Sarah B. Hunter

Photo of Sarah Hunter
Behavioral Scientist; Professor, Pardee RAND Graduate School
Santa Monica Office

Education

M.A., Ph.D. in social psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara; B.A. in psychology, New York University

Overview

Biography

Sarah Hunter is a behavioral scientist at RAND and a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Hunter's primary areas of interest include: 1) improving substance abuse treatment quality; 2) building community capacity to enhance prevention and treatment program delivery; and 3) program evaluation. Hunter has worked on several clinical trials implemented in real world treatment settings. She has studied implementation quality and assessed client outcomes. In addition to this work, Hunter has served as a technical assistant/facilitator to community service organizations interested in RAND's Getting To Outcomes framework and has published on the intervention delivery and its impact. She received her B.A. from New York University and M.A and Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Research Focus

Recent Projects

  • Building Capacity Through Continuous Quality Improvement
  • Case-Mix Adjustment for Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment
  • Brief Substance Use Intervention for Youth in Teen Court
  • Improving Care for Co-Occurring Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders
  • LIVESTRONG Program and Resource Audit

Selected Publications

Hunter, S.B., Paddock, S.M., Zhou, A.J., Watkins, K.E., & Hepner, K.A., "Do client attributes moderate the effectiveness of a group cognitive behavioral therapy for depression in addiction treatment?" Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research (forthcoming)

Chinman, M., Hunter, S., Ebener, P., "Employing continuous quality improvement in community-based substance abuse programs.," International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance (forthcoming)

Hunter, S.B., Ramchand, R., Griffin, B. A., Suttorp, M. J., McCaffrey, D., & Morral, A., "The effectiveness of community-based delivery of an evidence-based treatment for adolescent substance use," Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment (forthcoming)

Hunter, S.B., Witkiewitz, K., Watkins, K.E., Paddock, S.M., & Hepner, K.A., "The moderating effects of group cognitive behavioral therapy for depression among substance users.," Psychology of Addictive Behaviors (forthcoming)

Hunter, S.B., Watkins, K.E., Hepner, K.A., Paddock, S.M., Munjas, B., Osilla, K.C., Perry, S., "Treating depression and substance use: A randomized controlled trial," Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment (forthcoming)

Watkins, K.E., Hunter, S.B., Hepner, K.A., Paddock, S., De La Cruz, E., Zhou, A., Gilmore, J., "An effectiveness trial of group cognitive behavioral therapy for patients with persistent depressive symptoms in substance abuse treatment," Archives of General Psychiatry, 68(6):577-584, 2011

Hunter, S.B., Paddock, S.M., Ebener, P., Burkhart, A.K., & Chinman, M., "Promoting evidence-based practices: The adoption of a prevention support system in community settings," Journal of Community Psychology, 37(5):579-593, 2009

Hunter, S.B., Chinman, M. Ebener, P., Imm, P., Wandersman, A., & Ryan, G., "Technical assistance as a prevention capacity-building tool: A demonstration using the Getting To Outcomes framework," Health Education and Behavior, 36(5):810-828, 2009

Honors & Awards

  • Gordon Allport Intergroup Relations Prize, Best Paper 2007, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues
  • Outstanding Publication Award, American Evaluation Association

Commentary

Promoting Success: Using Data to Inform Decision Making — Mar 21, 2012

  • Independent Sector

Publications

Do Client Attributes Moderate the Effectiveness of a Group Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression in Addiction Treatment? - 2013

Intervening with Practitioners to Improve the Quality of Prevention: One-Year Findings Form a Randomized Trial of Assets-Getting to Outcomes - 2013

The Effects of Employment Among Adolescents At-Risk for Future Substance Use - 2013

Assessing Motivational Interviewing Integrity for Group Interventions with Adolescents - 2012

Assessing the Sensitivity of Treatment Effect Estimates to Differential Follow-Up Rates: Implications for Translational Research - 2012

Employing Continuous Quality Improvement in Community-Based Substance Abuse Programs - 2012

Establishing and Evaluating the Key Functions of an Interactive Systems Framework Using an Assets-Getting to Outcomes Intervention - 2012

