Riley Tolbert, B.A.

Email

Primary Email: [email protected]

Website Links

• Google Scholar
• CMCR

Bio

My research focuses on substance use as a complex, dynamic process that unfolds over time within complex cultural and socioeconomic contexts.

In particular, I am interested in patterns of alcohol use, cannabis use, and their co-use. Methodologically, I am interested in integrating ambulatory assessment methods, such as ecological momentary assessment (EMA), with longitudinal laboratory, neuroimaging, and qualitative measures.

By combining these approaches, I aim to examine how biological, psychological, and social processes interact to shape patterns of substance use across both short- and long-term timescales.

Education

• B.A., University of California, San Diego.
  Major: Psychology, Minor: Cognitive Science.

Areas of Specialization

Substance use, Cannabis use, Alcohol & Cannabis Co-use, Polysubstance use, Comorbidities, Ambulatory assessment, Qualitative data, Mixed-methods

Mentors

Igor Grant, M.D., UC San Diego
Thomas Marcotte, Ph.D., UC San Diego

Awards & Honors

2025 Award for Statistical Excellence from the UCSD Department of Psychology

Grants

• NIAAA T32 Alcohol Research Training Grant

Presentations

• • Tolbert, R.C. & Waddell, J.T. (April 2026). Early-day affect predicts later-day alcohol and cannabis co-use, moderated by adaptive strategies. Oral presentation as part of a symposium chaired by Riley Tolbert and Jack Waddell titled “Novel data approaches to understand alcohol and cannabis co-use dynamics in real-world settings” at the 2026 Collaborative Perspectives on Addiction Meeting.
  • Tolbert, R.C. & Waddell, J.T. (April 2025). Consequences from alcohol and cannabis co-use predict subsequent co-use and drinks consumed at next co-use event. Data blitz presentation at the 31st Annual Psychology Student Research Conference at California State University, San Marcos.

Publications

• • Linder, J.A., Tolbert, R.C., & Waddell, J.T. (under review) Event-specific recursive links between subjective alcohol effects, drinking quantity, and social context: A novel application of dynamic structural equation modeling. Psychopharmacology.
  • Moran, D., Tolbert, R.C., & Waddell, J.T. (2026). Real-Time discrepancies between simultaneous alcohol and cannabis expectancies and subjective responses. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2026.113163.
  • Waddell, J.T., Carpenter, R.W., King, S.E., & Tolbert, R.C. (2026). Mechanisms explaining links between early-episode alcohol craving and subsequent drinking during naturally occurring drinking episodes. Psychopharmacology, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-026-07008-9.
  • Tolbert, R.C. & Waddell, J.T. (2025). Breaking the cycle: Consequences from simultaneous alcohol and cannabis use predict subsequent simultaneous use and drinks consumed at the next simultaneous use event. Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research. https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.70183.
  • Waddell, J.T., McNamera, I. A., Inamura, S., & Tolbert, R.C. (2025). Person-environment transactions of UPPS-P impulsive traits and day-level alcohol and cannabis ese: A scoping review. Published in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.70159.