Psychology Department -> People -> Faculty Directory ->
Kim Fromme, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
Email: fromme@psy.utexas.edu
Phone: 471-0039 Lab: 471-8993
Office: SEA 3.242 Lab: SEA 2.302 (B-K)
Director, Studies on Alcohol, Health, and Risky Activities (SAHARA) Laboratory
See also Clinical Psychology
Dr. Fromme plans to admit a new clinical graduate student for fall of 2012.
Kim Fromme, Ph.D., is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and is also the Director of the Studies on Alcohol, Health, and Risky Activities (SAHARA). She received her Ph.D. from The University of Washington, and is a Fellow and former President of the Society of Addiction Psychologists (Division 50) of the American Psychological Association.
Her program of research focuses on the etiology and prevention of alcohol abuse and risk-taking behaviors among adolescents and young adults. With support from a $3.2 million grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Dr. Fromme recently completed a longitudinal study of the alcohol use and other behavioral risks (e.g., drug use, risky sex, aggression) of a cohort of first time college students, beginning with their senior year in high school and following them for the next 6 years. This research examined individual, environmental, and social factors that influence the developmental trajectories of alcohol use and other behavioral risks among students as they progress through college and beyond. Yielding over 30 publications thus far, this research has provided new insights into the development of alcohol use patterns and behavioral risks during emerging adulthood, as well as the event-level association between alcohol intoxication, subjective responses to alcohol, and participation in other forms of behavioral risks.
Dr. Fromme also conducts alcohol challenge studies in her bar laboratory, which is one of seven simulated barroom facilities in the U.S. These studies include tests of the effects of alcohol intoxication on decision-making processes and impulsive behavior, as well as individual differences in alcohol response.
Findings from the longitudinal and alcohol challenge studies will be used to develop and evaluate new approaches to the prevention of alcohol abuse and involvement in other potentially hazardous behaviors.
Courses
UNDERGRADUATE:
Psy 352 Abnormal Psychology
GRADUATE:
Psy 389K, Psy 389L Theory and Technique of (Personality) Assessment (team-taught with Rebecca Neal)
Director, Sahara Lab (link)
We use a variety of methodologies to study the etiology and prevention of alcohol abuse, behavioral risk-taking, and their negative consequences. Experimental studies are conducted in the SAHARA (Studies on Alcohol, Health, and Risky Activities) Lab, one of seven simulated barroom facilities in the country. These studies examine the potential mechanisms whereby alcohol intoxication contributes to risk-taking behavior through an effect on cognitive and emotional processes. Our research has also examined the neurological processes and neural structures (using fMRI) that underlie alcohol-induced blackouts. Survey and interview research examines the development of risk-taking behaviors among adolescents and young adults, focusing on the reciprocal associations among individual, social, and environmental factors. Empirically-based harm-reduction programs are directed towards the early detection and prevention of risk-taking behaviors among adolescents and young adults.
Representative Recent Publications
Quinn, P.D., & Fromme, K. (in press). Event-level associations between objective and subjective alcohol intoxication and driving after drinking across the college years. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.
Brister, H.A., Sher, K., & Fromme, K. (2011). 21st Birthday drinking and associated physical consequences and behavioral risks, Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 25, 573-582.
Quinn, P.D., Stappenbeck, C.A., & Fromme, K. (2011). Collegiate heavy drinking prospectively predicts change in sensation seeking and impulsivity. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 120, 543-556.
Quinn, P.D., & Fromme, K. (2011). Subjective response to alcohol challenge: A quantitative review. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 35, 1-12.
Corbin, W.R., Iwamoto, D.K., & Fromme, K. (2011). A comprehensive longitudinal test of the acquired preparedness model for alcohol use and related problems. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 72, 602-610.
Hatzenbuehler, M.L, Corbin, W.R. & Fromme, K. (2011). Discrimination and alcohol-related problems in college students: A prospective examination of mediating effects. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 3, 213-220.
Quinn, P.D. & Fromme, K. (2011). Alcohol use and related problems among college students and their non-college peers: The competing roles of personality and peer influence. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 72, 622-632.
Quinn, P.D. & Fromme, K. (2011). The role of person-environment interactions in increased alcohol use in the transition to college. Addiction, 106, 1104-1113.
Wetherill, R.R. & Fromme, K. (2011). Acute alcohol effects on narrative recall and contextual memory: An examination of fragmentary blackouts. Addictive Behaviors, 36, 886-889.
Quinn, P.D. & Fromme, K. (2011). Predictors and outcomes of variability in subjective alcohol intoxication among college students: An event-level analysis across four years. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 35, 484-495.
Corbin, W.R., Iwamoto, D., & Fromme, K. (2011). Broad social motives, alcohol use, and related problems: Mechanisms of risk from high school through college. Addictive Behaviors, 36, 222-230.
Iwamoto, D., Corbin, W.R., & Fromme, K. (2010). Trajectory classes of heavy episodic drinking among Asian American college students. Addiction, 105:1912-1920.
Quinn, P.D. & Fromme, K. (2010). Self-regulation as a protective factor against risky drinking and sexual behavior. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 24, 376-385. PMCID: PMC2947344.
Fromme, K, Wetherill, R.R., and Neal, D.J. (2010). Turning 21 and the associated drinking and driving after drinking among college students. Journal of American College Health, 59, 1-6.
Stappenbeck, C.A. & Fromme, K. (2010). A longitudinal investigation of alcohol use and physical dating violence in men and women. Addictive Behaviors, 35, 479-485.
