Distinguished Professor, Department of Psychology
Director, Center on Alcohol, Substance use, And Addictions
katiew@unm.edu
(505) 585-1686

Ph.D., University of Washington, 2005

Areas of Expertise:

Lab Website
https://abqresearch.org/

Primary Research Area
To date, my research has largely centered on the examination and treatment of substance use disorder, with an emphasis on harm reduction, recovery processes, and applying advanced quantitative research methods to better understand changes in alcohol and drug use behavior over time. I am also a licensed clinical psychologist and I have worked extensively on the development, evaluation, and dissemination of mindfulness-based relapse prevention for substance use disorder. I train clinicians in the delivery of mindfulness-based interventions for substance use disorders in New Mexico, nationally, and internationally. My recent research has focused on integrated behavioral treatments for comorbid chronic pain and opioid use disorder.

Current Projects:

Alcohol Research Training: Methods and Mechanisms of Change (NIAAA, K. Witkiewitz Principal Investigator)
Integrated Treatment for Veterans with Co-Occurring Chronic Pain and Opioid Use Disorder (NIDA, K. Witkiewitz & K. Vowles MPIs)
Patient-Centered Team-Based Primary Care to Treat Opioid Use Disorder, Depression, and Other Conditions (NIMH, L. DeBar & K. A. Bradley MPIs)
Substance Use Disorder Grand Challenge (UNM, K. Witkiewitz & B. Fink, Co-Lead Conveners)
Alcohol and Addiction Research Domain Criteria and Alcohol Use Disorder Recovery (NIAAA, K. Witkiewitz Principal Investigator)
Mindfulness-Based Resilience Training for Aggression, Stress, and Health in Law Enforcement Officers (NCCIH, S. Bowen & M. Christopher MPIs)
Nexus of Risk: Sexual Assault, Alcohol Use, and Risky Sex among College Women (NIAAA, E. Yeater Principal Investigator)
Neurobiological Bases of Behavior Change in Psychosocial Alcohol Treatments (NIAAA, B. McCrady & E. Claus MPIs)
Development of a Mindfulness-Based Treatment for the Reduction of Alcohol Use and Smoking Cessation (NCCIH, C. Vinci Principal Investigator)
Mechanisms of Behavior Change In Alcohol Use Disorder Treatment (NIAAA, Principal Investigator)

Completed Projects:

Services for Creating a Toolkit for Learning and Predicting Alcohol Use Patterns (NIAAA, J. Baurley, Principal Investigator)
Reducing Alcohol-Related Sexual Risk Behavior (NIAAA, W. Corbin & T. Treat, Principal Investigators)
Neural Mechanisms of Behavior Change in a Community Sample of Drinkers (NIAAA 1 R01AA023665-01; E. Claus & K. Witkiewitz, MPIs)
Randomized Controlled Trial of CRAFT with American Indians (NIDA, K. Venner PI)
Mindfulness-Based Intervention and Transcranial Direct Current Brain Stimulation to Reduce Heavy Drinking: Efficacy and Mechanisms of Change (NIAAA, Principal Investigator)
Toward Identifying Clinically Useful Definitions of Treatment Success (NIAAA M. Kirouac, PI)
Robust Person Centered Longitudinal Data Analyses for Clinical Alcohol Research (NIAAA, Douglas Steinley PI), Co-Investigator
Psychological and Neural Mechanisms of Mindfulness and Cognitive Retraining (NIAAA 1R21AA023661-01, M. Pearson PI)
Pilot Study of Combined Treatment for Veterans with Chronic Pain and Opiate Misuse (NCCIH 5R34AT008398-02, K Vowles PI)
Integrative Data Analysis to Predict Alcohol Clinical Course and Inform Practice (NIAAA, R01AA022328), Principal Investigator
Accelerating Smoking Relapse Research Using Longitudinal Models of EMA Data (NIDA, R01DA033303, D. McCarthy & S. Shiffman, Co-PIs), Co-Investigator
Alcohol Use Trajectories and Prevention: A US-Sweden Comparison (NIAAA, U01 AA018276 , Mary Larimer, PI). Co-Investigator
Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention for Problem Gambling (National Council on Responsible Gaming) , Principal Investigator
Evaluation of Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention for Women in Residential Treatment for Substance Use Disorders following a Criminal Offense (Washington State University-Vancouver, Mini-Grant), Principal Investigator
Relationships among Interpersonal Stress, Affect Regulation, and Alcohol Lapse (NIAAA, R01 AA017701, Steve Maisto, PI) , Co-Investigator
Emergence of Adolescent Substance Use Problems from the Externalizing Spectrum (NIDA, RC1 DA028248, Robert McMahon, PI), Co-Investigator
Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention: Efficacy and Mechanisms (NIDA, R01 DA025764-01A1, , G. Alan Marlatt, PI), Co-Investigator
BASICS-ED: A Momentary Intervention for Concurrent Smoking and Heavy Drinking (NIAAA, R21 AA018336), Principal Investigator
Evaluation of Smoking Trajectories during Telephone Counseling (University of Washington Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute Small Grant, ADAI-0309), Principal Investigagor
Drinking Trajectories and Mechanisms of Behavior change During and One Year Following a Behavioral Intervention for Alcohol Dependence (NIAAA, R21 AA017137-01), Principal Investigator
Modeling Individual Heterogeneity in the Alcohol Relapse Process (NIAAA, R03 AA016322-02), Principal Investigator

Current Graduate Students and Post-doctorate Fellows:

Verlin Joseph
Alena Kuhlemeir
Rory Pfund
Elena Stein
Victoria Votaw
Julia Swan
Hannah Carlon
David (Ikela) Moniz-Lewis

