Lorien Abroms, ScD, MA

Lorien Abroms is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Prevention and Community Health.

• Phone: (202) 994-3518
• Fax: (202) 994-3601
• Email: Lorien@gwu.edu

Professor Abroms' career focuses on the use of health communication and social marketing to promote health in adolescents and young adults. Much of her work to date has focused on the application of media and new communication technologies for smoking cessation in young adults and other populations. Professor Abroms has served as a research consultant for the American Cancer Society, Population Services International and the Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics. She has conducted trainings in health literacy and risk communication for the DC Department of Public Health.

Prior to coming to GW in 2004, Professor Abroms was a post-doctoral fellow at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, where she initiated the High Five Study. In 2001, Professor Abroms, with members of the Harvard Tobacco Control Working Group and in partnership with Population Services International, developed an innovative smoking cessation kit for young adults, the X-Pack. To date over 20,000 X-Packs have been distributed to help young adult smokers quit smoking. Professor Abroms has been awarded the Best Materials Award (2007) and the Young Investigator Award (2008) from the Public Health Education and Health Promotion (PHEHP) Section of the American Public Health Association (APHA).

Dr. Abroms' bookmarks on social media and other topics of interest can be found at: http://delicious.com/lorien_a

Education

Bachelor of Science (Psychology), Brown University, 1993
Master of Arts (Sociology), Brown University, 1996
Doctor of Science, Harvard School of Public Health, 2002
Post-Doctoral Fellowship, National Institutes of Health, 2003

Teaching

PubH 395-Advanced Health Communication, Department of Prevention and Community Health
PubH 363-Introduction to Public Health Communication & Marketing, Department of Prevention and Community Health
PubH 206-Health Behavior and Health Education, Department of Prevention and Community Health
PubH 205-Policy Approaches to Public Health, SPHHS Interdepartmental Course

Research

As principal investigator for "X-Pack: Smoking Cessation for Youth," funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Dr. Abroms led a study to evaluate the effects of email counseling and a self-help kit (the X-Pack) on smoking cessation in young adults. Other research projects are focused on identifying ways of increasing consumer demand among young adult smokers for smoking cessation services, on developing a smoking cessation kit for Latinos, and on developing a social support intervention to help pregnant smokers quit smoking. Dr. Abroms has also conducted research on the psychosocial predictors of smoking, on gender and family influences on sun protection, and on cancer prevention in adolescent girls.

Through a grant from the National Institutes of Health, "Using New Media to Enhance Counseling Services at the National Cancer Institute's Smoking Cessation Quitline," Abroms will explore how new media could enhance phone counseling at the NCI Quitline. Computer generated email or text messages, which follow the recommendations of the U.S. Public Health Service Clinical Practice Guideline, may be effective for smoking cessation because they can increase the intensity and contact time of a smoking cessation intervention; they can enhance the problem solving and coping skills of the recipient; and, combined with phone counseling, they can serve as an additional treatment modality for smoking cessation. Because this research is built around an existing platform for smoking cessation counseling, the Quitline, the potential for dissemination is high.

Community Service

Professor Abroms reviews manuscripts for a number of peer–reviewed journals, including Social Science and Medicine, the Journal of Health Communication, the Journal of Internet Medical Research, and the American Journal of Health Behavior. She serves on the executive board of the DC Tobacco Control Coalition and has served on the editorial committee of the DC Cancer Consortium. She is on the editorial board of Cases in Public Health Communication & Marketing and was the guest editor of a special volume focused on the application of new media in public health campaigns (Summer 2008). Professor Abroms is a member of the Society for Public Health Education and the American Public Health Association.

Departments

• Prevention and Community Health

Institutes & Centers

• Prevention Research Center

Research Activities

• The X-Pack: Smoking Cessation for Youth Study

Publications

• Obama's wired campaign: lessons for public health communication.
  Abroms LC, Lefebvre RC. Obama's wired campaign: lessons for public health communication. Journal of Health Communication, June 2009.
• A Process Evaluation of Email Counseling for Smoking Cessation in College Students: Feasibility, Acceptability, and Cost.
  Abroms LC, Gill J, Winsdsor RA, Simons-Morton B. A Process Evaluation of Email Counseling for Smoking Cessation in College Students: Feasibility, Acceptability, and Cost. Journal of Smoking Cessation. Issue 4.1(May), 2009.
• New Media Cases in Cases in Public Health Communication & Marketing: The Promise and Potential.
  Abroms LC, Schiavo R, Lefebvre RC. New Media Cases in Cases in Public Health Communication & Marketing: The Promise and Potential. Cases in Public Health Communication & Marketing. Vol 2 (August), 2008.
  Available at : http://www.casesjournal.org
• A Case Study of Using New Media to Promote Recycling in North Carolina.
  Hamilton L, Dennings K, Abroms LC. A Case Study of Using New Media to Promote Recycling in North Carolina. Cases in Public Health Communication & Marketing. Vol 2 (August), 2008.
  Available at : http://www.casesjournal.org
• The Effectiveness of Mass Communication to Change Public Behavior.
  Abroms LC, Maibach EW. The Effectiveness of Mass Communication to Change Public Behavior. Annual Review of Public Health. 2008 Apr 21;29:219-234.
• Communication and marketing as tools to cultivate the public's health: a proposed people and places framework.
  Maibach EW, Abroms LC, Marosits M. Communication and marketing as tools to cultivate the public's health: a proposed people and places framework. BMC Public Health. 2007 May 22;7(1):88
  Available at : http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/7/88/
• Getting young adults to quit smoking: a formative evaluation of the X-Pack Program.
  Abroms LC, Windsor R, Simons-Morton B. Getting young adults to quit smoking: a formative evaluation of the X-Pack Program. Nicotine and Tobacco Research. 2008 Jan;10(1):27-33.
• What is the best approach to reducing birth defects associated with isotretinoin?
  Abroms L, Maibach E, Lyon-Daniel K, Feldman SR. What is the best approach to reducing birth defects associated with isotretinoin? PLoS Medicine. 2006 Nov;3(11):e483.
  Available at : http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0030483
• Psychosocial predictors of smoking trajectories during middle and high school. Addiction.
  Abroms LC, Simons-Morton BG, Haynie DL, Chen R. Psychosocial predictors of smoking trajectories during middle and high school. Addiction. 2005; Jun;100(6):852-61.
• The strength e-zine: an application of email for health promotion in adolescent girls.
  Abroms LC, Fagan P, Eisenberg M, Remba N and Sorensen G. The strength e-zine: an application of email for health promotion in adolescent girls. Am J Health Promot 2004;19(1):28-32.
• Latent growth analyses of peer and parent influences on smoking progression among early adolescents.
  Simons-Morton BG, Abroms LC, Haynie DL, Chen R. Latent growth analyses of peer and parent influences on smoking progression among early adolescents. Health Psychol 2004;23(6):612-21.
• Gender differences in young adults' attitudes to sun protection and sunscreen use.
  Abroms LC, Jorgensen CM, Southwell B, Geller A, Emmons KM. Gender differences in young adults' attitudes to sun protection and sunscreen use. Health Educ Behav 2003;30(1):29-43.
• More work for mother: How spouses, cohabiting partners, and relatives affect the hours mothers work.
  Abroms LC, Goldscheider FK. More work for mother: How spouses, cohabiting partners, and relatives affect the hours mothers work. J Fam Econ Issues 2002;23(2):1.
• Social Marketing in Africa: A Photographic Series.
  Abroms LC. Social Marketing in Africa: A Photographic Series. Harvard AIDS Review. Fall 1999/Winter 2000.