Sarah Dauber, Ph.D., is Vice President of Early Prevention and Clinical Research and Director of the Science and Technology of Early Prevention (STEP) research team at Partnership to End Addiction. A developmental psychologist by training, Dr. Dauber directs research on early risk factors for substance use, with a focus on prenatal substance exposure and maternal substance use during infancy. Her research develops and tests digital interventions designed to reduce barriers to substance use support during pregnancy and postpartum, including stigma and fear of seeking help.
Dr. Dauber’s research program is funded by NIDA and NIAAA and focuses on building theory-driven digital interventions that can ultimately be delivered at scale. Her work examines how to design effective and efficient digital interventions, embed digital supports into trusted service settings, and balance human-delivered and automated support, including the use of generative AI to enhance intervention delivery.
Dr. Dauber has led studies integrating evidence-based screening and brief intervention for substance use into perinatal home visiting programs in partnership with Prevent Child Abuse NJ, the New Jersey Department of Children and Families, and Kansas Children’s Service League. Her current projects include automated text messaging for postpartum alcohol use, AI-guided delivery of brief motivational interviewing and coping skills training through a digital helpline, and digital screening and brief intervention for postpartum substance use in home visiting programs.
She is also the founding director of Partnership to End Addiction’s BabySTEPs program, which provides confidential, text-based support to pregnant and postpartum individuals through the organization’s helpline and automated messaging platform.
Research Topics: early childhood prevention, perinatal substance use, home visiting, digital interventions, screening and brief intervention
Selected Publications
April 2017
Substance Use and Depression in Home Visiting Clients: Home Visitor Perspectives on Addressing Clients’ Needs
October 2017
Development and Implementation of a Screen-and-Refer Approach to Addressing Maternal Depression, Substance Use, and Intimate Partner Violence in Home Visiting Clients
March 2015
Validity of Therapist Self-Report Ratings of Fidelity to Evidence-Based Practices for Adolescent Behavior Problems: Correspondence Between Therapists and Observers
August 2019
Systematic Review of Community- and Home-Based Interventions to Support Parenting and Reduce Risk of Child Maltreatment Among Families With Substance-Exposed Newborns.
November 2015
Randomized Trial of Family Therapy versus Non-Family Treatment for Adolescent Behavior Problems in Usual Care
September 2018
Perceived Need for Treatment and Engagement in Mental Health Services Among Community-Referred Racial/Ethnic Minority Adolescents
March 2019
Measurement Training and Feedback System for Implementation of Family-Based Services for Adolescent Substance Use: Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Trial of Two Implementation Strategies
March 2019
Family Therapy Techniques and One-Year Clinical Outcomes Among Adolescents in Usual Care for Behavior Problems
May 2017
Distilling the Core Elements of Family Therapy for Adolescent Substance Use: Conceptual and Empirical Solutions
January 2019
Core Elements of Family Therapy for Adolescent Behavior Problems: Empirical Distillation of Three Manualized Treatments
September 2017
Benchmarking Family Therapy for Adolescent Behavior Problems in Usual Care: Fidelity, Outcomes, and Therapist Performance Differences
November 2019
Addressing Maternal Depression, Substance Use, and Intimate Partner Violence in Home Visiting: A Quasi-Experimental Pilot Test of a Screen-and-Refer Approach
June 2020
Randomized Trial of Academic Training and Medication Decision-making for Adolescents With ADHD in Usual Care