MAY 15, 2026
Bethany R. Raiff, PhD
Professor
Department of Psychology
Rowan University
co-authored by Matthew Mitnick, BS, MA (PhD candidate in Rowan University’s Clinical Psychology Program)
About the Presentation:
About the Presenter: Bethany R. Raiff, PhD is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Rowan University. Dr. Raiff received her PhD in Psychology, with an emphasis in Behavioral Pharmacology, from the University of Florida in 2008. Dr. Raiff’s primary research activities involve developing and testing the integration of technological innovations with behavioral interventions for promoting drug abstinence and other health behavior. Currently, Dr. Raiff is refining and testing an Internet-based intervention that involves delivering incentives contingent on objective evidence of smoking abstinence in adult smokers. In addition to her work on smoking cessation, Dr. Raiff received an NIH grant to apply the same Internet-based monitoring system used with smokers to a novel behavior and population – to increase adherence with blood glucose testing recommendations among non-adherent teens diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Although incentive-based interventions can be very effective at promoting healthy behavior, they can be expensive to implement. To address this concern, Dr. Raiff recently received an NIH grant that will involve developing and testing a video game that will be used to deliver game-based incentives (in place of monetary incentives) contingent on smoking abstinence. Dr. Raiff hopes to explore this, and other methods, for making the intervention more cost-effective and sustainable.