Jody L. Sindelar, PhD

Research Interests

Aging; Alcoholism; Economics; Health Policy; Obesity; Smoking; Health Behavior; Smoking Cessation; Substance-Related Disorders; Social Determinants of Health; Health Care

Public Health Interests

Aging; Alcoholism/Alcohol; Drug Abuse/Addition; Economics; Epidemiology Methods; Health behavior; Health Economics; Health Policy; Health risk behaviors; Obesity; Public health practice; Smoking/Tobacco Control; Social determinants of health; Social and economic policy; Stress; Substance abuse

Research Organizations

School of Public Health: Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS | Sindelar Lab

Center for Nicotine and Tobacco Use Research at Yale (CENTURY)

DAHRS

Faculty Research

Obesity Research Working Group

Psychotherapy Development Center

Stress & Addiction Clinical Research Program

Women's Behavioral Health Research, Division of

Yale Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science

Office of Cooperative Research

Yale Institute for Global Health

Research Summary

Dr. Jody Sindelar is a Professor of Public Health and Economics at the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH), Department of Health Policy and Management (HPM), and at the Yale University Department of Economics. In addition, she

is a Research Associate at the National Bureau Economic Research (NBER), Research Fellow at the IZA Institute of Labor Economics, Associated Faculty at the Institution for Social and Policy Studies (ISPS) at Yale, Bing Visiting faculty at Rand Corporation in Santa Monica, CA and Washington, DC, and has been the President-elect, President, Past President & founding member of the American Society of Health Economists (ASHEcon).

Dr. Sindelar is an expert on the economics of substance abuse, including alcoholism, illicit drugs and smoking, as well as obesity. Her studies include lost productivity, cost-effectiveness of treatments, social costs, and policy. She has published over 100 papers and studies on the impacts of substance abuse on productivity, educational attainment, gender differences, and related policy issues in economics, policy, addiction, health and medical journals.

Specialized Terms: Substance abuse economics

Extensive Research Description

Dr. Sindelar has over three decades of research experience in health economics, health and work, aging, and retirement, and she has mentored junior faculty in these fields. She has also been a principal investigator or collaborator on numerous past research projects funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Connecticut Department of Social Services, National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institute on Aging (NIA), National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), Veteran’s Administration (VA), and Yale Center for Clinical Investigation (YCCI) among others.

Currently, Dr. Sindelar heads Project 4 (Economics, Experiments and PATH Data: Creating Knowledge for Tobacco Regulation) of the Yale Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science (TCORS). The overarching aim of this study is to develop the knowledge base for development of effective tobacco regulation to reduce addiction by examining factors that influence the perceptions about, evaluations of, and potential use of e-cigarettes as compared to cigarettes. Using questions coordinated across our experiments and secondary data, we will link our findings to large nationally representative secondary data sets to evaluate modified risk tobacco products and regulations.

Selected Publications

• Salary differences between male and female registered nurses in the United States

  Muench M, Sindelar JL, Busch SH, Buerhaus PI. JAMA. 2015;313(12):1265-1267.

• An evaluation of the FDA's analysis of the costs and benefits of the graphic warning label regulation

  Chaloupka FJ, Warner KE, Acemoğlu D, Gruber J, Laux F, Max W, Newhouse J, Schelling T, Sindelar JL. Tobacco Control. 2014 Dec 30. PMCID: PMC4335832.

• Smaller Cigarette Pack as a Commitment to Smoke Less? Insights from Behavioral Economics

  Marti J and Jody JL. Plos One. 2015 Sep 10;10(9):e0137520. PMCID: PMC4565702.

• Financial versus health motivation to quit smoking: A randomized field study

  Sindelar JL, O'Malley SS. Preventive Med. 2014 Feb;59:1-4. NIHMSID 782977.

• Is Research in Substance Abuse Undervalued?

  Sindelar JL and Strombotne KL. Addiction. 2014 Jan;109(1):3-4.

• Rewarding Healthy Food Choices in SNAP: Behavioral Economic Applications

  Richards MR and Sindelar JL. The Milbank Quarterly. 2013 Jun;91(2):395-412. PMCID: PMC3696202.

