Erica Szkody

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Verified

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• Doctor of Psychology
• Research Assistant Professor at Northwestern University

Introdution: Few studies examine the financial burden of clinical psychology doctoral programs and its impact on achievements, stress, and mental health. Objectives: The current study sought to better understand students' financial stress and debt, and how financial stress may impact their mental health and the attainment of personal and profess...

Objectives: Communities of color in the United States systematically experience inequities in physical and mental health care compared to individuals who identify as non-Hispanic White. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic exacerbated these structural drivers of inequity to disproportionate and devastating effects for persons of color....

Objective: Rural teens are less likely to access care for depression than urban teens. Evidencebased digital single-session interventions (SSIs), offered via social media advertisements, may be well suited to narrowing this gap in treatment access and increasing access to support for adolescents living in rural areas. We evaluated the viability of...

Social support has long been associated with positive physical, behavioral, and mental health outcomes. However, contextual factors such as subjective social status and an individual’s cultural values, heavily influence social support behaviors (e.g., perceive available social support, accept support, seek support, provide support). We sought to de...

Despite the well-known benefits of comprehensive sexual health education, the majority of school sexual health education curricula in the United States are non-comprehensive and exclude LGBTQ+ students. This exclusion may contribute to poor health outcomes in LGBTQ+ students, with some research beginning to document these experiences and provide re...

Despite the promise of single-session interventions (SSIs) in reducing mental health difficulties, SSIs remain rarely integrated into routine health care settings. One set of factors that can preclude or facilitate the implementation of novel service models is provider attitudes, which have not been systematically studied in the SSI context. Accord...

Background. Nearly four million adolescents in rural U.S. lack adequate mental health care, highlighting the need for scalable, accessible solutions integrated into existing systems. Digital self-guided single-session interventions (SSIs) offer a promising solution with proven clinical efficacy, scalability, and low cost. However, widespread adopti...

Healthcare workers (HCWs) and trainees face deleterious mental health difficulties resulting from demanding work responsibilities and in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, few mental health resources exist that are tailored to the unique needs of HCWs. To provide confidential, private, and accessible mental health support to HCWs at Stony Br...

Introduction: Despite the promise of SSIs in reducing mental health difficulties, SSIs remain rarely integrated into routine healthcare settings. One set of factors that can preclude or facilitate the implementation of novel service models is provider attitudes, which have not been systematically studied in the SSI context. Accordingly, the objecti...

In the United States, the experience of minority stress among LGBTQ+ youth varies across regions with high and low levels of stigma (e.g., laws, policies, and cultural norms that limit the lives of individuals with stigmatized identities). Some evidence suggests that stigma can undermine response to individual-level psychosocial interventions among...

Youth who identify as LGBTQ+ continue to report significant challenges to their wellbeing in schools (e.g., bullying, lack of representation in staff and curricula, and discrimination). The current study employed a large, diverse sample of LGBTQ+ youth to explore the types of support they reported receiving in schools. A fixed, embedded mixed-metho...

Most people with mental health needs cannot access treatment; among those who do, many access services only once. Accordingly, single-session interventions (SSIs) may help bridge the treatment gap. We conducted the first umbrella review synthesizing research on SSIs for mental health problems and service engagement in youth and adults. Our search y...

In the United States, the experience of minority stress among LGBTQ+ youth varies across regions with high and low levels of stigma (e.g., laws, policies and cultural norms that limit the lives of individuals with stigmatized identities). Some evidence suggests that stigma can undermine response to individual-level psychosocial interventions among...

The need for mental health services in Sub-Saharan Africa far exceeds the availability of support, creating long waitlists for the few services that are in place. To address this crisis, implementing evidence-based, single-session interventions for individuals seeking treatment may provide timely relief. StrongMinds—a mental health charity organiza...

In the United States, the experience of minority stress among LGBTQ+ youth varies across regions with high and low levels of stigma (e.g., laws, policies and cultural norms that limit the lives of individuals with stigmatized identities). Some evidence suggests that stigma can undermine response to individual-level psychosocial interventions among...

Introduction: Despite the promise of SSIs in reducing mental health difficulties, SSIs remain rarely integrated into routine healthcare settings. One set of factors that can preclude or facilitate the implementation of novel service models is provider attitudes, which have not been systematically studied in the SSI context. Accordingly, the objecti...

Introduction: Despite the promise of SSIs in reducing mental health difficulties, SSIs remain rarely integrated into routine healthcare settings. One set of factors that can preclude or facilitate the implementation of novel service models is provider attitudes, which have not been systematically studied in the SSI context. Accordingly, the objecti...

