David Creswell
Professor
- Pittsburgh PA UNITED STATES
David Creswell’s research focuses broadly on understanding what makes people resilient under stress.
Biography
David has made some recent research forays into other areas, such as in describing the role of unconscious processes in learning and decision making, developing new theory and research on behavioral priming, and in building a new field of health neuroscience.
Areas of Expertise
Media Appearances
What Meditation Retreats Really Do to Your Mind and Body
Psychology Today online
2026-04-07
We've studied meditation retreats, and they are not very relaxing.
The Healing Power of Words in the Age of AI
Psychology Today online
2025-08-19
Words are one of the oldest healing technologies we have. AI may add to that.
Stressed by current events? Instead of unplugging, a Pittsburgh psychology researcher says lean in
WESA online
2025-03-12
David Creswell (Dietrich College) wants you to embrace the news, not tune it out, for the benefit of your brain. "You’re sort of working through those emotions and turning toward that distress [so] you can start to build those distress tolerance muscles,” said Creswell.
Neuroscientist shares the ‘nonnegotiable’ routine he uses to stay mentally sharp during the day
CNBC online
2023-03-07
There’s nothing inherently wrong with these routines, but building success with your sleep schedule is a lot easier than that, says David Creswell, a psychology and neuroscience professor at Carnegie Mellon who studies sleep.
Nightly Sleep Is Key to Student Success
Carnegie Mellon University News online
2023-02-17
David Creswell(opens in new window), the William S. Dietrich II Professor in Psychology and Neuroscience at the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences(opens in new window), led a team of researchers to evaluate the relationship between sleep and GPA.
The less college students sleep, the worse their grades, study finds
The Washington Post online
2023-02-13
Researchers found that every lost hour of average nightly sleep at the start of an academic term was associated with a 0.07-point drop in a student’s end-of-term GPA. When a student slept less than six hours a night, the effect of lost sleep on a student’s grades was even more pronounced, said David Creswell, the lead author of the study and a professor in psychology and neuroscience at Carnegie Mellon University.
Loneliness Is Bad for Your Health. An App May Help.
The New York Times online
2019-02-20
Because loneliness, like mindfulness, is a subjective state, it’s difficult to make definitive conclusions about why and how a focus on acceptance prompted greater sociability. But David Creswell, an associate professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon who conducted the study with the lead author, Emily Lindsay, believes that “the equanimity piece is key.” The poise it teaches, he says, may help people become less self-judgmental, less self-conscious, more amenable to interacting with others.
Just A Few Minutes Of Meditation May Reduce Stress, Study Finds
Forbes online
2014-07-03
“More and more people report using meditation practices for stress reduction, but we know very little about how much you need to do for stress reduction and health benefits,” said lead author J. David Creswell. So he and his team from Carnegie Mellon University set out to determine whether low “doses” of mindfulness might have an effect on the stress response.
Media
Industry Expertise
Accomplishments
American Psychosomatic Society Herbert Weiner Early Career Award
2017
Social Personality Health Network Early Career Award
2015
APA Early Career Award for Scientific Contributions to Psychology
2014
Education
University of California, Los Angeles
M.A.
Social Psychology
2003
University of California, Los Angeles
Ph.D.
Social Psychology
2007
The Colorado College
B.A.
Psychology
2000
Affiliations
- Social Personality Health Network : Executive Committee member
Links
Event Appearances
Self-affirmation writing for breast cancer survivors
University of Hawaii Medical School Honolulu, HI
2023-01-09
How do mindfulness interventions work?
From Behavior to Brain to Body to Health, Center for Neuroscience and Society colloquium series, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA
2022-02-04
How do mindfulness interventions work?