• Smoke-free policies in drinking venues predict transitions in alcohol use disorders in a longitudinal U.S. sample

  Young-Wolff KC, Hyland AJ, Desai R, Sindelar JL, Pilver CE, McKee SA. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 2013 Mar;128(3):214-221. PMCID: PMC4052952.

• Understanding heterogeneity in price elasticities in the demand for alcohol for older individuals

  Ayyagari P, Deb P, Fletcher J, Gallo W and Sindelar JL. Health Economics. 2013 Jan;22 (1) :89-105. PMCID: PMC3641566.

• The Impact of Early Occupational Choice on Health Behaviors. Review of Household Economics Kelly IR, Dave D, Sindelar JL, and Gallo WT. Review of Household Economics. Published online October 23, 2012.
• Optimizing Financial Incentives to Improve Health among Military Personnel: Differences by Pay Grade and across Branches

  Sindelar JL and Torsiello N. Preventive Medicine. 2012 Nov;55 Suppl:S116-7. PMCID: PMC3641555.

• The Effects of Family Stressors on Substance Use Initiation

  Fletcher JM and Sindelar JL. Rev. Economic Households. March 2012;10(1):99-114. PMCID: PMC3777731.

• Cumulative effects of job characteristics on health

  Fletcher JM, Sindelar JL, Yamaguchi S. Health Economics. 2011 May;20(5):553-70. PMCID: PMC3066461.

• The effect of job loss on overweight and drinking

  Deb P, Gallo WT, Ayyagari P, Fletcher JM, Sindelar JL. Journal of Health Economics. 2011 Mar;30(2):217-27. PMCID: PMC3086369

• Differential changes in body mass index after retirement by occupation: hierarchical models

  Gueorguieva R, Sindelar JL, Wu R, Gallo WT. International Journal of Public Health. 2011 Feb;56(1):111-6. PMCID: PMC3154720.

• The morning after: alcohol misuse and employment problems

  French MT, Maclean JC, Sindelar JL, Fang H. Applied Economics. 2011;43(21):2705-2720. PMCID: PMC3234116.

• Cost evaluation of evidence-based treatments

  Sindelar JL, Ball SA. Addiction Science & Clinical Practice. 2010 Dec;5(2):44-51. PMCID: PMC3120119.

• The Impact of Job Stress on Smoking and Quitting: Evidence from the HRS

  Ayyagari P and Sindelar JL. The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy. 2010 Jan 1;10(1). pii: art27. PMCID: PMC31033224.

• Work expectations, realizations, and depression in older workers

  Falba TA, Sindelar JL, Gallo WT. The Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics. 2009 Dec;12(4):175-86. PMCID: PMC34334685

• Cost analysis of clinic and office-based treatment of opioid dependence: results with methadone and buprenorphine in clinically stable patients

  Jones ES, Moore BA, Sindelar JL, O'Connor PG, Schottenfeld RS, Fiellin DA. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 2009 Jan 1;99(1-3):132-40. PMCID: PMC2646001.

• The impact of occupation on self-rated health: cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence from the health and retirement survey

  Gueorguieva R, Sindelar JL, Falba TA, Fletcher JM, Keenan P, Wu R, Gallo WT. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences. 2009 Jan;64(1):118-24. PMCID: PMC2654983.

• Willingness to pay for drug rehabilitation: implications for cost recovery

  Bishai D, Sindelar JL, Ricketts EP, Huettner S, Cornelius L, Lloyd JJ, Havens JJ, Latkin CA, Strathdee SA. Journal of Health Economics. 2008 Jul;27(4):959-72. PMCID: PMC2601723

• Paying for performance: the power of incentives over habits

  Sindelar JL. Health Economics. 2008 Apr;17(4):449-51. PMCID: PMC3434678.

• Spousal concordance in health behavior change

  Falba TA & Sindelar JL. Health Services Research. 2008 Feb;43(1 Pt 1):96-116. PMCID: PMC2323137.

• Treatment programs in the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network

  McCarty D, Fuller B, Kaskutas LA, Wendt WW, Nunes EV, Miller M, Forman R, Magruder KM, Arfken C, Copersino M, Floyd A, Sindelar JL, Edmundson E. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 2008 Jan 1;92(1-3):200-7. PMCID: PMC2223274.