Two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual plus (2SLGBTQIA+) youth face significant barriers to mental health care, ranging from a lack of access to therapists (e.g., months-long waitlists, lack of insurance coverage, etc.) to receiving incompetent care from non-affirming providers. To better understand the experience...

Most people with mental health needs cannot access treatment; among those who do, many access services only once. Accordingly, single-session interventions (SSIs) may help bridge the treatment gap. We conducted the first umbrella review synthesizing research on SSIs for mental health problems and service engagement in youth and adults. Our search y...

Despite the well-known benefits of comprehensive sexual health education, the majority of school sexual health education curricula in the United States (U.S.) is non-comprehensive and excludes LGBTQ+ students. This exclusion may contribute to poor health outcomes in LGBTQ+ youth, with some research beginning to document these experiences and provid...

Objective. Leveraging data from a previously-conducted randomized trial, we examined whether Project RISE— a digital single-session intervention (SSI) focused on minority stress—was associated with equal improvements in levels of internalized stigma, identity pride, hopelessness, depression, and anxiety among White, sexual minority (SM), cisgender...

Purpose This study aims to examine the unique lived experiences of international graduate students in light of COVID-19 and the recent sociopolitical climate in the USA (e.g. Black Lives Matter movement, protests against anti-Asian hate crimes and gun violence). Design/methodology/approach The authors used an exploratory qualitative design embedde...

LGBTQ+ youth of color (YOC) face disproportionate barriers in accessing mental healthcare. When they do gain access, many find treatments to be non-affirming. There is a need for accessible interventions tailored for these underserved communities. Project RISE is an online, single-session intervention (SSI) based on principles of affirmative CBT fo...

Introduction: The experience of minority stress among LGBTQ+ youth varies across higher- or lower-stigma regions (e.g., which include laws/policies and cultural norms that limit the lives of individuals with stigmatized identities) in the United States. In a recent trial, we found that an online, single-session minority stress intervention (Projec...

Youth in rural areas are as likely to complete online SSIs as those in more metropolitan areas. Digital SSIs can bridge the gap between mental health care needs and access to resources for adolescents. Individuals in rural areas face limited professional mental health services, travel long distances to mental health clinics, experience stigma towar...

Objective: Rural teens are less likely to access care for depression than urban teens. Evidence-based digital single-session interventions (SSIs), offered via social media advertisements, may be well-suited to narrowing this gap in treatment access and increasing rural adolescents’ access to support. We evaluated the viability of using social media...

Although much research has investigated parenting styles, few studies have examined parenting across regions of the United States. The current study used a nationwide sample to examine perceived maternal and paternal parenting in four regions of the United States: Northeast, South, Midwest, and West. Participants included 1080 emerging adults who a...

The dysregulation profile (DP; i.e., a profile that identifies individuals with high scores of attention-deficit, anxious/depressed, and aggressive problems) has been shown to be predictive of poor psychological and social outcomes. Previous studies have focused on the predictive profile among children, adolescents, and emerging adults but none hav...

A central requirement of Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) consists of difficulties with interpersonal relationships. As emerging adults’ transition into adulthood and seek more autonomy from parents, it is important to examine how ODD problems and parent-child discord are indirectly associated through interpersonal competencies. The current stud...

Cross-informant discrepancies on reports of psychopathology can have detrimental consequences on the relationship between emerging adults and their parents. The current study utilized emerging adult reports of their own psychopathology and their perspective on their parent’s psychopathology as well as their parents’ reports of parental psychopathol...

Objectives: Health service psychology (HSP) graduate students experienced adverse mental health outcomes during COVID-19. However, little is known about how mental health outcomes changed in this population after the onset of COVID-19. Methods: N = 496 HSP graduate students reported onset or worsening of mental health outcomes, inability to acce...

A central requirement of Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) consists of difficulties with interpersonal relationships. As emerging adults’ transition into adulthood and seek more autonomy from parents, it is important to examine how ODD problems and parent-child discord are indirectly associated through interpersonal competencies. The current stud...

Although most parental discipline research examines the effects of discipline in children and adolescents, recent research has demonstrated that emerging adults continue to receive parental discipline. Importantly, a newly validated instrument for assessing discipline specifically during emerging adulthood has been created. Scales from this instrum...

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) began its rapid spread around the world in December 2019. By March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. Stay-at-home orders and increases in U.S. infection rates had a profound impact on doctoral-level health service psychology (HSP) training beginning in the earlies...

