BUFFALO , N.Y. -- Ronda L. Dearing, Ph.D., a researcher at the University at Buffalo’s Research Institute on Addictions (RIA), has received a $585,095 grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) to study the behaviors of individuals seeking help for alcohol-related problems.

The five-year study will include 200 participants surveyed at six-month intervals for two years. In addition to treatment-seeking behaviors, the study will investigate attitudes about heavy alcohol use and attitudes about alcohol treatment.

The NIAAA-funded Scientist Development Award also will provide Dearing with the opportunity for career-development activities related to alcohol treatment, understanding help-seeking behaviors, and advanced statistical techniques.

Dearing noted that individuals seeking help for an alcohol problem may take a variety of avenues, which may include formal inpatient or outpatient treatment, Alcoholics Anonymous, speaking to a primary physician, or requesting help from family and friends. Although the study will focus primarily on formal treatment, Dearing also will collect information about other types of help-seeking behaviors. She contends that people with a range of alcohol problems, and not just those individuals who are severely dependent on alcohol, can benefit from treatment.

“We know that only about 20 percent of individuals with serious alcohol-related problems enter treatment. What we don’t know is what differentiates people who seek treatment from those who don’t. These are the types of questions that we hope this research study will begin to answer,” she explained.

Learning more about who does and does not seek formal treatment for alcohol problems, she added, will allow researchers and clinicians to develop targeted intervention efforts for individuals who could benefit from treatment. For example, while it’s been shown that intervention is likely to be the most successful in the earlier stages of an alcohol problem, it’s possible that individuals with less severe alcohol-related problems do not think treatment would benefit them.

“It is critical that we gain a better understanding of the obstacles that may get in the way of seeking treatment, regardless of the level of problem severity,” Dearing added.

Dearing came to the Buffalo area in 2001 after completing her doctoral degree in clinical psychology at George Mason University in Virginia . She since has completed a three-year postdoctoral position at RIA specializing in alcohol research and recently was promoted to a research scientist position.

Dearing’s mentors for this program of research include Gerard J. Connors, Ph.D., and Kimberly S. Walitzer, Ph.D. In addition to being RIA director and deputy director, respectively, Connors and Walitzer are faculty members in the UB Department of Psychology and are recognized internationally for their work in addictions treatment research.

The Research Institute on Addictions (RIA) has been a leader in the study of addictions since 1970 and a research center of the University at Buffalo since 1999.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, the largest and most comprehensive campus in the State University of New York.