Awards and Activities:

Editor, Psychology of Addictive Behaviors
Council Member, National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Board of Scientific Counselors, National Institute on Drug Abuse
Past President, Society of Addiction Psychology
Field Editor, Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research
Consulting Editor, Substance Use and Misuse
Consulting Editor, Alcohol and Alcoholism
Outstanding Leadership in Addiction Psychology, American Psychological Association Division 50 Society of Addiction Psychology
Fellow, American Psychological Association Division 50 Society of Addiction Psychology
G. Alan Marlatt Mid-Career Award, Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies

Selected Research Publications:

Witkiewitz, K., Montes, K. S., Schwebel, F. J., & Tucker, J. A. (2020). What is recovery? A narrative review of definitions of recovery from alcohol use disorder. Alcohol Research: Current Reviews, 40. https://doi.org/10.35946/arcr.v40.3.01
Witkiewitz, K., Pearson, M. R., Wilson, A. D., Stein, E. R., Votaw, V. R., Hallgren, K. A., Maisto, S. A., Swan, J. E., Schwebel, F. J., Aldridge, A., Zarkin, G. A., & Tucker, J. A. (2020). Can alcohol use disorder recovery include some heavy drinking? A replication and extension up to nine years following treatment. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 44, 1862-1874. doi: 10.1111/acer.14413
Tofighi, D., Hsiao, Y. Y., Kruger, E. S., MacKinnon, D. P., Van Horn, M. L., & Witkiewitz, K. (2019). Sensitivity analysis of the no-omitted confounder assumption in latent growth curve mediation models. Structural Equation Modeling. 26, 1, 94-109. doi: 10.1080/10705511.2018.1506925
Witkiewitz, K., Falk, D. E., Litten, R. Z., Hasin, D. S., Kranzler, H. R., Mann, K. F., O'Malley, S. S., & Anton, R. F. (2019). Maintenance of World Health Organization risk drinking level reductions and post-treatment functioning following a large alcohol use disorder clinical trial. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 43, 979-987. doi: 10.1111/acer.14018
Witkiewitz, K., Hallgren, K. A., Kranzler, H. R., Mann, K. F., Hasin, D. S., Falk, D. E., Litten, R. Z., & Anton, R. F. (2017). Clinical validation of reduced alcohol consumption after treatment for alcohol dependence: Using the World Health Organization risk drinking levels. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 41 (1), 179-186. doi: 10.1111/acer.13272
Witkiewitz, K., Litten, R. Z., & Leggio, L. (2019). Advances in the science and treatment of alcohol use disorder. Science Advances, 5 (9), eaax4043.
Witkiewitz, K., Hallgren, K. A., Kranzler, H. R., Mann, K. F., Hasin, D. S., Falk, D. E., Litten, R. Z., & Anton, R. F. (2017). Clinical validation of reduced alcohol consumption after treatment for alcohol dependence: Using the World Health Organization risk drinking levels. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 41, 179-186. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acer.13272/full
Witkiewitz, K., Roos, C. R., Pearson, M. R., Hallgren, K. A., Maisto, S. A., Kirouac, M. ? Heather, N. (2017). How much is too much? Patterns of drinking during alcohol treatment and associations with post-treatment outcomes across three alcohol clinical trials. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 78 (1), 59-69.
Witkiewitz, K., Hallgren, K. A., O'Sickey, A. J., Roos, C. R., & Maisto, S. A. (2016). Reproducibility and differential item functioning of the alcohol dependence syndrome construct across four alcohol treatment outcome studies: An integrative data analysis. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 158, 86-93. doi: 10.1016/ j.drugalcdep.2015.11.001.
Witkiewitz, K., Finney, J., Harris, A., Kivlahan, D., & Kranzler, H. (2015). Recommendations for the design and analysis of treatment trials for alcohol use disorders. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 39, 1557-1570.
Witkiewitz, K., Vowles, K. E., McCallion, E., Frohe, T., Kirouac, M., & Maisto, S. A. (2015). Pain as a predictor of alcohol treatment outcomes in the COMBINE study and the United Kingdom Alcohol Treatment Trial. Addiction, 110, 1262-1271. doi: 10.1111/add/12964
Witkiewitz, K., Falk, D. E., Kranzler, H. R., Litten, R. Z., Hallgren, K. A., O'Malley, S. S., & Anton, R. F. (2014). Methods to analyze treatment effects in the presence of missing data for a continuous heavy drinking outcome measure when participants drop out from treatment in alcohol clinical trials. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 38, 2826-2834.
Witkiewitz, K., Warner, K., Sully, B., Barricks, A., Stauffer, C., Steckler, G., Thompson, B., & Luoma, J. (2014). Randomized trial comparing mindfulness based relapse prevention with relapse prevention for women offenders at a residential addiction treatment center. Substance Use and Misuse, 49, 536-546. doi: 10.3109/10826084.2013.856922
Witkiewitz, K., Dearing, R. L., & Maisto, S. A. (2014). Alcohol use trajectories among non-treatment seeking heavy drinkers. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 75, 415-422.
Witkiewitz, K., Desai, S. A., Bowen, S., Leigh, B. C., Kirouac, M., & Larimer, M. E. (2014). Development and evaluation of a mobile intervention for heavy drinking and smoking among college students. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 28, 639-650. doi: 10.1037/a0034747
Witkiewitz, K. (2013). "Success" following alcohol treatment: Moving beyond abstinence. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 37 suppl1, E9-E13. doi: 10.1111/acer.12001.
Witkiewitz, K. (2013). Temptation to drink as a predictor of drinking outcomes following psychosocial treatment for alcohol dependence. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 37, 529-537. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2012.01950.x.

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