The current study extended the literature on social support by examining the differences in the word content of supportive messages using a free online linguistic tool called sentiment analysis and social cognition engine (SEANCE) across multiple levels. Participants created supportive messages in response to vignettes of distressed individuals, wh...

Relationships play an important role in the lives of emerging adults. Relationship qualities with parents and friends influence both psychological and physical health outcomes by providing social support. Furthermore, relationship qualities may be differentially preferred based on an individual’s race. The current study examined the role of social...

The current study examined the interaction between race (i.e., Black and White) and gender and the perception and reception of social support from mother figures, father figures, and friends during emerging adulthood. Social support from family and friends has been associated with positive physical and psychological health outcomes. Recent studies...

Few researchers have examined how family communication patterns influence child help-seeking behaviors and child help-providing behaviors in relation to the parent-child relationship during the period of emerging adulthood. In the current study we utilized a latent profile analysis to determine family communication pattern types from two standard c...

The Disturbing Dream and Nightmare Severity Index (DDNSI) has been used widely in research and clinical practice without psychometric evidence supporting its use. The present study aimed to explore and confirm the factor structure of the DDNSI as well as to test the measure’s construct validity and invariance between groups based on sex and race. I...

In order to reduce the high infection rate of COVID-19, individuals began to engage in self-isolation amid a time of uncertainty and worry. Given that social support can be protective against the negative effects of distress on mental and physical health, the lack of support may negatively impact individuals during their self-isolation. Thus, the c...

Imagery rehearsal therapy (IRT) is an evidence-based treatment for nightmare disorder (ND), and numerous studies have demonstrated its efficacy in reducing the frequency and severity of nightmares. ND and REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) co-occur, yet the impact of successful treatment of nightmares on dream enactment in RBD has not been studied....

Few studies have examined the mental health of clinical psychology doctoral students, a unique group given their education and training in psychopathology, assessment, and intervention. Students (N = 912) completed an online survey assessing demographics, mental health, mental healthcare utilization, and barriers to care during graduate school. Nea...

The Child Behavior Checklist-Dysregulation Profile has been utilized as a potential predictive measure of future psychopathology among children and adolescents. Previous studies have examined the differences between individuals with and without an elevated profile on variables such as parenting, temperament, parental psychopathology, personality, a...

The current study examined the association between parental approval, disapproval, and abuse on overall mental health of LGBT individuals. The results indicated that higher levels of maternal abuse and disapproval correlated with higher levels of adult mental health problems, but higher levels of paternal approval were associated with lower levels...

As emerging adults transition from adolescence to adulthood, they are often at risk of developing sleep disorders and poor sleep habits during college. Previous research on adolescents aged 10-18 years old have found a connection between marijuana usage and increased sleep disturbances. With the increasing popularity of cannabis vape pens and dab p...

Childhood maltreatment is related to a host of outcomes, many of which may be partially explained by the transdiagnostic factor of impulsivity. The research linking maltreatment to impulsivity is well supported. However, research differentiating between emotional and physical maltreatment and impulsivity is lacking, particularly with regard to face...

The current study examined the indirect effect of maternal and paternal emotional and physical maltreatment on affective and behavioral symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) through parent–child relationship quality; gender and overall ODD symptoms were examined as moderators. Participants included 2,362 emerging adults who completed ques...

Through the initial processes of learning to cope in stressful situations, children learn to either face or evade stressors with the support of their parents. This type of “fight or flight” response is then internalized by the child. As children get older, parental coping suggestions continue to have an effect on the adult children’s perception of...

Current research supports the lasting effects of parenting styles on children and adolescents’ self-esteem, and internalizing and externalizing problems. Few studies have examined parenting style, self-esteem, and psychological problems together while considering gender. The current study explored the indirect effect of parenting style though self-...

The number of older populations raising their grandchildren has increased. Past research has indicated the distress custodial grandparents’ experience is related to their family relationships (Hayslip, Shore, & Emick, 2006). Family relationships are also influenced by a variety of factors such as social history, culture, family structure, and indiv...

Recent research has indicated that ODD problems persist into emerging adulthood, although mechanisms influencing ODD during emerging adulthood remain relatively unknown. Additionally, temperament and parental psychopathology both are implicated in the development of childhood ODD. Thus, the current study examined how perceived parental (i.e., mater...

Supportive systems during emerging adulthood play an important role in assisting emerging adults with emotion regulation and decision-making processes. The current study examined the influence of parent (i.e., maternal and paternal) emotional and instrumental support on different facets of impulsivity (i.e., positive urgency, negative urgency, sens...

