Research Professor
Ph.D., University of Texas, 1976
Office: (603) 646-2998, Moore 348
Email: Frederick.X.Gibbons@Dartmouth.edu
My laboratory's research is concerned with the applications of social psychological theory to health behavior—substance use, risky sex, sun exposure, vaccinations, exercise, etc. Most of our research is based on a social-reaction model of adolescent health-risk behavior, the Prototype/Willingness (PW) model, which contends that adolescents’ health decision-making strategies are often reactions to risk-conducive situations rather than planned activities. Our research consists of experimental studies conducted in controlled laboratory settings, as well as field studies (surveys), interventions, and preventive-interventions run outside the lab. The people we study come from a variety of demographic backgrounds, ranging in ethnicity, age, and socioeconomic status. I am also a member of the Cancer Control Research Program at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, working with my colleague and spouse, Dr. Meg Gerrard.
Gibbons, F.X., Roberts, M.E., Gerrard, M., Li, Z., Beach, S.R.H., Simons, R.L., Weng, C-Y., & Philibert, R.A. (in press). The impact of stress on the life history strategies of African American adolescents: Cognitions, genetic moderation, and the role of discrimination. (Developmental Psychology; special issue on evolutionary-developmental psychology).
Gibbons, F.X., O'Hara, R.E., Stock, M.L., Gerrard, M., Weng, C-Y., Wills, T.A. (in press). The erosive effects of racism: Reduced self-control mediates the relation between perceived racial discrimination and substance use in African American adolescents. (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology).
Stock, M.L.,* Gibbons, F.X, Peterson, L.M., & Gerrard, M. (in press). The effects of racial discrimination on the HIV-risk cognitions and behaviors of Black adolescents and young adults. (Health Psychology; special issue on social psychology theory and health behavior).
Roberts, M.E.*, Gibbons, F.X., Gerrard, M., Weng, C.-Y., Murry, V.M., Simons, L.G., Simons, R.L., & Lorenz, F.O. (2012). From racial discrimination to risky sex: Prospective relations involving peers and parents. Developmental Psychology, 48, 89 - 102.
Gibbons, F.X.Kingsbury, J.H., & Gerrard, M. (2011) Social-psychological theories and adolescent health risk behavior. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 10, 1 - 14.
Gibbons, F.X., Kingsbury, J.H., Gerrard, M., & Wills, T.A. (2011) Two ways of thinking about dual processing: A response to Hofmann, Friese, & Wiers (2008). Health Psychology Review, 5, 158 - 161.
Gibbons, F.X., Etcheverry, P.E., Stock, M.L., Gerrard, M., Weng, C.-Y., Kiviniemi, M., & O'Hara, R.E. (2010). Exploring the link between racial discrimination and substance use. What mediates? What buffers? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 99(5),785-801.