Mind-body interface international symposium, PNIRS Asia-Pacific Symposium Plenary talk Taichung, Taiwan
2021-10-30
Research Grants
Value affirmation and physical symptom relief among breast cancer patients taking aromatase inhibitors
NIH R01
2019-2024
Mindfulness meditation training for Irritable Bowel Syndrome
NIH R01
2021-2025
Mindfulness training for the Pittsburgh Community
Highmark Foundation
2022-2023
Articles
The meditation app revolution
American Psychologist2025
Smartphone-based meditation training has jumped onto the world stage, shifting how millions of people learn and practice meditation. This review examines the rapid proliferation of meditation apps and synthesizes current scientific findings on their usage patterns, efficacy, mechanisms of action, and safety. Though research lags well behind public adoption, recent randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses reveal that app-based meditation interventions produce modest but consistent reductions in depression and anxiety. Initial mechanistic studies further suggest that improvements in worry, repetitive negative thinking, and self-reported mindfulness skills may underpin these effects, alongside early findings on blood pressure reduction and pro-inflammatory gene expression.
Mindfulness training fosters a positive outlook during acute stress: A randomized controlled trial.
Emotion2025
The tendency to maintain a positive outlook during adversity associates with better health. Interventions that help people cope with stress by maintaining a positive perspective have potential to improve health. Mindfulness interventions show promise for enhancing positive affect in daily life, and developing acceptance toward momentary experiences may help people notice more positive experiences under stress. In a sample of 153 healthy stressed adults (Mage = 32 years; 67% female; 53% White, 22% Black, 22% Asian, 4% other race; 5% Hispanic; collected in 2015–2016), we tested whether mindfulness training, and acceptance training in particular, boosts awareness of positive experiences during acute stress.
Mindfulness-based stress reduction increases stimulated IL-6 production among lonely older adults: A randomized controlled trial
Brain, Behavior, and Immunity2022
Loneliness is a potent psychosocial stressor that predicts poor health and mortality among older adults, possibly in part by accelerating age-related declines in immunocompetence. Mindfulness interventions have shown promise for reducing loneliness and improving markers of physical health. In a sample of lonely older adults, this two-arm parallel trial tested whether mindfulness training enhances stimulated interleukin-6 (IL-6) production, a measure of innate immune responsivity. Lonely older adults (65–85 years; N = 190) were randomized to an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) or control Health Enhancement Program (HEP) intervention.
Lack of Belonging Predicts Depressive Symptomatology in College Students
Psychological Science2022
Feeling a sense of belonging is a central human motivation that has consequences for mental health and well-being, yet surprisingly little research has examined how belonging shapes mental health among young adults. In three data sets from two universities (exploratory study: N = 157; Confirmatory Study 1: N = 121; Confirmatory Study 2: n = 188 in winter term, n = 172 in spring term), we found that lower levels of daily-assessed feelings of belonging early and across the academic term predicted higher depressive symptoms at the end of the term.
Psychometric evaluation of a Visual Interpersonal Analog Scale
Psychological Assessment2023
Interpersonal theory organizes social behavior along dominant (vs. submissive) and warm (vs. cold) dimensions. There is a growing interest in assessing these behaviors in naturalistic settings to maximize ecological validity and to study dynamic social processes. Studies that have assessed interpersonal behavior in daily life have primarily relied on behavioral checklists. Although checklists have advantages, they are discrepant with techniques used to capture constructs typically assessed alongside warmth and dominance, such as affect, which typically rely on adjective descriptors.
Nightly sleep duration predicts grade point average in the first year of college
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences2023
Total nightly sleep is a potentially important and underappreciated behavior supporting academic achievement. First-year college students from three independent universities provided sleep actigraphy for a month early in the academic term, across five separate samples. Lower average nightly sleep early in the academic term predicted lower end-of-term GPA, an effect that held even when controlling for factors known to predict end-of-term GPA, including previous-term GPA, daytime sleep, and overall academic load.
Effect of mindfulness-based intervention on endurance performance under pressure and performance-relevant mental attributes, an interdisciplinary perspective
Contemporary Clinical Trials2023
Performance under pressure is one of the primary features of competitive sports. Considering that increased competition levels are typically accompanied by elevated stress and anxiety, athletes' ability to cope with stress has gained even more importance in recent years. Accordingly, the current trial, entitled Mindfulness-based Peak Performance (MBPP), will take an interdisciplinary approach (e.g., sport psychology, sports training, and cognitive neuroscience), to more definitively examine whether a MBPP affects athletic performance under pressure and relevant mental attributes.