A. Positions and Honors

1996 to 1999           Research Fellow, Adult Anxiety Clinic of Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

1999 to 2001           Postdoctoral Fellow, Adult Anxiety Clinic of Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

2001 to 2007           Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA

2007 to Present      Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA

 

B.   Selected peer-reviewed publications (in chronological order).

 

1.       Alloy, L. B., Reilly-Harrington, N. A., Fresco, D. M., Whitehouse, W. G., & Zechmeister, J. S. (1999). Cognitive styles and life events as predictors of bipolar and unipolar episodes. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 13, 21-40.

2.       Reilly-Harrington, N. A., Alloy, L. B., Fresco, D. M., & Whitehouse, W. G. (1999). Cognitive styles and life events interact to predict bipolar and unipolar symptomatology. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 108, 567-578.

3.       Heimberg, R. G., Fresco, D. M., Travers, J., Stein, M. B., & Liebowitz, M. R. (2000). Social phobia or social anxiety disorder: What's in a name? Archives of General Psychiatry, 57, 191-192.

4.       Fresco, D. M., Craighead, L. W., Koons, A. N., & Sampson, W. S. (2001). Sociotropy and autonomy:  Dispositional variables relevant to the comorbidity of depression and anxiety. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 15, 17- 32.

5.       Fresco, D. M., Coles, M. E., Heimberg, R. G., Liebowitz, M. R., Hami, S., Stein, M. B., & Goetz, D. (2001). The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale:  A comparison of the psychometric properties of self-report and clinician-administered formats. Psychological Medicine, 31, 1025-1035

6.       Fresco, D. M. & Heimberg, R. G. (2001). Empirically supported treatments for social phobia. Psychiatric Annals, 31, 489-500.

7.     Coles, M. E., Turk, C. L., Heimberg, R., G., & Fresco, D. M. (2001). Effects of varying levels of anxiety within social situations:  Relationship to memory perspective and attributions in social phobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 39, 651-665.

8.     Sayers, S. L., Kohn, C. S., Fresco, D. M., Bellack, A. S., & Sarwer, D. B. (2001). Marital cognitions of depressed, maritally discordant spouses. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 25, 713-732.

9.     Fresco, D. M., Heimberg, R. G., Mennin, D. S., & Turk, C. L. (2002). Confirmatory factor analysis of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 40, 313-323.

10.    Mennin, D. S., Heimberg, R. G., Turk, C. L., & Fresco, D. M. (2002).  Applying an emotion regulation framework to integrative approaches to Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Clinical Psychology:  Science & Practice, 9, 85-90.

11.     Fresco, D. M., Frankel, A., Mennin, D. S., Turk, C. L., & Heimberg, R. G. (2002). Distinct and overlapping features of rumination and worry:  The relationship of cognitive production to negative affective states. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 26, 179-188.

12.     Mennin, D. S., Fresco, D. M., Heimberg, R. G., Liebowitz, M. R., Schneier, F. R., & Davies, S. O. (2002). Screening for social anxiety disorder in the clinical setting:  Using the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 16, 661-673.

13.     Harb, G. C., Heimberg, R. G., Fresco, D. M., Schneier, F. R., & Liebowitz, M. R. (2002). The Psychometric Properties of the Interpersonal Sensitivity Measure in Social Anxiety Disorder. Behavior Research and Therapy, 40, 961-979.

14.    Zaider, T. I., Heimberg, R. G., Fresco, D. M., Schneier, F. R., & Liebowitz, M. R. (2003).  Evaluation of the Clinical Global Impression Scale among individuals with social anxiety disorder.  Psychological Medicine, 33, 611-622.

15.      Fresco, D. M., Mennin, D. S., Heimberg, R. G., & Turk, C. L. (2003). Using the Penn State Worry Questionnaire to identify individuals with generalized anxiety disorder: A receiver operating characteristic analysis. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 34, 285-293.

16.     Erwin, B. A., Turk, C. L., Heimberg, R. G., Fresco, D. M., & Hantula, D. A. (2004). The Internet: Home to a Severe Population of Individuals with Social Anxiety Disorder. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 18, 629-646.

17.     Turk, C. L., Heimberg, R. G., Luterek, J. A., Mennin, D. S., & Fresco, D. M. (2005). Delineating emotion regulation deficits in Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A comparison with Social Anxiety Disorder. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 29, 89-106.