• Clinic variation in the cost-effectiveness of contingency management

  Olmstead TA, Sindelar JL, Petry NM. The American Journal on Addictions. 2007 Nov-Dec;16(6):457-60. PMCID: PMC3072219.

• Cost-benefit analysis of second-generation antipsychotics and placebo in a randomized trial of the treatment of psychosis and aggression in Alzheimer disease

  Rosenheck RA, Leslie DL, Sindelar JL, Miller EA, Tariot PN, Dagerman KS, Davis SM, Lebowitz BD, Rabins P, Hsiao JK, Lieberman JA, Schneider LS; Clinical Antipsychotic Trial of Intervention Effectiveness-Alzheimer's Disease (CATIE-AD) investigators. Archives of General Psychiatry. 2007 Nov;64(11):1259-68.

• Equity in private insurance coverage for substance abuse: a perspective on parity

  Barry CL and Sindelar JL. Health Affairs. 2007 Nov-Dec;26(6):w706-16. PMCID: PMC3072843.

• The cost-effectiveness of four treatments for marijuana dependence

  Olmstead TA, Sindelar JL, Easton CJ, Carroll KM. Addiction. 2007 Sep;102(9):1443-53. PMCID: PMC2398724.

• Cost-effectiveness of prize-based contingency management in methadone maintenance treatment programs

  Sindelar JL, Olmstead TA, Peirce JM. Addiction. 2007 Sep;102(9):1463-71. PMCID: PMC3072844.

• Smoking status as a clinical indicator for alcohol misuse in US adults

  McKee SA, Falba T, O'Malley SS, Sindelar JL, O'Connor PG. Archives of Internal Medicine. 2007 Apr 9;167(7)716-21. PMCID: PMC2869385.

• Cost-effectiveness of prize-based incentives for stimulant abusers in outpatient psychosocial treatment programs

  Olmstead TA, Sindelar JL, Petry NM. 2007 Mar 16;87(2-3):175-82. PMCID: PMC1950254.

• Why are recovering substance abuse counselors paid less?

  Olmstead TA, Johnson JA, Roman PM, Sindelar JL. Substance Abuse. 2007 Mar;28(1):31-44.

• What do we get for our money? Cost-effectiveness of adding contingency management

  Sindelar JL, Elbel B, Petry NM. Addiction. 2007 Feb;102(2):309-16.

• Direct care workers in the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network: characteristics, opinions, and beliefs

  McCarty D, Fuller BE, Arfken C, Miller M, Nunes EV, Edmundson E, Copersino M, Floyd A, Forman R, Laws R, Magruder KM, Oyama M, Prather K, Sindelar JL, Wendt WW. Psychiatric Services. 2007 Feb;58(2):181-90. PMCID: PMC2861362.

• Cost-effectiveness of second-generation antipsychotics and perphenazine in a randomized trial of treatment for chronic schizophrenia

  Rosenheck RA, Leslie DL, Sindelar JL, Miller EA, Lin H, Stroup TS, McEvoy J, Davis SM, Keefe RS, Swartz M, Perkins DO, Hsiao JK, Lieberman J; CATIE Study Investigators. American Journal of Psychiatry. 2006 Dec;163(12):2080-9

• Effects of a cost-sharing exemption on use of preventive services at one large employer

  Busch SH, Barry CL, Vegso SJ, Sindelar JL, Cullen MR. Health Affairs. 2006 Nov-Dec;25(6):1529-36.

• The impact of tobacco expenditure on household consumption patterns in rural China

  Wang H, Sindelar JL, Busch SH. Social Science & Medicine. 2006 Mar;62(6):1414-26.

• Smaller Cigarette Pack as a Commitment to Smoke Less? Insights from Behavioral Economics

  Marti J, Sindelar J PLoS One. 2015 Sep 10; 2015 Sep 10.

