Rebecca Evans-Polce, Ph.D.


Research Associate Professor
Department of Health Behavior and Clinical Sciences
Room 2247 NURS1

University of Michigan School of Nursing
400 North Ingalls Building
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5482

Telephone: (734) 647-1595
Rebecca Evans-Polce is accepting new PhD students.

Interests

  • Substance use epidemiology
  • Etiology and consequences of substance use
  • Adolescent and young adult health

Dr. Rebecca Evans-Polce has a doctorate in public health and expertise in substance use epidemiology and analysis of large national secondary data. She investigates the complexity and nuances of substance use etiology, trajectories, and consequences across the life course.

Current Research Grants and Programs

  • R01 E-Cigarette Use Among US Adolescents and Young Adults: Longitudinal Associations with Tobacco Use and Health and Dimensions of Risk and Protection, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health (PI: Evans-Polce), 2022-2025
  • R01 Sexual Fluidity and Longitudinal Changes in Alcohol Misuse and Associated Health Consequences (PI: Evans-Polce), 2022-2025
  • R01 High-Intensity Drinking and Related Consequences: Daily Data from a National Sample Aged 19 to 22 (PI: Patrick, Co-I: Evans-Polce), 2018-2024

Affiliations / Service

  • Member, Society for Nicotine and Tobacco Research
  • Member, College of Problems on Drug Dependence
  • Member, Research Society on Alcohol
  • Member, Society for Prevention Research
  • Member, American Public Health Association

Education

  • Ph.D., Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, 2012
  • BS, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 2006

Publication Highlights

  • Evans-Polce, R. J., Mongilio, J. M., Kcomt, L., Chen, B., & McCabe, S. E. (in press). Trends and sociodemographic differences in tobacco/nicotine transitions among US adolescents and young adults using e-cigarettes, 2014-2023. Journal of Adolescent Health.

  • McCabe, S. E., Pasman, E., Wilens, T. E., Boyd, C.J., Veliz, P., McCabe, V. V., Chen, B., Dickinson, K., & Evans-Polce, R. J. (2025). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms and later e-cigarette and tobacco use in US youth. JAMA Network Open, 8(2), e2458834.

  • Evans-Polce, R. J., Kcomt, L., Casey, L., Boyd, C. J., McCabe, S. E., Veliz, P. T., Conlin, C., & Parra, L. (2025). Associations of sexual orientation and state-level antidiscrimination policy protections with alcohol, tobacco, and mental health outcomes in a U.S. sample of adolescents and adults. Social Science and Medicine, 365, 117605. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117605.

  • Pasman, E., Evans-Polce, R. J., Schepis, T. S., Engstrom, C. W., McCabe, V. V., Drazdowski, T. K., & McCabe, S. E. (2024). Non-abstinence among US adults in recovery: Findings from the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Journal of Addiction Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1097/ADM.0000000000001408

  • Evans-Polce, R. J., Chen, B., McCabe, S. E., & West, B. T. (2024). Longitudinal associations of e-cigarette use with cigarette, marijuana, and other drug use initiation among US adolescents and young adults: Findings from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health study (Waves 1-6). Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 263, 111402. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2024.111402 PMCID: PMC11577152.

  • Evans-Polce, R. J., Maggs, J. L., Lanza, S. T., & Patrick, M. E. (2024). Negative consequences associated with daily alcohol use as a nonlinear function of number of drinks in a daily diary study. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 256, 111089. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2024.111089.

  • Evans-Polce, R. J., Kcomt, L., Boyd, C. J., Veliz, P. T., & McCabe, S. E. (2023). Associations of sexual identity change and identity-attraction discordance with symptomatic alcohol and other drug use. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. doi: 10.1007/s00127-023-02600-2.

  • Evans-Polce, R. J., Schuler, M. S., Kcomt, L., McCabe, V. V., & McCabe, S. E. (2023). Sexual identity differences in tobacco (re)uptake: Testing mediation by internalizing and externalizing symptoms. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 64(6), 824-833. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2023.01.017.

  • Patrick, M. E., Evans-Polce, R. J., Arterberry, B., & Terry-McElrath, Y. (2023). Initiation of and escalation to high-intensity drinking among young adults. JAMA Pediatrics, 177(3):286-293. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2022.5642.

  • Evans-Polce, R. J., Stevenson, B. L., & Patrick, M. E. (2022). Daily-level analysis of drinking intensity and acute physical consequences. Addictive Behaviors, 128, 107246. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2022.107246. 

  • McCabe, S. E., Schulenberg, J. E., Schepis, T., Evans-Polce, R. J., Wilens, T. E., McCabe, V. V., & Veliz, P. T. (2022). Prevalence and trajectories of prescription drug misuse among US adults from ages 18 to 50. JAMA Network Open, 5, e2141995. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.41995 PMCID: PMC8728613

  • Evans-Polce, R. J., Veliz, P. T., Kcomt, L., Boyd, C. J., & McCabe, S. E. (2021). Nicotine/tobacco product use and dependence symptoms among US adolescents and adults: Differences by age, sex, and sexual identity. Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 23(12), 2065-2074. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntab127 PMCID: PMC8570663.

  • Evans-Polce, R. J., Kcomt, L., Veliz, P. T., Boyd, C. J., & McCabe, S. E. (2020). Alcohol, tobacco, and comorbid psychiatric disorders and associations with sexual identity and stress-related correlates. American Journal of Psychiatry, 177, 1073-1081. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2020.20010005. PMCID: PMC7606786

  • Evans-Polce, R. J., Schuler, M. S., Schulenberg, J. E., & Patrick, M. E. (2018). Gender- and age-varying associations of sensation seeking and substance use across young adulthood. Addictive Behaviors, 84, 271-277. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.05.003 PMCID: PMC6314667.

  • Evans-Polce, R. J., Patrick, M. E., Lanza, S. T., Miech, R. M., O’Malley, P. M., & Johnston, L. (2018). Reasons for vaping among U.S. 12th graders: A latent class analysis. Journal of Adolescent Health, 62(4), 457-462. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.10.009 PMCID: PMC5866738.

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