Research Interests for Timothy J Strauman

Research Interests: Research and Interests

Professor Strauman's research interests center upon psychological processes of self-regulation, conceptualized in terms of a cognitive/motivational perspective, as well as the relation between self-regulation and affect. Within this general domain, particular areas of emphasis include: (1) conceptualizing self-regulation in terms of basic self/brain/behavior motivational systems; (2) the role of self-regulatory processes in vulnerability to depression and other disorders; (3) the impact of treatment on self-regulatory function and dysfunction in depression; (4) how normative and non-normative socialization patterns influence the development of individual differences in self-regulation; (5) the contributory roles of self-regulation, affect, and psychopathology in determining immunologically-mediated susceptibility to illness; (6) development of a brief structured psychotherapy for depression targeting self-regulatory dysfunction; (7) utilization of brain imaging techniques to test hypotheses concerning self-regulation, including the nature and function of hypothetical regulatory systems and characterizing the breakdowns in self-regulation that lead to and accompany depression. Professor Strauman's clinical interests follow from his program of research. Specifically, he is interested in learning how psychotherapy remediates disorders such as depression and whether psychotherapy is effective at reducing risk for relapse and recurrence of emotional disorders. His lab's clinically focused research includes the development of a new self-regulation-based therapy for depression and the use of neuroimaging techniques to examine the mechanisms of action of treatments for depression. Prof. Strauman is a Founding Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy.

Keywords:
self-regulation, depression, psychopathology, psychotherapy
Representative Publications
  1. Eddington, K.M., Dolcos, F., Cabeza, R., Krishnan, K.R.R., & Strauman T.J., Neural correlates of promotion and prevention goal activation: An fMRI study using an idiographic approach., Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, vol. 19 (2007), pp. 1152-1162.
  2. Strauman, T.J., Vieth, A.Z., Merrill, K.A., Woods, T.E., Kolden, G.G., Klein, M.H., Papadakis, A.A., Schneider, K.L., & Kwapil, L., Self-system therapy as an intervention for self-regulatory dysfunction in depression: A randomized comparison with cognitive therapy, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, vol. 74 no. 2 (2006), pp. 367-376.
  3. Strauman, T.J., Coe, C.L., McCrudden, M.C., Vieth, A.Z., & Kwapil, L., Individual differences in self-regulatory failure and menstrual dysfunction predict upper respiratory infection symptoms and antibody response to flu immunization., Brain, Behavior, and Immunity (in press).