Carnegie Mellon University
Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences  ›  Department of Psychology  ›  People  ›  Core and Training Faculty  ›  David Creswell

David Creswell

David Creswell

William S. Dietrich II Professor in Psychology and Neuroscience
CEO, Equa Health

Address
4825 Frew St
Baker Hall 342C
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Areas of Expertise

Clinical Psychology, Health Neuroscience, Health Psychology, Psychoneuroimmunology, Social Psychology

Bio

David’s research explores how people adapt and thrive under stress, with a focus on the mind-body connection and pathways to resilience. He conducts community-based intervention trials, laboratory experiments, and neuroimaging studies to uncover how different stress management strategies, such as mindfulness meditation, self-affirmation, and cognitive reappraisal, can enhance coping, reduce stress, and improve health outcomes.

Currently, David is leading studies that examine how digital mindfulness training influences brain function, physiological stress responses, and disease outcomes in at-risk populations. His work also investigates how simple behavioral strategies, like engaging in meaningful activities or reflecting on personal values, can enhance performance under pressure.

His research bridges psychology, neuroscience, and public health to design evidence-based tools for improving mental and physical well-being.

Education

  • B.A. Psychology, Colorado College

  • Ph.D. in Psychology, UCLA

Research

Dr. Creswell’s current research projects can be found on the Health and Human Performance Lab website.

Publications

Creswell, J.D. (2017). Mindfulness Interventions. Annual Review of Psychology, 68, 491-516.

Creswell, J.D., Villalba, D., Chin, B., & Lindsay, E.K. (2019). Mindfulness interventions for physical health: mechanisms and outcomes. Psychosomatic Medicine, 81, 224-232.

Lindsay, E.M., Creswell, J.D., Stern, H.J., Greco, C.M., Walko, T.D., Dutcher, J.D., Wright, A.G.C., Brown, K.W., & Marsland, A.L. (2022). Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction increases stimulated IL-6 production among lonely older adults: A randomized controlled trial. Brain, Behavior, & Immunity, 104, 6-15.

Dutcher, J.M., Lederman, J., Jain, M., Price, S., Kumar, A., Villalba, D.K., Tumminia, M.J., Doryab, A., Creswell, K.G., Mankoff, J., Cohen, S., Dey, A., & Creswell, J.D. (2022). Lack of belonging predicts depressive symptomatology in college students. Psychological Science, 33(77), 1048-1067.

*Creswell, J.D., Tumminia, M.J., Price, S., Sefidgar, Y., Cohen, S., Ren, Y., Brown, J., Dey, A., Dutcher, J.M., Villalba, D.K., Mankoff, J., Xu, X., Creswell, K.G., Doryab, A., Mattingly, S., Striegel, A., Hachen, D., Martinez, G., Lovett, M.C. (2023). Nightly sleep duration predicts grade point average in the first year of college. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(8), e2209123120.

Creswell, J.D., Brown, K.W., Cohen, S., Creswell, K.G., Zoccola, P., Dickerson, S.S., Dutcher, J., Wu, S., & Chin, B. (2025). Does high perceived stress over the past month alter cortisol reactivity to the Trier Social Stress Test? Psychoneuroendocrinology, 172, 107256.

Creswell, J.D. & Goldberg, S.B. (in press). The meditation app revolution. American Psychologist.

Khan, M.N.H., Creswell, J.D., Albert, J., O’Connell, P., Fallon, S., Polowitz, M., Xu, Xuhai, & Islam, B. (in press). Mindfulness meditation and respiration: accelerometer-based respiration rate estimation and feedback to enhance app enagement and mindfulness skills. Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies.

Current Course Offerings

  • Research Methods in Social Psychology
  • Hack Your Life
  • Graduate Core Class in Social and Health Psychology