Education

B.S. University of Scranton

M.S. The University of Memphis

Ph.D. The University of Memphis

Bio

Dr. Rory Pfund is the Research Director of the Tennessee Institute for Gambling Education & Research at the University of Memphis. His research program focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of psychological treatments for gambling disorder and substance use disorder. Dr. Pfund is a licensed clinical psychologist with experience in the provision of cognitive-behavioral therapy and contingency management. He has received research support from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the International Center for Responsible Gambling, and the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse. Dr. Pfund currently serves as Associate Editor for Addiction and Journal of Gambling Studies, as well as a Consulting Editor for Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.

Current research projects

• Creation of an open-access, meta-analytic research domain of treatments for gambling disorder (www.metapsy.org/database/gambling)
• Randomized controlled trail of a modernized personalized feedback intervention to prevent gambling problems among 2- and 4-year college students
• Development of a web-based portal to facilitate the initiation of gambling disorder treatment (www.thegamblingclinic.com)

Recent Publications

(*indicates graduate student co-author)

* Free, B. L., *Smith, E. H., Ginley, M. K., Whelan, J. P., & Pfund, R. A. (2024). Does cognitive-behavioral treatment affect putative mechanisms of change among individuals with gambling disorder? An exploratory meta-analysis. Addictive Behaviors, 158, 108110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2024.108110

* Paul, M. L., *Meinerding, M., Weinstock, J., Ginley, M. K., Whelan, J. P., & Pfund, R. A. (2024). Minimizing measurement error in treatment outcome estimates: A meta-analysis comparing estimates between the gambling timeline followback and other self-report assessments of gambling behavior. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 38, 704-715. https://doi.org/10.1037/adb0001024

Pfund, R. A., Ginley, M. K., Boness, C. L., Rash, C. J., Zajac, K., & Witkiewitz, K. (2024). Contingency management for drug use disorder: Meta-analysis and application of Tolin’s Criteria. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 31, 136-150. https://doi.org/10.1037/cps0000121

Cuijpers, P., Miguel, C., Ciharova, M., Harrer, M., Basic, D., Cristea, I., de Ponti, N., Driessen, E., Hamblen, J., Larsen, S. E., Matbouriahi, M., Papola, D., Pauley, D., Plessen, Y., Pfund, R. A., Setkowski, K., Schnurr, P., van Ballegooijen, W., Wang, Y., Riper, H., van Straten, A., Sijbrandij, M., Furukawa, T., & Karyotaki, E. (2024). Absolute and relative effects of psychological treatments for eight mental disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. World Psychiatry, 23, 267-275. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.21203

Pfund, R. A., Ginley, M. K., Kim, H. S., Boness, C. L., *Horn, T. L., & Whelan, J. P. (2023). Cognitive-behavioral treatment for gambling harm: Umbrella review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 105, 102336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2023.102336

Pfund, R. A., *Forman, D. P., *Whalen, S. K., *Zech, J. M., Ginley, M. K., Peter, S. C., McAfee, N. W., & Whelan, J. P. (2023). Efficacy of cognitive-behavioral techniques for problem gambling and gambling disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Addiction, 188, 1661-1674.  https://doi.org/10.1111/add.16221

Pfund, R. A., *King, S. A., *Forman, D. P., *Zech, J. M., Ginley, M. K., Peter, S. C., McAfee, N. W., Witkiewitz, K., & Whelan, J. P. (2023). Effects of cognitive-behavioral techniques for gambling on recovery defined by gambling, psychological functioning, and quality of life: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 37, 936-945. https://doi.org/10.1037/adb0000910

Pfund, R. A., Richards, D. K., Boness, C. L., Schwebel, F. J., Tonigan, J. S., Maisto, S. A., & Witkiewitz, K. (2023). Relative and interactive associations between psychosocial intervention and Alcoholics Anonymous attendance with alcohol use disorder outcomes. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 84, 281-286. https://doi.org/10.15288/jsad.22-00042

Pfund, R. A., Ginley, M. K., Zajac, K., & Rash, C. J. (2022). Contingency management for treatment attendance: A meta-analysis. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 133, 108556. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2021.108556

Witkiewitz, K., Pfund, R. A., & Tucker, J. A. (2022). Mechanisms of behavior change in substance use disorders with and without formal treatment. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 18, 497-525. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-072720-014802