Caroline M. Barry, PhD, MPH
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, NIDA T32 Science of Co-Occurring Disorders, Center for Technology and Behavioral Health
Dr. Caroline Barry is a NIDA T32 postdoctoral research fellow in the Center for Technology and Behavioral Health at Dartmouth. Her research focuses on adolescent mental health and substance misuse prevention, with an emphasis on community-engaged methods, social determinants of health, and implementation science. Her graduate and postdoctoral work at Emory University contributed to a cluster-randomized trial evaluating a multi-level intervention to prevent alcohol use, cannabis use, vaping, and prescription opioid misuse among adolescents in rural reservation-based communities (PIs: Kelli Komro, Doug Livingston, Juli Skinner; see Connect for Prevention). She was also a predoctoral fellow on a NIDA T32 training grant in advanced data analytics to end drug-related harms (PIs: Hannah Cooper, Lance Waller, Abeed Sarker). At Dartmouth, Dr. Barry works with Drs. Sarah Lord and Lynn Fiellin as part of the play2PREVENT lab, which develops and evaluates evidence-based digital health games to promote youth wellbeing and prevent risk behaviors. She is committed to community partnership in research and advancing sustainable, evidence-based strategies that support youth mental health and delay the initiation and escalation of substance use.
Dr. Barry earned her PhD and MPH in Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences from Emory University and her Bachelor’s in Psychology with a certificate in Global Health & Health Policy from Princeton University. Prior to graduate school, she worked at Duke University on longitudinal studies of maternal exposures and child development, and during her MPH, contributed to a CDC randomized trial of a parenting intervention to support families and children living in poverty.
She likes to spend her free time on the water (jet skiing, rowing), snow (skiing), or couch with her dog (reading, playing Tetris, listening to comedy podcasts).
Selected Publications
- Barry CM, Jagtiani A, Livingston MD, Talavera-Brown S, LaBounty H, Atkinson E, Skinner JR, Komro KA. Anxiety and depressive symptoms as predictors of substance use initiation among adolescents living on and near a Tribal reservation in the Great Plains region of the U.S. Front Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2024;3:1390793. doi: 10.3389/frcha.2024.1390793. PMID: 39640212; PMCID: PMC11619325.
- Jagtiani A, Livingston MD, Barry CM, Talavera-Brown S, LaBounty H, Skinner JR, Livingston BJ, Lincoln AN, Komro KA. Tribal identity, pain interference, and substance use among American Indian and Alaska Native adolescents. JAMA Pediatr. 2024 Nov 1;178(11):1192-1198. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.3284. PMID: 39312248; PMCID: PMC11420823.
- Barry CM, Livingston MD, Livingston BJ, Kominsky TK, Komro KA. School racial composition as a moderator of the effect of discrimination on mental health and substance use among American Indian adolescents. J Adolesc Health. 2024 Jan;74(1):44-50. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.07.014. PMID: 37737758; PMCID: PMC10926889.
- Livingston M, Barry C, Walker A, Livingston B, Talavera-Brown SL, Harmon M, Wagenaar A, Kominsky T, Komro KA. Adolescent advertising exposure to cannabis products in rural Oklahoma via medical dispensaries. J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2023 Sep;84(5):693-699. doi: 10.15288/jsad.22-00292. Epub 2023 May 18. PMID: 37219038; PMCID: PMC10600971.
- Komro KA, Kominsky TK, Skinner JR, Livingston MD, Livingston BJ, Avance K, Lincoln AN, Barry CM, Walker AL, Pettigrew DW, Merlo LJ, Cooper HLF, Wagenaar AC. Study protocol for a cluster randomized trial of a school, family, and community intervention for preventing drug misuse among older adolescents in the Cherokee Nation. Trials. 2022 Feb 23;23(1):175. doi: 10.1186/s13063-022-06096-0. PMID: 35197100; PMCID: PMC8864592.
- Barry CM, Robinson LR, Kaminski JW, Danielson ML, Jones CL, Lang DL. Behavioral and socioemotional outcomes of the Legacy for Children™ randomized control trial to promote healthy development of children living in poverty, 4 to 6 Years postintervention. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2022 Jan 1;43(1):e39-e47. doi: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000000962. PMID: 33941737; PMCID: PMC10949951.
- Kaminski JW, Robinson LR, Hutchins HJ, Newsome KB, Barry CM. Evidence base review of couple- and family-based psychosocial interventions to promote infant and early childhood mental health, 2010-2019. J Marital Fam Ther. 2022 Jan;48(1):23-55. doi: 10.1111/jmft.12570. PMID: 34783041; PMCID: PMC10995740.
- Barry CM, Sabhlok A, Saba VC, Majors AD, Schechter JC, Levine EL, Streicher M, Bennett GG, Kollins SH, Fuemmeler BF. An automated text-messaging platform for enhanced retention and data collection in a longitudinal birth cohort: Cohort management platform analysis. JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2019 Apr 2;5(2):e11666. doi: 10.2196/11666. PMID: 30938689; PMCID: PMC6465978.