Full List of PubMed Publications

• Maclean JC, Oney M, Marti J, Sindelar J: What factors predict the passage of state-level e-cigarette regulations? Health Econ. 2018 May; 2018 Feb 22. PMID: 29468781
• Marti J, Sindelar J: Smaller Cigarette Pack as a Commitment to Smoke Less? Insights from Behavioral Economics. PLoS One. 2015; 2015 Sep 10. PMID: 26356844
• Muench U, Sindelar J, Busch SH, Buerhaus PI: Salary differences between male and female registered nurses in the United States. JAMA. 2015 Mar 24-31. PMID: 25803350
• Chaloupka FJ, Warner KE, Acemoğlu D, Gruber J, Laux F, Max W, Newhouse J, Schelling T, Sindelar J: An evaluation of the FDA's analysis of the costs and benefits of the graphic warning label regulation. Tob Control. 2015 Mar; 2014 Dec 30. PMID: 25550419
• Sindelar JL, O'Malley SS: Financial versus health motivation to quit smoking: a randomized field study. Prev Med. 2014 Feb; 2013 Oct 16. PMID: 24139975
• Sindelar JL, Strombotne KL: Is research in substance abuse undervalued? Addiction. 2014 Jan; 2013 Oct 9. PMID: 24118168
• Richards MR, Sindelar JL: Rewarding healthy food choices in SNAP: behavioral economic applications. Milbank Q. 2013 Jun. PMID: 23758515
• Young-Wolff KC, Hyland AJ, Desai R, Sindelar J, Pilver CE, McKee SA: Smoke-free policies in drinking venues predict transitions in alcohol use disorders in a longitudinal U.S. sample. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2013 Mar 1; 2012 Sep 20. PMID: 22999418
• Sindelar JL, Torsiello N: Optimizing financial incentives to improve health among military personnel: differences by pay grade and across branches. Prev Med. 2012 Nov; 2012 Jun 5. PMID: 22673693
• Fletcher JM, Sindelar JL: The Effects of Family Stressors on Substance Use Initiation in Adolescence. Rev Econ Househ. 2012 Mar. PMID: 24058324
• Fletcher JM, Sindelar JL, Yamaguchi S: Cumulative effects of job characteristics on health. Health Econ. 2011 May. PMID: 21433217
• Gueorguieva R, Sindelar JL, Wu R, Gallo WT: Differential changes in body mass index after retirement by occupation: hierarchical models. Int J Public Health. 2011 Feb; 2010 Jul 13. PMID: 20625792
• Sindelar JL, Ball SA: Cost evaluation of evidence-based treatments. Addict Sci Clin Pract. 2010 Dec. PMID: 22002453
• Ayyagari P, Sindelar JL: The Impact of Job Stress on Smoking and Quitting: Evidence from the HRS. B E J Econom Anal Policy. 2010 Jan 1. PMID: 21625286
• Jones ES, Moore BA, Sindelar JL, O'Connor PG, Schottenfeld RS, Fiellin DA: Cost analysis of clinic and office-based treatment of opioid dependence: results with methadone and buprenorphine in clinically stable patients. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2009 Jan 1; 2008 Sep 19. PMID: 18804923
• Gueorguieva R, Sindelar JL, Falba TA, Fletcher JM, Keenan P, Wu R, Gallo WT: The impact of occupation on self-rated health: cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence from the health and retirement survey. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2009 Jan; 2009 Feb 4. PMID: 19196689
• Rosenheck RA, Leslie DL, Sindelar JL, Miller EA, Tariot PN, Dagerman KS, Davis SM, Lebowitz BD, Rabins P, Hsiao JK, Lieberman JA, Schneider LS, Clinical Antipsychotic Trial of Intervention Effectiveness-Alzheimer's Disease (CATIE-AD) investigators.: Cost-benefit analysis of second-generation antipsychotics and placebo in a randomized trial of the treatment of psychosis and aggression in Alzheimer disease. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2007 Nov. PMID: 17984395
• Barry CL, Sindelar JL: Equity in private insurance coverage for substance abuse: a perspective on parity. Health Aff (Millwood). 2007 Nov-Dec; 2007 Oct 23. PMID: 17956926
