Clinical Psychology Program

Maryland Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Program

Research conducted by the Maryland ADHD Program focuses broadly on comprehensive behavioral and combined behavioral/pharmacological treatments for ADHD and specifically on the impact of parental psychopathology on developmental and treatment outcomes of children with ADHD. Ongoing program-wide projects include: (1) an NIMH-funded study examining associations between maternal ADHD symptoms, parenting, and participation in child behavioral treatment; (2) in collaboration with Children’s National Medical Center, a study funded by Mc Neil Consumer & Specialty Pharmaceuticals examining the efficacy of Concerta™ methylphenidate in improving parenting in ADHD mothers of children with ADHD; (3) an NIMH-funded study developing and evaluating an integrated behavioral intervention for depressed mothers of children with ADHD; and (4) in collaboration with Nathan Fox in the Department of Human Development, a NIMH-funded longitudinal study examining early temperamental predictors of adolescent psychopathology. Additionally, current graduate student research examines the efficacy of teacher inservice training in evidence-based assessment and treatment of ADHD, the efficacy of a homework intervention for middle school students with ADHD, and the relationship between parenting and disruptive behavior disorders in Latino families.

Center for Addictions, Personality, and Emotion Research (CAPER)

The Center for Addictions, Personality, and Emotion Research (CAPER) is focused on the use of basic experimental methodologies to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the development and maintenance of addictive behaviors, mood disturbances, and cluster B personality disorders (e.g., borderline, antisocial), as well as the application of this research to the development of novel clinical assessment and treatment strategies. Headed by Dr. Lejuez, core faculty also include Dr. Stacey Daughters (director of addictions research), Dr. Kim Gratz (director of personality disorders research), and Dr. Matthew Tull (director of basic emotion research), as well as 9 graduate and 6 undergraduate students. The lab is currently funded with 3 R01 grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) with projects focused on 1) risk taking in inner-city adolescents, 2) biobehavioral assessment technologies to understand vulnerabilities to early smoking lapse, and 3) the development of a novel treatment for depressed smokers. Additional funding includes an R03 also from NIDA to Dr. Daughters to study predictors of treatment dropout for heroin and crack/cocaine users in residential drug treatment, 2 individual NRSA awards on risk taking in adolescents and risky sexual behavior as a function of drug choice among crack/cocaine and heroin users, and 2 minority supplements. Future projects include the development of fully functioning clinics for the treatment of addictions and personality disorders.

Laboratory of Emotion, Interpersonal Processes, and Psychopathology

Dr. Blanchard’s lab conducts research broadly focused on the interactive roles of emotion and interpersonal processes in psychopathology with a focus on schizophrenia and related spectrum disorders. Research on schizophrenia has examined how emotional experience and expression are altered in this disorder and the functional impact of these affective changes. One domain that has received much focus in this lab is how the diminished capacity to experience pleasure from relationships (social anhedonia) is tied to social impairment and course of the illness. Additionally, an ongoing longitudinal study is assessing how social anhedonia is related to social impairment and clinical outcomes in a community sample. The lab also employs neuropsychological methods to examine the contribution of cognitive impairment to the emotional and interpersonal deficits that are studied. The lab has a variety of resources available for the study psychopathology including observation rooms with one-way mirrors, digital video cameras and DVD recorders, networked computers, psychophysiological equipment, and an optical scanner for automated data entry. The lab has collaborative relationships with researchers at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and the Baltimore VA. This provides rich opportunities for students to obtain additional training in a variety of settings utilizing a range of methods. The Laboratory of Emotion, Interpersonal Processes, and Psychopathology, receives grant funding from the National Institute of Mental Health and these grants provide stipend support to the majority of graduate students studying with Dr. Blanchard.

Laboratory of Human Psychophysiology

Updated information will be posted shortly.

Clinical Psychology Program • Department of Psychology • University of Maryland
College Park, Maryland 20742-4411 • phone: 301-405-5890 • fax: 301-314-9566 • email: jcoldren@psyc.umd.edu