
Lizabeth RoemerUniversity of Massachusetts Boston | UMB · Department of Psychology
Lizabeth Roemer
Ph.D.
About
144
Publications
110,895
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
22,259
Citations
Introduction
Additional affiliations
September 1996 - present
September 1994 - August 1996
Education
September 1992 - December 1995
September 1989 - August 1992
September 1985 - August 1989
Publications
Publications (144)
The high rates of anxiety in college students and the many barriers to accessing evidence-based care in communities and on campuses indicate a clear need to explore ways to increase access to evidence-based treatments. Web-based interventions and preventions are one way to bridge this gap; they hold the potential to decrease mental health dispariti...
This reflective case study explores the ongoing process of developing and fostering allies and accomplices across privilege, considering how individual and systemic levels interact within interpersonal relationships. Using our longstanding relationships, we highlight key conceptual, relational, and emotional processes and strategies involved in all...
Objectives
Racism-related stress is associated with significant mental health costs, necessitating the development of coping strategies to mitigate the negative sequelae. Mindfulness and valued living (MVL)–based strategies may be uniquely beneficial in addressing the negative effects of racism-related stress for people of color (POC) by decreasing...
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to examine decentering as a potential mechanism of action across 2 treatments for generalized anxiety disorder: an acceptance-based behavioral therapy (ABBT) and applied relaxation (AR).
Method:
Sixty-four individuals who completed at least half of the 16 total sessions of either ABBT or AR (65.6% female;...
Although lymphoma and myeloma confer physical and psychological burden, data are limited regarding anxiety and depression symptoms in affected patients. We conducted a survey between 07/2021 and 09/2022 to characterize anxiety and depression in a cohort of adult patients, within six months of a lymphoma or myeloma diagnosis. Clinically significant...
To examine the maintenance effects of acceptance-based behavior therapy (ABBT) and applied relaxation (AR) for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) 46 adults (69.6% female, 82.6% White) with high end-state functioning following an RCT comparing ABBT to AR were re-assessed at 12- and 24-month follow-up. End-state functioning was based on post-treatmen...
Objective:
We examined the associations between coping strategies in response to racism and distress symptoms.
Sample:
One hundred forty-four racially minoritized students at a northeastern university completed an online survey.
Methods:
Participants completed self-report active and emotion-focused coping and distress symptom (i.e., depression...
Background:
Mental health disorders can potentially decrease quality of life and survival in patients with cancer. Little is known about the survival implications of mental health disorders in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). We aimed to evaluate the effect of pre-existing depression, anxiety, or both on survival in a US cohort...
ACT ha abierto la puerta a descubrimientos fascinantes sobre el ser humano, el lenguaje y la psicopatología en general. Dentro de estos descubrimientos se encuentran las técnicas de tratamiento que componen ACT y que se presentan de forma muy convincente en este libro, Una Guía Práctica a la Terapia de Aceptación y Compromiso. Como describen los au...
Sexual consent campaigns aimed at reducing risk of sexual violence have historically been informed by research focusing almost exclusively on heterosexual young adults despite concerning rates of sexual violence committed against sexual minorities. Unfortunately, very little research has quantitatively compared how sexual consent attitudes may diff...
For patients with blood cancers, comorbid mental health disorders at diagnosis likely affect the entire disease trajectory, as they can interfere with disease information processing, lead to poor coping, and even cause delays in care. We aimed to characterize the prevalence of depression and anxiety in patients with blood cancers. Using the Surveil...
Sexual assault is a major public health concern in the United States that disproportionately affects sexual minority cisgender and nonbinary young adults. Although sexual assault is influenced by a myriad of societal and interpersonal factors, misunderstandings during the communication and interpretation of sexual consent signals likely contribute...
Cisgender and nonbinary sexual minorities are at increased risk for being the victim of sexual assault. While sexual assault is influenced by a multitude of societal and interpersonal factors, misunderstandings during the external communication and interpretation of sexual consent signals likely contribute to this public health crisis. Unfortunatel...
