STRESS Lab

📣 Join our team

We are hiring 4 research assistants to support work across three grants: 1. EMA and biosensor to predict return to use, 2. Mobile app for co-occurring PTSD-OUD, 3. EMA and biosensor to understand timing and mechanisms underlying alcohol use and suicide.

Apply and share widely!

Psychometric evaluation of the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 in daily surveys: An item response theory and longitudinal measurement invariance analysis The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Checklist for the DSM-5 (PCL-5) has demonstrated excellent psychometric qualities across cross-sectional stud…

Interested in using the PCL-5 to measure PTSD symptoms in your EMA study?

We conducted item analysis to examine item thresholds & discrimination parameters & examined DIF across daily surveys

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Influence of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder on Daily-Level Trajectories of Opioid Use Among Trauma-Exposed Individuals in the Community Who Use Opioids Objective: Individuals who use opioids are at elevated risk of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The objective of this study was to examine the influence of PTSD diagnosis on opioid use outcome...

📣 New Pub 📣

Studied PTSD and opioid use across 60 days in people in the community who use opioids and have a history of trauma.

75% met criteria for current OUD

67% met criteria for current PTSD

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

📣 New Pub 📣

We captured 30-day emotion intensity & dysregulation data from EMA & examined in relation to cortisol (from hair) during the same period. Emotion intensity & hair cortisol levels were significantly associated among women with high (but not low) emotion dysregulation.

First year PhD student Katy Price sharing qualitative findings on the needs, barriers, and lived experiences of Black asylum seeking parents @istss.bsky.social

So proud of Alexa Raudales for being the recipient of the @istss.bsky.social Outstanding Student Achievement Award

Awesome series of EMA talks chaired by STRESS Lab postdoc @benjaminwkatz.bsky.social and lead by STRESS Lab alum (Emmanuel Thomas and Alexa Raudales) and current members (Noam Newberger)

Sixth year PhD student @reina-kiefer.bsky.social presenting on emotion dysregulation and mental and behavioral health outcomes across community and college samples with experiences of childhood trauma @istss.bsky.social

STRESS Lab RA Ben Seebold presenting on hair cortisol-derived stress and emotion dysregulation among women experiencing IPV @istss.bsky.social

STRESS Lab RA Dominique Sheldon presenting on childhood trauma, impulsivity, and physical aggression @istss.bsky.social

PhD student alum Emmanuel Thomas sharing preliminary findings from his F31 on momentary associations among trauma symptoms of discrimination and alcohol craving @istss.bsky.social @istss-sud-sig.bsky.social

PhD alum Alexa Raudales presenting on the intersections among PTSD, opioid use, and suicide @istss.bsky.social

Fifth year PhD student @hodiana.bsky.social presenting on racial microaggressions and alcohol use among women of color in the community

STRESS Lab RA Natalie Chasten presenting qualitative findings on coping among individuals with co-occurring PTSD and OUD

Fourth year PhD student Noam Newberger presenting on the utility of GIMME for exploring group, subgroup, and idiographic relations among PTSD symptoms in individuals with OUD @istss.bsky.social

Denise Hien, Teresa López-Castro, Kevin Wenzel, Rebecca Schacht, Nicole Weiss, and Carrie Mulford. Panel title: “Frontiers in Treating Severe Comorbid PTSD-SUD: Meeting Clients Where They Are”

Thanks to everyone who braved the early hour to attend our panel discussion on treating PTSD and substance use disorders!

#ISTSS2025 #PTSD #AcademicSky

With @nicoleweiss.bsky.social

Most of the crew @istss.bsky.social (@nicoleweiss.bsky.social @hodiana.bsky.social @reina-kiefer.bsky.social) plus a few of our alum (@melissarschick.bsky.social and @atobar.bsky.social)

Fifth year PhD student @hodiana.bsky.social presenting @istss-sud-sig.bsky.social on the relations among racial microaggressions and alcohol use @istss.bsky.social

Fifth year PhD student Alana Egan presenting preliminary qualitative findings from her F31 on the intersections among historical trauma, substance use, and suicide @istss.bsky.social @istss-sud-sig.bsky.social

Third year PhD student Jewelia Ferguson sharing findings on the role of stigma in PTSD and SUD @istss.bsky.social @istss-sud-sig.bsky.social

STRESS Lab is @istss.bsky.social Come meet us and see some of our current work!

New lab grant!

Proud to empower our community through naloxone distribution on IOAD. Community engagement is more than research; it's action. @nicoleweiss.bsky.social @benjaminwkatz.bsky.social @hodiana.bsky.social (and many others!)

URI receives first-ever NIH T32 award to launch transdisciplinary biomedical research training program KINGSTON, R.I. – Sept. 3, 2025 – The University of Rhode Island has received its first-ever National Institutes of Health (NIH) T32 Predoctoral Training Grant, marking a major milestone in URI’s growt...

Big news! @universityofri.bsky.social just secured its first-ever NIH T32 grant!

This T32 will bring together Psychology, Neuroscience, Engineering, and Life Sciences to train the next generation of scientists to tackle complex health challenges like addiction.

www.uri.edu/news/2025/09...

Proud x 2, perfectly captured

Lots of emotions yesterday. Confident that whatever big things life has in store for these two, it will make the world a better place for all people.

Congratulations to Dr. Catherine Diem-Quynh Trinh for successfully defending her dissertation, entitled Happiness and Activity Engagement as Longitudinal Predictors of Adolescent Alcohol and Cannabis Outcomes. We're very proud of you!

Meet PhD Candidate Noam Newberger! Noam is a soon-to-be 4th year graduate student who will be applying for clinical internship this year. His research interests (including F31 award) include culturally-informed, idiographic, and translational methods to understand co-morbid PTSD and substance use.

Meet PhD student Jewels Ferguson! Jewels is a third year graduate student. Her research takes a strengths-based approach to understand coping and resilience within historically marginalized communities characterized by experiences of trauma.

Meet PhD Candidate Catherine Trinh! Catherine is a soon-to-be 5th year student who will be applying for clinical internship this year. Her research (including F31 award) leverages strengths-based approaches to studying substance use, including a focus on alternative reinforcers & positive emotions.