, I am interested in the motivational underpinnings that explain co-morbidity between unhealthy behaviors and psychopathology. I view neuronal abnormalities, affective expressions, and trait predispositions underlying a psychopathological vulnerability as powerful motivating variables that maintain unhealthy behaviors. Consistent with this perspective, my ongoing research explores a) factors of a depressive vulnerability that influence the development, maintenance, and cessation of cigarette smoking behavior, b) personality and mood characteristics that differentiate cigarette smokers from smokeless tobacco users, c) factors associated with the effects of coexisting unhealthy behaviors (e.g., tobacco use, maladaptive eating, alcohol use), and d) implications for specialized interventions that target vulnerable groups. Please visit my laboratory home page Behavioral Pharmacology Nicotine Research Laboratory for a more specific description of my research program, staff, and collaborators.  Moreover, please feel free to view my publication record.

Mentorship
My mentorship philosophy is that each person entering graduate training has within himself or herself the ability to succeed as a graduate student in clinical psychology. As a mentor, I assist them to adapt to the challenges of graduate training. My belief is that students require structure during the initial stages of their training, but should gradually become more and more autonomous as they progress through the program. I believe in exposing students to a multitude of opportunities throughout their training. However, the timing of such exposure is essential. The development of a student is individually based. Each comes in with his or her strengths and weaknesses. Each has differing levels of expertise and experiences. My job is to understand where the student is in their development and to provide the environment conducive to growth and learning. If I have done my job adequately, at the end of a student’s tenure in graduate school, they will view their experience as challenging, yet satisfying. They will also feel confident in their abilities and understand their limitations.

Current Study
Study Title:  Depression-Prone Smokers and Cigarette Craving Project

Study Description:

Recent studies have identified a disproportionate number of smokers who have a history of major depressive disorder (Breslau, Kilbey & Andreski, 1993; Glassman, et al., 1990). Despite treatments that target this subgroup of smokers (Hall, Munoz & Reus, 1994; Hall et al., 1996), depression-prone individuals continue to experience great difficulty quitting smoking and remaining abstinent. The behavioral mechanisms that maintain unusually recalcitrant smoking by depression-prone smokers are poorly understood. The proposed research tests two candidate mechanisms: a)selectively greater induction of cigarette craving by negative affect cues, and b) relatively greater alleviation of dysphoric mood by nicotine, in depression-prone smokers as compared to non-comorbid controls who lack comorbid affective vulnerability. Research shows that smoking paraphernalia and negative affect can elicit cigarette craving in normal smokers. What has not been examined, however, is whether depression-prone smokers experience stronger cravings, especially in response to emotional triggers. The frequent occurrence of negative affect in depression-prone smokers should provide many opportunities to learn to pair negative affect with smoking. Moreover, nicotine may be especially effective in dispelling depression-prone smokers’ dysphoric moods, thereby serving as a particularly powerful reinforcer. To the extent that nicotine self-administration produces powerful negative reinforcement by dispelling unpleasant moods, the conditioning history of depression-prone smokers should strongly bond them to their cigarettes. The overall aim of this proposed line of research is to study two behavioral mechanisms that might explain recalcitrant smoking by depression-prone smokers. Two studies are proposed. The specific aims to be accomplished by these studies are as follows:

Aim 1: In a cue exposure study to test the hypothesis that depression-prone smokers have stronger cravings than non-prone smokers, and that these are disproportionately triggered by negative affect cues, as opposed to smoking paraphernalia.

Links of Interest
Other Links Society for Research in Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) American Psychological Association (APA) Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy (AABT) National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

Peer-Reviewed Publications

²⁰Doran, N., Spring, B., McChargue, D.E., Pergadia, M., & Richmond, M. (in press). Impulsivity and relapse to cigarette smoking. Nicotine & Tobacco Research.

 ¹⁹Cohen, L. M., & McChargue, D. E. (in press). Cognitive-behavioral treatment of nicotine dependence for a female with a history of alcohol and respiratory problems. Clinical Case Studies.

 ¹⁸Pagoto, S. L., McChargue, D. E., Schnieder, K., Cook, J. W., & Fuqua, R. W. (in press). Sun protection motivational stages and behavior: Skin cancer risk profiles of Midwest beach-goers. American Journal of Health Behavior.

 ¹⁷McChargue, D. E., Cohen, L. M., & Cook, J. W. (2004). Attachment and depression differentially influence nicotine dependence among male and female undergraduates: a preliminary study. Journal of American College Health, 53(1), 5-10.

 ¹⁶McChargue, D. E., Spring, B, Cook, J. W., & Neumann, C. (2004). Reinforcement expectations explain the relationship between depressive history and smoking status in college students. Addictive Behaviors, 29, 991-994.

 ¹⁵Hitsman, B., Spring, B., Borrelli, B., McChargue, D., & Niaura, R. (2004). Re: Dr. Lirio Covey’s letter to the editor. Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 6(4), 1-3

 ¹⁴Cook, J. W., Spring, B., McChargue, D., Borrelli, B., Hitsman, B., Niaura, R., Keuthen, N. & Kristeller, J. (2004). The influence of fluoxetine on positive and negative affect in a clinic based smoking cessation trial. Psychopharmacology, 173, 153-159.