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) has been called the “basic” anxiety disorder, in the sense that generalized anxiety is, by definition, a component of other anxiety and related disorders. Indeed, generalized anxiety disorder, although characterized by marked fluctuations, is chronic. Some have even considered that generalized anxiety might be bet...
Background: Little is known about mental health disorders among patients with hematologic malignancies. As depression and anxiety substantially impair the quality of life of patients with cancer, the Institute of Medicine recommends diagnosis and management of these disorders as an integral part of cancer care (Cancer Care for the Whole Patient, IO...
The primary method of training for individual licensed mental health professionals is continuing education (CE). Despite the promise of CE as a vehicle for training clinicians in evidence-based practices, only a handful of studies have examined the efficacy of trainings delivered in the CE context. Moreover, these studies have focused on a few very...
This chapter present an acceptance‐based behavioral therapy (ABBT) that the author's have developed for treating generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and comorbid conditions. It describes the model informing this approach to treatment, drawing from existing research, theory, and clinical experience. The chapter also describes specific clinical strate...
Effective interventions for generalized anxiety exist, but barriers to treatment prevent their broad dissemination. Commercially available self-help materials may help bridge this gap, but few have been empirically evaluated. This study compared self-reported change in generalized anxiety symptomology and associated problems between community membe...
Objective: Racial discrimination has been shown to be associated with negative mental health outcomes among people of color (POC), and students of color (SOC) specifically. The current study examines experiential avoidance (EA) as a potential moderator in the relation between discrimination and mental health outcomes. Sample: Two-hundred students o...
Background and aims
The primary purpose of this study was to examine cultural and demographic predictors of dimensions of anticipated stigma and negative mental health beliefs, known barriers to mental health care utilization, among post-9/11 veterans.
Methods
A cross-sectional survey methodology was used to assess 132 post-9/11 veterans. Bivariat...
Mindfulness-based cognitive behavioral interventions refer to a broad group of interventions that integrate formal and informal mindfulness practices with varying other cognitive behavioral strategies. Mindfulness-based interventions target the reactive, fused, entangled relationship individuals have with their internal experiences, aim to reduce r...
This chapter entitled Remembering-and-receiving: Mindfulness and acceptance in Zen is written jointly by Reverend Josh Bartok Roshi and Lizabeth Roemer of University of Massachusetts Boston. Rev. Bartok Roshi is a Zen teacher—in a Buddhist tradition (Boundless Way Zen) that includes lineages of both Soto and Rinzai Zen, who is also an editor of Dha...
Objective:
The current study examined predictors of well-being, including quality of life and academic engagement, in a sample of student service members and veteran college students.
Methods:
Eighty-seven student service members/ veterans (SSM/V) completed an online survey containing questions about post-deployment social support, emotion regul...
Mindfulness is a concept derived from Buddhist ideas and practices that has been applied to a wide range of psychological difficulties. Using formal and informal mindfulness meditation practices (in combination with components of other therapies including cognitive behavioral treatments), mindfulness interventions aim to help clients become more aw...
As a field, we lack information about specific mechanisms that are responsible for changes that occur over the course of treatments for anxiety disorders (Kazdin, 2007). Identifying these mechanisms would help streamline evidence-based approaches, increase treatment response rates, and aid in the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based a...
College is a critical time in which individuals experience transition and stress, and may experience subthreshold or clinical symptoms of anxiety and depression. In addition, educational contexts offer a unique opportunity to serve the needs of a diverse group of students who may experience additional stressors related to experiences with discrimin...
Objectives: The current study explores the potential mediating role of internalized racism in the relationship between racist experiences and anxiety symptomology in a Black American sample. Method: One hundred and 73 Black American participants, between 18 and 62 years of age, completed a questionnaire packet containing measures of anxious arousal...
The current study explores the potential moderating effect of difficulties in emotion regulation on the relationship between racist experiences and anxiety symptomology in a Black American sample. One hundred forty participants completed a questionnaire packet containing measures of anxious arousal and stress (general anxiety) symptoms, difficultie...
There is emerging evidence supporting the acceptability of mindfulness and acceptance-based therapies with individuals from marginalized backgrounds. The current phenomenological study aimed to understand the extent to which clients from marginalized backgrounds who had completed an acceptance-based behavioral therapy (ABBT) for GAD felt that their...