Research has shown that religiosity has a positive impact on depressive symptoms. Research indicates that the way a family communicates may explain how religiosity impacts mental health outcomes. Specifically, family communication may facilitate some of the positive qualities associated with religiosity such as social support, shared values, and st...

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase of infections worldwide caused mandated isolation practices to be put in effect to attempt to “flatten the curve”. Many of the recommendations require financial support and include stockpiling cleaning supplies, seeking medical attention, and staying informed through the internet. The current study examined...

Prior studies have suggested that individual personality traits impact the likelihood and interpretation of support given. As previous studies have indicated, personality traits are often ascribed to the support giver. For example, individuals high in perceived agreeableness tended to come across as more trusting. The current study utilized Wiggins...

One proposed mechanism of social support is the facilitation of primary and secondary reappraisal of stressful situations. The current study examined the expansion of the original stress‐buffering hypothesis to include primary or secondary appraisal in an emerging adult population (N = 854) on physical and psychological health outcomes. The additio...

Less than 50% of psychologists and less than 25% of social workers have received training in suicide prevention. The Alliance Project is a suicide prevention gatekeeper program that is designed to give individuals the tools to improve the transmission of social support to individuals who may be at risk for suicide to increase the chances they will...

The role of parents’ social support in relation to the socialization of coping strategies in emerging adults rarely has been studied. Parental depression has been related to both internalizing and externalizing problems in children. We examined the relationships of maternal and paternal depression on emerging adult internalizing and externalizing p...

Client-therapist and mentor-mentee ethnic match is associated with increased likelihood of meeting treatment goals, longer time in treatment, improved relationship, and improved outcomes. Individuals who appear ethnically similar to the self, may be assumed to share values, perspectives and experiences. Beyond racial and ethnic matching, some studi...

Introduction: Parental socialization of coping strategies is associated with various emotion regulation difficulties and continues to impact individuals during emerging adulthood. As emerging adults’ transition into adulthood, they experience social stressors that put their emotion regulation skills to the test. Methods: The current study examined...

Secure parental attachment improves the perception of available social support and the socialization of emotion regulation strategies. Research has suggested that both perceived social support and emotion regulation help individuals reappraise stressful situations as less stressful. Individuals under stress are at an increased risk for psychologica...

Older adults are generally happier, less likely to have depression or anxiety, and have better emotion regulation abilities than earlier in life (Thomas et al., 2016). While older age predicts more hostile beliefs about others, older adults report less hostile behavior and no difference in covert hostility, compared to other age groups (Barefoot, B...

Objectives The impact of parental depressive problems on children’s depressive symptoms has been widely studied. The stress-buffering hypothesis states that social support acts as a protective factor between the impacts of stress from negative life events on physical and psychological health. The current study examined the stress-buffering hypothes...

Social constructivist theory suggests that social support affects internalizing and externalizing problems by improving self-esteem. The differential impact of these variables has not been fully explored between male and female genders. The current study examined how different sources of received or perceived social support from mother, father, or...

The current study examined the differences in quality of life between emerging adults raised by custodial grandparents and those not raised by grandparents. The results indicated no significant differences between groups (i.e., raised by one or more grandparents versus emerging adults not raised by a grandparent) on social quality of life. In contr...

Parental depression has been associated with psychological problems in offspring. It was hypothesized that harsh parenting would mediate this relationship and that gender differences would suggest moderated mediation. Emerging adults (N = 490) reported on their current perceptions of parental depression, harsh parenting, and their own psychological...

Studies suggest that individuals with Oppositional Defiant Disorder suffer from a lack of interpersonal skills which result in an increase in conflict with family members and peers. The current study examined the impact of ODD problems in emerging adulthood on parent-child relationship discord through the emerging adult’s interpersonal skills. Part...

Emerging adulthood shapes a person’s future in their health and surrounding environment. For this experiment, we employed a cyberball study to focus on Southern university emerging adults and how they react to rejection. We hypothesized that mindfulness increases social support which in turn decreases externalizing problems.

PurposeParent–child relationship quality is an important factor when examining adolescent’s risk for problem behaviors. For this reason, many researchers have explored the impacts of parent–child relationship quality on adolescent and child behavior, yet the parent–child relationship has lasting consequences into adulthood. Methods The current stud...

Parental attachment influences emotion regulation and social attachment. Previous studies have examined the unified construct of parental attachment without examining the differential impact of maternal and paternal attachment. When individuals are socially excluded, individuals with emotion regulation difficulties may experience higher negative af...

The potential protective effects of authoritative parenting between negative life events and PTSD symptoms in emerging adults. Analyses were significant for the buffering effect of authoritative parenting from either mothers or fathers for emerging adult females but not males.