Kenneth W. Griffin, PhD, MPH

Dr. Griffin is a Professor in the Department of Global & Community Health at George Mason University. His research examines health risk behaviors among children, adolescents, and young adults, with a focus on substance use and violence. Dr. Griffin’s work focuses on several interrelated translational research areas that link science to practice:

1.  Psychosocial Etiology Research that examines individual, family, and community-level risk and protective factors for youth risk behaviors, focusing on social competence and self-regulation skills as protective factors; and the determinants of well-being and other positive developmental and behavioral outcomes among young people.
2. Preventive Intervention Research that develops and adapts theoretically-informed educational and behavioral interventions to prevent risky health behaviors and promote positive developmental outcomes; and the testing of preventive interventions first through formative evaluation strategies and then using randomized controlled trials.
3. Implementation Research that focuses on new strategies and technologies for preventing risky health behaviors and promoting health and well-being, incorporating the use of e-learning, educational games, virtual reality, and other technologies; as well as hybrid models that combine in-person and technology-based intervention, and strategies for adapting evidence-based prevention programs for new countries, cultures, settings, populations, and behaviors.
4. Dissemination Research that focuses on understanding and addressing the facilitators and barriers to the wide-scale dissemination of evidence-based health promotion interventions – locally, nationally, and internationally.

Dr. Griffin’s research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIDA, NCI, NIAAA, NICHD, NIMH) and the Department of Defense. He has been Principal Investigator on 12 federal grants with over $10 million in total costs, and he has published over 150 peer-reviewed empirical papers and scholarly book chapters based on his research.

Research Interests

• Preventing substance use and abuse, prescription drug abuse, violence, sexual violence, bullying, and related risk behaviors among children, adolescents, and young adults
• Positive youth development as a prevention and health promotion strategy
• Protective role of cognitive, behavioral, social, and affective self-regulation skills on adolescent risk behavior
• Development, implementation, and evaluation of skills-based health education programs
• Incorporating e-learning, educational games, virtual reality, and other digital technologies into prevention programming
• Cultural adaptation, implementation, and dissemination of evidence-based programs, domestically and internationally
• Health behavior disparities among minority youth (racial/ethnic, sexual/gender minority status)

Selected Publications

• Griffin, K. W., Botvin, G. J., Williams, C., & Sousa, S. (2024).  Using virtual reality technology to prevent substance misuse and violence among university students: A pilot and feasibility study. Health Informatics Journal, 30(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/14604582241290712
• Griffin, K. W., Botvin, G. J., Scheier, L. M., & Williams, C. (2023). Long-term behavioral effects of a school-based prevention program on illicit drug use among young adults. Journal of Public Health Research, 12(1), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1177/22799036221146914
• Williams, C., Griffin, K. W., Botvin, C. B., Sousa, S., & Botvin, G. J. (2023). Effectiveness of digital health tools to prevent bullying among middle school students. Adolescents, 3(1), 110-130. https://doi.org/10.3390/adolescents3010009
• Griffin, K. W., Lindley, L. L., *Cooper, E. R., *Mudd, T., Williams, C., & Botvin, G. J. (2022). Sexual violence and substance use among first-year university women: Differences by sexual minority status. International Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health, 19(16), 10100. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191610100
• Griffin, K. W., Williams, C., Botvin, C. B., Sousa, S., & Botvin, G. J. (2022). Effectiveness of a hybrid digital substance abuse prevention approach combining e-learning and in-person class sessions. Frontiers in Digital Health, 4, 931276. https://doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2022.931276
• Griffin, K.W., Williams, C., Travis, W., & Tharp, A. (2021). Prevention of unwanted sexual contact among cadets at the United States Air Force Academy: A brief small-group intervention. American Journal of Public Health, 111(4), 672-674.  https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.306050
• Griffin, K.W., Scheier, L. M., Komarc, M., & Botvin, G. J. (2021). Adolescent transitions in self-management strategies and young adult alcohol use. Evaluation & The Health Professions, 44(1), 25-41.  https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0163278720983432
• Williams, C., Griffin, K. W., Mehta, R., & Botvin, G. J. (2021). Testing an evidence-based drug abuse and violence preventive approach adapted for youth in juvenile justice diversionary settings. Health & Justice, 9(3), 1-12.  https://doi.org/10.1186/s40352-021-00128-8
• Griffin, K. W., *Lowe, S. R., Botvin, C., & *Acevedo, B. (2019). Patterns of adolescent tobacco and alcohol use as predictors of illicit and prescription drug abuse in minority young adults. Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community, 47, 228-242. https://doi.org/10.1080/10852352.2019.1603672
• Velasco, V., Griffin, K. W., Botvin, G. J., & Celata, C. (2017). Preventing adolescent substance use through an evidence-based program: Effects of the Italian adaptation of Life Skills Training. Prevention Science, 18, 394-405. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-017-0776-2
• Griffin, K. W., *Lowe, S. R., *Acevedo, B. & Botvin, G. J. (2015). Affective self-regulation trajectories during secondary school predict substance use among urban minority young adults. Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse, 24, 228-234. https://doi.org/10.1080/1067828X.2013.812530

Honors and Awards

• Mona Mansell Award, in recognition of outstanding contributions to the prevention of adolescent alcohol and drug abuse, Freedom Institute NYC, Apr 2016
• U.S. Distinguished International Scientist Collaboration Award, National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2010
• Visiting Professor, Department of Health Psychology, Miguel Hernàndez University, Elche, Spain, Sponsored by Spanish Ministry of Education, Apr 2009; Jun 2010; Jul 2012 to Dec 2012
• NIH Loan Repayment Program Award (Grant L60 MD000656, “Etiology & Prevention of Drug Use Among Multi-Ethnic Youth”), National Center on Minority Health & Health Disparities, 2002-2007
• Early Career Award, in recognition of outstanding contributions to prevention science, Society for Prevention Research, May 2002

Professional Affiliations

• American Public Health Association                      
• American College Health Association
• Association for Psychological Science                   
• Society for Prevention Research

Degrees

• MPH, Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
• PhD, Social & Health Psychology (Minor in Quantitative Methods), Stony Brook University, State University of New York (SUNY)
• MA, Psychology, Stony Brook University