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Biography

My research program examines the role of dysfunctional emotional processes in adult psychopathology. Specifically, I am interested in the role of emotional dysregulation in two phenomenologically related areas of clinical distress: eating disorders and substance use disorders. Previous research has shown that individuals who experience symptoms of eating disorders and substance abuse — even at subclinical levels — exhibit a number of deficits in emotional regulation, including a greater tendency to experience certain negative emotions (e.g., shame), poor coping responses to unpleasant emotional states and a general lack of experiential emotional awareness.

An underlying theme of my research is the notion that eating disorders and substance abuse may share core emotional deficits. For instance, the inability to tolerate negative affect, particularly anxiety, is known to be one proximal cause of binge eating. Evidence also suggests that this same emotional state can trigger episodes of heavy drinking or illicit drug use. Eating disorders and substance abuse may thus involve common emotional precursors. If certain maladaptive emotional states represent core vulnerabilities across psychological disorders, then these areas of overlap may also respond to similar treatment strategies. The goal of my work is therefore to identify the emotional mechanisms associated with these two areas of psychopathology. This research carries many clinical implications, such as (a) early detection of those individuals most at emotional risk of developing an eating or substance use disorder and (b) identification and definition of emotional targets for clinical intervention.