C&E Lab

Given the same stressful life event, why is it that some people develop depression whereas others do not?

According to the cognitive theories of depression, it depends on how you think about the stress. Some people have a “cognitive vulnerability” that interacts with stress to increase the likelihood of depression. We focus on how to conceptualize, measure, and change this risk factor for depression.

MEET the TEAM

We’re kind of a big deal. People know us. We are very important. Our lab has many leather-bound books and it smells of rich mahogany.

Jerry Haeffel

Lab Director

Jane Stallman

Brian Ram

Eyitayo Awe

Connor Shannon

Shakira Moya

Jocelyn Covarrubias

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Google Scholar

Haeffel, G.J. (2024). Tracking depressive and anxious symptoms during the first year of COVID-19: The search for moderators. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 18, e12931.

Haeffel, G.J., Lin, Z., Adetula, A., Vargas, I., Doom, J.R., Moriguchi, Y., Bridgers, A.J., & Cobb, W.R. (2024). Psychology needs more diversity at the level of editor-in-chief. Communications Psychology.

Gorman, E.L., Goodson, J.T., & Haeffel, G.J. (2023). Reducing safety behaviors to prevent anxious symptoms: A pre-registered prevention intervention study. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 52, 641-653.

Haeffel, G.J., Burke, H.H., Vander Missen, M., & Brouder, L.M. (2023). What diverse samples can teach us about cognitive vulnerability to depression. Collabra: Psychology.

Smith, E.R., Brouder, L.M., Lawlor, C.E., & Haeffel, G.J. (2023). Listening to a popular upbeat song can lead to more adaptive cognitive inferences for stressful events in non-clinical adult populations. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 62, 356-371.

Haeffel, G.J. (2022). Psychology needs to get tired of winning. Royal Society Open Science. 9: 220099.

Haeffel, G.J., & Cobb, W.R. (2022). Tests of generalizability can diversify psychology and improve theories. Nature Reviews Psychology, 1,

Haeffel, G.J., Jeronimus, B.F., Fisher, A.J., Kaiser, B.N., Weaver, L.J., P.D., Vargas, I., Goodson, J.T., Soyster, & Lu, W. (2022). HiTOP is not an improvement over the DSM. Clinical Psychological Science., 10, 285-290.

Haeffel, G.J., Jeronimus, B.F., Kaiser, B.N., Weaver, L.J., Soyster, P.D., Fisher, A.J., Vargas, I., Goodson, J.T., & Lu, W. (2022). Folk classification and factor rotations: Whales, sharks, and the problems with HiTOP. Clinical Psychological Science, 10, 259-278.

Disher, N.G., Guerra, A.L., & Haeffel, G.J. (2021). Men have ability, women are lucky: A pre-registered experiment examining gender bias in knowledge attribution. British Journal of Social Psychology, 60, 808-825.

Alatorre, A.I., DePaola, R.V., & Haeffel, G.J. (2020). Academic achievement and depressive symptoms: Are fixed mindsets distinct from negative attributional style? Learning and Individual Differences, 77, 101811.

Giovanetti, A.K., Revord, J.C., Sasso, M.P., & Haeffel, G.J. (2019). Self-distancing may be harmful: Third-person writing increases levels of depressive symptoms compared to traditional expressive writing and no writing. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 38, 50-68.

Haeffel, G.J. & Kaschak, M.P. (2019). Rethinking how we think about cognitive interventions for depression: An example from second language acquisition. Clinical Psychological Science, 7, 68-76.

Sasso, M.P., Giovanetti, A.K., Schied, A.L., Burke, H.H., & Haeffel, G.J. (2019). #Sad: Twitter Content Predicts Changes in Cognitive Vulnerability and Depressive Symptoms. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 43, 657-665.

Haeffel, G.J. (2017). Don't sleep on it: Less sleep reduces risk for depressive symptoms in cognitively vulnerable undergraduates. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,113, 925-938.

Haeffel, G.J., Hershenberg, R.E., Goodson, J.T., Hein, S., Square, A., Grigorenko, E., & Chapman, J. (2017). The hopelessness theory of depression: Clinical utility and generalizability. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 41, 543-555..

Junkins, M.B., & Haeffel, G.J. (2017). Rumination: Reflection can amplify the depressogenic effects of brooding. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy, 10, 34-46.

Haeffel, G.J. & Hames, J.L. (2014). Cognitive vulnerability to depression can be contagious. Clinical Psychological Science, 2, 75-85.

Russel, A., Haeffel, G.J., Hankin, B.L., Maxwell, S.E., & Perara, R.A. (2014). Moving beyond main effects: A data analytic strategy for testing complex theories of clinical phenomena. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 21, 385-397.

Haeffel, G.J. (2011). After further deliberation: Cognitive vulnerability predicts changes in event-specific negative inferences for a poor midterm grade. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 35, 285-292

Haeffel, G.J. & Vargas, I. (2011). Resilience to depressive symptoms: The buffering effects of enhancing cognitive style and positive life events. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 42, 13-18.

Haeffel, G.J. & Howard, G.S. (2010). Self-report: Psychology's four-letter word. American Journal of Psychology, 123, 181-188.

Haeffel, G.J. (2010). When self-help is no help: Traditional cognitive skills training does not prevent depressive symptoms in people who ruminate. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 48, 152-157.

Haeffel, G.J. (2010). Cognitive vulnerability to depressive symptoms in college students: A comparison of traditional, weakest-link, and flexibility operationalizations. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 34, 92-98.

Haeffel, G.J., Getchell, M., Koposov, R.A., Yrigollen, C.M., DeYoung, C.G., Klinteberg, B., Oreland, L., Ruchkin, V.V., Pakstis, A., & Grigorenko, E.L. (2008). Association between polymorphisms in the dopamine transporter gene and depression: Evidence for a gene–environment interaction in a sample of juvenile detainees. Psychological Science, 19, 62-69.

Haeffel, G.J., Gibb, B.E., Abramson, L.Y., Alloy, L.B., Metalsky, G.I., Joiner, T., Hankin, B.L., and Swendsen, J. (2008). Measuring cognitive vulnerability to depression: Development and validation of the Cognitive Style Questionnaire. Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 824-836.

Haeffel, G.J., Abramson, L.Y., Brazy, P., Shah, J., Teachman, B., & Nosek, B. (2007). Explicit and implicit cognition: A preliminary test of a dual-process theory of cognitive vulnerability. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45, 1155-1167.

Haeffel, G.J., Voelz, Z.R., & Joiner, T.E. (2007). Vulnerability to depressive symptoms: Clarifying the role of excessive reassurance-seeking and perceived social support in an interpersonal model of depression. Cognition & Emotion, 21, 681-688.

Haeffel, G.J., Abramson, L.Y., Voelz, Z.R., Metalsky, G.I., Halberstadt, L., Dykman, B.M., Donovan, P., Hogan, M.E., Hankin, B.L., & Alloy, L.B. (2005). Negative cognitive styles, dysfunctional attitudes, and the remitted depression paradigm: A search for the elusive cognitive vulnerability to depression factor among remitted depressives. Emotion, 5, 343-348.

GET INVOLVED

The C&E Lab is dedicated to training future clinical scientists. Students are taught to think critically, write clearly, and speak effectively. Students develop their own research ideas, present at conferences, and co-author articles. This is a great opportunity to gain valuable experience for graduate school. If you are dependable, organized, and have a passion for clinical research, then contact Prof. Haeffel to ask about openings