18.     Mennin, D. S., Heimberg, R. G., Turk, C. L., & Fresco, D. M. (2005). Emotion regulation deficits as a key feature of generalized anxiety disorder: Testing a theoretical model. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 43, 1281-1310.

19.     Weeks, J. W., Heimberg, R. G., Fresco, D. M., Hart, T. A., Turk, C. L., Schneier, F. R., & Liebowitz, M. R. (2005). Empirical Validation and Psychometric Evaluation of the Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale in Patients with Social Anxiety Disorder. Psychological Assessment, 17, 179-190.

20.     Fresco, D. M., Williams, N. L., & *Nugent, N. R. (2006). Flexibility and Negative Affect: Examining the Associations of Explanatory Flexibility and Coping Flexibility to Each Other and to Depression and Anxiety. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 30, 201-210.

21.     Fresco, D. M., Heimberg, R. G., Abramowitz, A., & Bertram, T. L. (2006). The effect of a negative mood priming challenge on dysfunctional attitudes, explanatory style, and explanatory flexibility. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 45, 167-183.

22.     Gilles, D. M., Turk, C. L., & Fresco, D. M. (2006). Social Anxiety, Alcohol Expectancies, and Self-Efficacy as Predictors of Heavy Drinking in College Students. Addictive Behaviors, 31, 388-398.

23.    Cogswell, A., Alloy, L. B., van Dulmen, M. H., & Fresco, D. M. (2006). A Psychometric Evaluation of Behavioral Inhibition and Approach Self-Report Measures. Personality and Individual Differences, 40, 1649-1658.

24.    Fresco, D. M., Alloy, L. B., & Reilly-Harrington, N. A. (2006). Association of attributional style for negative and positive events and the occurrence of life events to depression and anxiety. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 25, 975-994.

25.    Petersen, T., Feldman, G., Harley, R., Fresco, D. M., Graves, L., Holmes, A., Bogdan, A., Papakostas, G. I., Bohn, L., Lury, E., Fava, M., & Segal, Z. V. (2007). Extreme Response Style in Recurrent and/or Chronically Depressed Patients – Change With Acute Antidepressant Treatment and Stability During Continuation Treatment. Journal of Consulting and Clincal Psychology, 75, 145-153.

26.    *Moore, M. T. & Fresco, D. M. (2007). Depressive Realism and Attributional Style: Implications for individuals at risk for depression. Behavior Therapy, 38, 144-154.

27.    Fresco, D. M., *Rytwinski, N. K., & Craighead, L. W. (2007). Explanatory flexibility and negative life events interact to predict depression symptoms.  Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 26, 595-608.

28.     Fresco, D. M., Segal, Z. V., Buis, T., & Kennedy, S. (2007). Relationship of post treatment decentering and cognitive reactivity to relapse of major depressive disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 75, 447-455.

29.    *Moore, M. T. & Fresco, D. M. (in press). The relationship of explanatory flexibility to explanatory style. Behavior Therapy.

30.    Henning, E. R., Turk, C. L., Mennin, D. S., Fresco, D. M., & Heimberg, R. G. (in press). Impairment and Quality of Life in Individuals With Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Depression and Anxiety.

31.    Fresco, D. M., *Moore, M. T., van Dulmen, M., Segal, Z. V., Teasdale, J. D., Ma, H., & Williams, J. M. G. (in press). Initial psychometric properties of the Experiences Questionnaire: Validation of a self-report measure of decentering. Behavior Therapy.

32.    Mennin, D. S, Holaway, R. M., Fresco, D. M., *Moore, M. T., & Heimberg, R. G. (in press). Delineating Components of Emotion and its Dysregulation in Anxiety and Mood Psychopathology. Behavior Therapy.

33.     Hart, T. A., Flora, D., Palyo, S. A., Fresco, D. M., Holle, C., & Heimberg, R. G. (in press). Development and Examination of the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale. Assessment.

 

C. Research Support

 

Ongoing Research Support

Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction For High Blood Pressure
Principal Investigator: J. W. Hughes
Role: Co-Principal Investigator
Agency: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine  (1 R21 AT002698-01A2)
Status: Funded
Award Period:  09/30/2006 to 08/31/2008
Project Summary: Sixty patients with unmedicated BP in the range of SBP 120-139 mm Hg or DBP 80-89 mm Hg will be randomly assigned to MBSR or a progressive muscle relaxation control condition. All patients will receive lifestyle modification advice. Patients will complete 8 weeks of MBSR delivered in a group format by an experienced psychologist trained in MBSR or 8 weeks of progressive muscle relaxation training matched for therapist contact and homework. Patients BP will be assessed prior to randomization and following treatment by researchers blind to treatment assignment. Accrual rates, acceptance of randomization, treatment adherence, treatment fidelity, and patient satisfaction with treatment will be evaluated.