• Sindelar JL, Olmstead TA, Peirce JM: Cost-effectiveness of prize-based contingency management in methadone maintenance treatment programs. Addiction. 2007 Sep; 2007 Jul 23. PMID: 17645428
• McKee SA, Falba T, O'Malley SS, Sindelar J, O'Connor PG: Smoking status as a clinical indicator for alcohol misuse in US adults. Arch Intern Med. 2007 Apr 9. PMID: 17420431
• Olmstead TA, Sindelar JL, Petry NM: Cost-effectiveness of prize-based incentives for stimulant abusers in outpatient psychosocial treatment programs. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2007 Mar 16; 2006 Sep 12. PMID: 16971054
• Sindelar J, Elbel B, Petry NM: What do we get for our money? Cost-effectiveness of adding contingency management. Addiction. 2007 Feb. PMID: 17222286
• Rosenheck RA, Leslie DL, Sindelar J, Miller EA, Lin H, Stroup TS, McEvoy J, Davis SM, Keefe RS, Swartz M, Perkins DO, Hsiao JK, Lieberman J, CATIE Study Investigators.: Cost-effectiveness of second-generation antipsychotics and perphenazine in a randomized trial of treatment for chronic schizophrenia. Am J Psychiatry. 2006 Dec. PMID: 17151158
• Busch SH, Barry CL, Vegso SJ, Sindelar JL, Cullen MR: Effects of a cost-sharing exemption on use of preventive services at one large employer. Health Aff (Millwood). 2006 Nov-Dec. PMID: 17102176
• Wang H, Sindelar JL, Busch SH: The impact of tobacco expenditure on household consumption patterns in rural China. Soc Sci Med. 2006 Mar; 2005 Aug 31. PMID: 16137812
• Olmstead TA, Sindelar JL: Does the impact of managed care on substance abuse treatment services vary by provider profit status? Health Serv Res. 2005 Dec. PMID: 16336553
• Olmstead TA, Johnson JA, Roman PM, Sindelar JL: What are the correlates of substance abuse treatment counselor salaries? J Subst Abuse Treat. 2005 Oct. PMID: 16183467
• Falba T, Teng HM, Sindelar JL, Gallo WT: The effect of involuntary job loss on smoking intensity and relapse. Addiction. 2005 Sep. PMID: 16128722
• Dodge R, Sindelar J, Sinha R: The role of depression symptoms in predicting drug abstinence in outpatient substance abuse treatment. J Subst Abuse Treat. 2005 Mar. PMID: 15780549
• Sindelar J, Falba T: Securitization of tobacco settlement payments to reduce states' conflict of interest. Health Aff (Millwood). 2004 Sep-Oct. PMID: 15371384
• Busch S, Falba T, Duchovny N, Jofre-Bonet M, O'Malley S, Sindelar J: Value to smokers of improved cessation products: evidence from a willingness-to-pay survey. Nicotine Tob Res. 2004 Aug. PMID: 15370159
• Snyder A, Falba T, Busch S, Sindelar J: Are State legislatures responding to public opinion when allocating funds for tobacco control programs? Health Promot Pract. 2004 Jul. PMID: 15231095
• Olmstead T, Sindelar JL: To what extent are key services offered in treatment programs for special populations? J Subst Abuse Treat. 2004 Jul. PMID: 15223088
• Olmstead T, White WD, Sindelar J: The impact of managed care on substance abuse treatment services. Health Serv Res. 2004 Apr. PMID: 15032957
• Sindelar JL, Jofre-Bonet M, French MT, McLellan AT: Cost-effectiveness analysis of addiction treatment: paradoxes of multiple outcomes. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2004 Jan 7. PMID: 14687958
• Falba T, Jofre-Bonet M, Busch S, Duchovny N, Sindelar J: Reduction of quantity smoked predicts future cessation among older smokers. Addiction. 2004 Jan. PMID: 14678067
• Busch SH, Jofre-Bonet M, Falba TA, Sindelar JL: Burning a hole in the budget: tobacco spending and its crowd-out of other goods. Appl Health Econ Health Policy. 2004. PMID: 15901200
• Akazawa M, Sindelar JL, Paltiel AD: Economic costs of influenza-related work absenteeism. Value Health. 2003 Mar-Apr. PMID: 12641861
• Jofre-Bonet M, Sindelar JL: Drug Treatment as a Crime Fighting Tool. J Ment Health Policy Econ. 2001 Dec 1. PMID: 12119427

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