 ¹³McChargue, D. E., Cohen, L. M., & Cook, J. W. (2004). The influence of personality and affect on nicotine dependence in male college students. Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 6, 287-294.

 ¹²Cook, J. W., Spring, B., McChargue, D. E., & Hedeker, D. (2004). Hedonic capacity, cigarette craving and diminished positive mood. Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 6(1), 37-45.

 ¹¹Spring, B., Pagoto, S. L., McChargue, D. E., Hedeker, D. & Cook, J. W. (2003). Altered reward value of carbohydrate foods for female smokers withdrawn from nicotine.  Pharmacology, Biochemistry, & Behavior. 762(2), 351-360.

 ¹⁰McChargue, D. E., Gulliver, S. B., & Hitsman, B. (2003). Applying a stepped-care reduction approach to smokers with schizophrenia. Psychiatric Times, XX(9), 78.

 ⁹Pagoto, S. L., McChargue, D. E., & Fuqua, R. W. (2003). The effects of a multi-component intervention on motivation and sun protection behaviors among midwestern beach-goers. Health Psychology, 22(4), 429-433.

 ⁸Hitsman, B., Borrelli, B., McChargue, D. E., Spring, B., & Niaura, R. (2003). Effect of history of depression on smoking cessation: A meta-analysis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 71(4), 657-663.

 ⁷Spring, B., Pingitore, G., & McChargue, D. E. (2003). Reward value of cigarette smoking for comparably heavy smoking schizophrenic, depressed and nonpatient smokers. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160(2), 316-322.

 ⁶McChargue, D. E., Gulliver, S. B., & Hitsman, B. (2002b). A reply to the commentaries on schizophrenia and smoking treatment: more research is needed. Addiction, 97, 799-800.

 ⁵McChargue, D. E., Gulliver, S. B., & Hitsman, B. (2002a). Would smokers with schizophrenia benefit from a more flexible approach to smoking treatment? Addiction, 97, 785-793.

 ⁴McChargue, D. E., Collins, F. L., & Cohen, L. M. (2002). Effect of non-nicotinic moist snuff replacement and lobeline on withdrawal symptoms during 48-hour smokeless tobacco deprivation. Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 4, 195-200.

 ³Richmond, M., Spring, B., Sommerfeld, B. K., & McChargue, D. E. (2001). Rumination and cigarette smoking: A bad combination for depressive outcomes? Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 69(5), 836-840.

 ²Cohen, L. M., Britt, D. M., Collins, F. L., al’Absi, M., & McChargue, D. E.  (2001). Multimodal assessment of the effect of chewing gum on nicotine withdrawal.  Addictive Behaviors, 26(2), 289-295.

 ¹McChargue, D. E., & Collins, F. L. (1998). Differentiating withdrawal patterns between smokers and smokeless tobacco users.  Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 6, 205-208.

 Peer-Reviewed Published Abstracts

⁵Smith, M., Pagoto, S., Kozak, A., Spring, B., & McChargue, D. (2004). Depression explains overweight female smokers increased cigarette craving but not their increased food craving.  Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 27(Suppl), S075.

 ⁴Doran, N. McChargue, D., Spring, B., Cook, J. W. (2003). Impulsivity predicts reactivity to smoking cues. Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 5, 775.

 ³Pagoto, S. L., McChargue, D., Fuqua, R. W., & Kendzor, D. (2002). A multi-component intervention changes motivation and sun protection behavior among midwestern beachgoers. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 24(Suppl), 114.

 ²Werth, J., McChargue, D. E., Spring, B., Marsh, E., Pingitore, R., Gunnarsdottir, E. D., & Hitsman, B. (2001). Trait-anhedonia moderates the association between history of depression and post-quit negative moods. Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 3, 279.

 ¹Hitsman, B., Borrelli, B., McChargue, D. E., Spring, B., & Niaura, R. (2001). A meta-analysis of depression’s influence on smoking cessation. Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 3, 271.

Chapters and Invited Papers

³Shiffman, S., Kassel, J., Gwaltney, C., & McChargue, D. (in press). Relapse prevention for smoking cessation. In G. A. Marlett & J. R. Gordon (Eds.), Relapse Prevention (pp. xxx-xxx). New York: The Guilford Press.

²Cohen, L. M., McChargue, D. E., Cortez, M., Prensky, E., & Emery, S. (2003). The etiology and treatment of nicotine dependence: A biopsychosocial perspective. In L. M. Cohen, D. E. McChargue, & F. L. Collins (Eds.), The health psychology handbook: Practical issues for the behavioral medicine specialist (pp. 101-124). New York: Sage Publication.

 ¹Collins, F. L., Britt, D. M., Cohen, L. M., McChargue, D. E., Larson, M. E. M., Leftwich, M. J. T., & Stott, H. D. (1999). Practitioner guidelines for the treatment of nicotine dependence.  In L. VandeCreek & T. Jackson (Eds.) Innovations in clinical practice: A sourcebook (Vol. 17). Sarasota, FL: Professional Resource Press.

 Edited Books

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