Mental Health

Research in this area focuses on understanding and treating mental illnesses and their comorbidity with other disorders. Our faculty use advanced statistical approaches to identify which populations are most at risk and create innovative intervention approaches to reduce mental health problems in a wide variety of populations.

Related Faculty

Dr. Melissa Lewis
Dr. Dana Litt
Dr. Justin Luningham
Dr. Eun-Young Mun
Dr. Kari Northeim
Dr. Scott Walters
Dr. Andrew Yockey

Faculty Publications:

• Cadigan, J. M., Fleming, C. B., Patrick, M E., Lewis, M. A., Rhew, I. C., Abdallah, D. A., Fairlie, A. M., Schulenberg, J. E., Larimer, M. E., & Lee, C. M (2021). Negative evaluation of role transitions associated with perceived stress and alcohol-consequences: Examination of the Transitions Overload Model in young adulthood using two years of monthly data. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 45, 1607-1615. DOI: 10.1111/acer.14636.
• Lewis, M. A., Hove, M. C., Whiteside, U., Lee, C., M., Oster-Aaland, L., Kirkeby, B. S., Neighbors, C., & Larimer, M. E. (2008). Fitting in and feeling fine: Conformity and coping motives as mediators of the relationship between social anxiety and problematic drinking. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 22, 58-67. 1037/0893-164X.22.1.58
• Litt, D. M., Lewis, M. A., Blayney, J., & Kaysen, D. (2013). Protective behavioral strategies as a mediator of the generalized anxiety and alcohol use relationship among lesbian and bisexual women. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 74, 168-174. DOI: 15288/jsad.2013.74.168
• Litt, D. M., Zhou, Z., Fairlie, A. M., King, K. M., Cross, A., Kannard, E., Geusens, F., & Lewis, M. A. (2023). Daily-level examination indicates that positive affect, but not negative affect, is associated with alcohol and marijuana use among adolescents and young adults. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, epub ahead of print.
• Luningham JM, Hendriks AM, Krapohl E, Fung Ip H, van Beijsterveldt CEM, Lundström S, Vuoksimaa E, Korhonen T, Lichtenstein P, Plomin R, Pulkkinen L, Rose RJ, Kaprio J, Bartels M, Boomsma DI, Lubke GH. Harmonizing behavioral outcomes across studies, raters, and countries: application to the genetic analysis of aggression in the ACTION Consortium. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2020 Jul;61(7):807-817. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.13188
• Luningham JM, Merrilees CE, Taylor LK, Goeke-Morey M, Shirlow P, Wentz B, Cummings EM. The impact of father presence and family conflict on trajectories of adolescent adjustment in Northern Ireland. Child Dev. 2020 Nov;92(3):904-918. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13446
• Luningham JM, Wentz B, Merrilees CE, Taylor LK, Goeke-Morey MC, Shirlow P, Shannon T, & Cummings EM. Bidirectional effects between maternal mental health and adolescent internalizing problems across six years in Northern Ireland. In press, J Child Psychol Psychiatry Advances, e12078. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcv2.12078
• Peterson, R., Dvorak, R. D., Woerner, J., & Lewis, M. A. (2021). Internalizing symptoms, alcohol use, and protective behavior strategies associated with regressed sexual experiences of college students. Journal of Affective Disorders, 283, 363-372. org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.01.077
• Vidourek RA, Andrew Yockey R, King KA. Family and Parent Correlates to Anxiety in a National Sample of 12 to 17 Year Olds. J Prev (2022). 2022 Feb 8. doi: 10.1007/s10935-021-00662-z.
• Rodriguez, L. M., Litt, D. M., & Stewart, S. H. (2020). Drinking to Cope with the Pandemic: The Unique Associations of COVID-19-Related Perceived Threat and Psychological Distress to Drinking Behaviors in American Men and Women. Addictive Behaviors, DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2020.106532
• Rodriguez, L. M., Litt, D. M., & Stewart, S. H. (2021). COVID-19 financial and psychological stress and their links to drinking: A dyadic analysis in romantic couples.  Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 35, 377-390.  https://doi.org/10.1037/adb0000724
• Yockey, R. A., King, K. A., & Vidourek, R. A. (2021). Family factors and parental correlates to adolescent conduct disorder. Journal of Family Studies, 27(3), 356-365. Doi: 10.1080/13229400.2019.1604402.
• Yockey, R. A., King, K. A., & Vidourek, R. A. (2019). School factors and anxiety disorder among Hispanic youth: Results from the 2016 US National Survey on Children’s Health. School Psychology International, 40(4), 403-415. Doi: 10.1177/0143034319849621
• Young, C. M., Neighbors, C., DiBello, A. M., Sharp, C., Zvolensky, M. J., & Lewis, M. A. (2016).  Coping motives moderate efficacy of personalized normative feedback among heavy drinking U.S. college students. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 77, 495-499. dx.doi.org/10.15288/jsad.2016.77.495
• Nguyen UDT, Perneger T, Franklin PD, Barea C, Hoffmeyer P, Lübbeke A. Improvement in mental health following total hip arthroplasty: the role of pain and function. BMC Musculoskelet Disord 2019;20:307. doi: 10.1186/s12891-019-2669-y.