EMOTION REGULATION THERAPY FOR GENERALIZED ANXIETY
Principal Investigator: R. G. Heimberg
Role: Co-Principal Investigator & PI of Subcontract to Kent State University
Agency: National Institute of Mental Health (1 R34 MH070682)                                                            10%
Award Period:  06/01/2006 to 05/31/2009
Project Summary: Development of a novel, manualized treatment for generalized anxiety disorder that combines elements of cognitive-behavior therapy with skills to promote adaptive emotion regulation.

 

Assessing attentional biases for emotional pictures and words in people with current and remitted depression

Principal Investigators: D. M. Fresco, Ph.D.
Agency: Kent-Summa Center for the Treatment and Study of Traumatic Stress
Type: Research Incentive Grant Period: 07/01/2006-06/30/2007
Project Summary: Replicate and extend previous findings showing that nondepressed individuals show a protective bias and avoid negative stimuli (words and pictures) whereas depressed individuals  attend to emotional stimuli in an unbiased manner, and hence lack this protective bias.

 

IMPROVING THE IDENTIFICATION OF MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER AND GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER IN A PRIMARY CARE MEDICAL POPULATION
Principal Investigator: D. M. Fresco, Ph.D.
 Agency: Ohio Board of Regents
Type: Research Challenge Award
Period: 06/01/2004-05/31/2007
Project Summary: To identify point prevalence rates of major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder in a primary care medical population; and to evaluate whether there are signature serum neurotransmitter profiles of individuals as a function of current MDD and/or GAD.

 

Cognitive, emotional, and physiological reactivity to an emotional evocation challenge

Co-Principal Investigators: D. M. Fresco, Ph.D. & J. W. Hughes, Ph.D.
Agency: Kent-Summa Center for the Treatment and Study of Traumatic Stress
Type: Research Incentive Grant Period: 07/01/2005-06/30/2007
Project Summary:  To identify any signature patterns of cognitive, emotional, and physiological reactivity among individuals with current major depression, remitted major depression, and healthy controls in the context of an emotion evocation challenge.

 

Completed Research Support

AUTONOMIC PARAMETERS IN GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER DURING AN EMOTION EVOCATION CHALLENGE
Co-Principal Investigators: J. W. Hughes, Ph.D. & D. M. Fresco, Ph.D.
Agency: Kent-Summa Center for the Treatment and Study of Traumatic Stress
Type: Research Incentive Grant Period: 06/01/2004-05/31/2005
 The aim of this proposal is to continuously monitor autonomic nervous system activity of individuals with and without generalized anxiety disorder during an emotion evocation challenge to determine whether there are any signature patterns of sympathetic and parasympathetic reactivity and recovery in GAD.

 

PHARMACOTHERAPY OF SOCIAL PHOBIA
Principal Investigator: R. G. Heimberg, Ph.D.
Co-Investigator: D. M. Fresco, Ph.D.
Agency: National Institute of Mental Health
Type: R10 (MH44119, Years 11-13) Period: 1/1/2000-12/31/2002
The major goals of this project were to evaluate the acute efficacy of cognitive-behavioral group therapy, the monoamine oxidase inhibitor phenelzine, the combination of phenelzine and cognitive-behavioral group therapy, and pill placebo in a 12-week trial in persons with social phobia; 2-year continuation to complete study enrollment (plus no-cost extension).

 

LONG-TERM TREATMENT OF SOCIAL PHOBIA
Principal Investigator: R. G. Heimberg, Ph.D.
Co-Investigator: D. M. Fresco, Ph.D.
Agency: National Institute of Mental Health
Type: R10 (MH57148, Years 1-6) Period: 7/1/96-6/30/2002
The major goals of this project are to compare the individual and combined effects of cognitive-behavioral group therapy and phenelzine as treatments for social phobia. Specifically, this study examines whether responders to 12 weeks of acute treatment with one of the study treatments will (1) show enhanced response over a 12 week intensive continuation phase, (2) whether gains will be maintained or enhanced over a 28-week maintenance phase, (3) whether gains will be maintained over a one-year follow-up period. Furthermore, this study examines whether there is differential long-term response to treatments among patients with generalized versus nongeneralized social phobia.