Group Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Clients with Major Depression in Residential Substance Abuse Treatment - 2012

The Moderating Effects of Group Cognitive–behavioral Therapy for Depression Among Substance Users - 2012

A Fidelity Coding Guide for a Group Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression - 2011

An Effectiveness Trial of Group Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Patients with Persistent Depressive Symptoms in Substance Abuse Treatment - 2011

Group Alcohol and Drug Treatment - 2011

The Effectiveness of Community-Based Delivery of an Evidence-Based Treatment for Adolescent Substance Use - 2011

Training Addiction Counselors to Implement CBT for Depression - 2011

Analysis of Rolling Group Therapy Data Using Conditionally Autoregressive Priors - 2010

Developing a Group Motivational Interviewing Intervention for First-Time Adolescent Offenders At-Risk for an Alcohol or Drug Use Disorder - 2010

A Comparison of Two Depressive Symptomatology Measures in Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Clients - 2009

National Evaluation of the Demonstration to Improve the Recruitment and Retention of the Direct Service Community Workforce - 2009

Promoting Evidence-Based Practices: The Adoption of a Prevention Support System in Community Settings - 2009

Technical Assistance as a Prevention Capacity-Building Tool: A Demonstration Using the Getting to Outcomes Framework - 2009

The Getting to Outcomes Demonstration and Evaluation: an Illustration of the Prevention Support System - 2008

Evaluation of the Arkansas Tobacco Settlement Program: Progress During 2004 and 2005 - 2007

Getting To Outcomes™: 10 Steps for Achieving Results-Based Accountability - 2007

Threatened By the Unexpected: Physiological Responses During Social Interactions with Expectancy-Violating Partners - 2007

A Collaboration Between Researchers and Practitioners to Improve Care for Co-Occurring Mental Health Disorders in Outpatient Substance Abuse Treatment - 2006

Acculturation and Driving Under the Influence: A Study of Repeat Offenders - 2006

Acculturation and Driving Under the Influence: A Study of Repeat Offenders - 2006

Getting To Outcomes™: Improving Community-Based Substance-Use Prevention - 2006

Sexual Readiness, Household Policies, and Other Predictors of Adolescents' Exposure to Sexual Content in Mainstream Entertainment Television - 2006

Developing a Community Science Research Agenda for Building Community Capacity for Effective Preventive Interventions - 2005

Evaluation of the Arkansas Tobacco Settlement Program: Program Advancement in 2005 - 2005

Evaluation of the Arkansas Tobacco Settlement Program: Program Advancement in 2005 - 2005

Improving Contracting at the City of Los Angeles Airports, Port, and Department of Water and Power - 2005

Research-practice Partners Assess Their First Joint Project - 2005

Review of Treatment Recommendations for Persons with a Co-Occurring Affective or Anxiety and Substance Use Disorder - 2005

Training Substance Abuse Treatment Staff to Care for Co-Occurring Disorders - 2005

Applying Performance-Based Practices to Installation Support Contracts - 2004

Defining Needs and Managing Performance of Installation Support Contracts: Perspectives from the Commercial Sector - 2004

Does Watching Sex on Television Influence Teens’ Sexual Activity? - 2004

Evaluation of the Arkansas Tobacco Settlement Program: Progress from Program Inception to 2004 - 2004

Getting to Outcomes: A Community-Based Participatory Approach to Preventive Interventions - 2004

Organizational Policy Levers Can Affect Acquisition Reform Implementation in Air Force Repair Contracts - 2004

Prevalence and Characteristics of Clients with Co-Occurring Disorders in Outpatient Substance Abuse Treatment - 2004

Speeding Acquisition Reform in the U.S. Air Force - 2004

Watching Sex on Television Predicts Adolescent Initiation of Sexual Behavior - 2004

Entertainment Television as a Healthy Sex Educator: The Impact of Condom-Efficacy Information in an Episode of Friends - 2003

Challenge and Threat During Social Interactions with White and Black Men - 2002

Implementing Performance-Based Services Acquisition (PBSA): Perspectives from an Air Logistics Center and a Product Center - 2002

Treating Depression and Substance Use: A Randomized Controlled Trial -