To better understand the role interpersonal problems play in response to two treatments for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD); an acceptance-based behavior therapy (ABBT) and applied relaxation (AR), and to examine how the development of mindfulness may be related to change in interpersonal problems over treatment and at follow-up.
Eighty-one indi...
One proposed pathway for the documented psychological effects of mindfulness (cultivating awareness and acceptance of the present moment) has been through its facilitation of adaptive emotion regulation. Although conceptual overlap between the two constructs complicates interpretation of correlational findings, an emerging body of laboratory, exper...
Mindfulness describes both a type of nonjudgmental present-focused awareness and a set of practices aimed at developing this awareness that have received increased attention in medical and mental health fields in recent decades. This entry reviews definitions and measurement of mindfulness, discusses mindfulness as a learned skill, a dispositional...
Multicultural counseling is described as both a helping role and therapy process that recognizes the diverse identities of clients. This approach to counseling emphasizes prevention and intervention efforts that are consistent with the life experiences, contexts, and cultural values of clients. This entry reviews terminology, constructs, theory, an...
Across theoretical orientations, attempts to avoid and suppress difficult psychological content are presumed to interfere with psychological functioning and diminish well-being. Thus, a common theme in psychotherapy, which transcends theoretical orientation, is the promotion of acceptance. Recently, the use of mindfulness practices, and other exper...
The present study explores the relationship between frequency of racist experiences and anxious arousal, stress (general anxiety), and depressive symptoms in an African American sample. Fifty-seven African American undergraduate and graduate students responded to questionnaires assessing experiences of racism, valued living, and anxious arousal, st...
Because most behavioral treatments are time-limited, skills and practices that foster long-term maintenance of gains made during treatment are of critical importance. While some studies have found mindfulness practice to be associated with improvements in outcome variables over the course of treatment (Vettese et al., 2009), very little is known ab...
This chapter provides an overview of the use of acceptance-based behavioral therapies (ABBTs) to treat anxiety disorders, beginning with a brief review of disorder-specific clinically relevant outcome data. It then describes treatment with an emphasis on the underlying conceptual model to allow for flexible application of a range of intervention st...
The current study explores the potential buffering effect of trait mindfulness on the impact of racism on anxiety symptomology in an African-American sample. Fifty-seven participants completed a questionnaire packet containing measures of anxious arousal and stress (general anxiety) symptoms, trait mindfulness, and experience of racist events. Resu...
Danitz, S.B., & Orsillo, S.M., Hayes-Skelton, S. & Roemer, L. (2013, November). Predictors of change in an acceptance-based behavior therapy and applied relaxation for GAD. In M. J.Dugas, (Chair), Beyond the Horserace: What Are the Factors that Predict and Explain Treatment Response to CBT for GAD? Symposium conducted at the annual meeting of the A...
This article presents a brief conceptual overview of acceptance-based behavioral therapies (ABBTs) for anxiety disorders, followed by a review and summary of the recent efficacy studies of ABBTs for anxiety and comorbid disorders. We discuss clinical implications, including the importance of targeting reactivity and experiential avoidance in interv...
Applied relaxation (AR), originally developed by Lars-Göran Öst, is a long-standing, efficacious treatment for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). While newer treatments are continuing to be developed, AR remains one of the most efficacious treatments for GAD. However, AR has received less in-depth attention more recently, particularly in terms of...
Mindfulness has shown promise in the treatment of several disorders, but the empirical literature regarding mindfulness and post-traumatic stress symptoms is limited. The current study examined the relationship among self-reported levels of mindfulness facets and post-traumatic stress symptoms after controlling for negative affect, age, number of t...
Objective:
To examine whether an empirically and theoretically derived treatment combining mindfulness- and acceptance-based strategies with behavioral approaches would improve outcomes in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) over an empirically supported treatment.
Method:
This trial randomized 81 individuals (65.4% female, 80.2% identified as Wh...
It is important to determine factors that may buffer the negative psychological consequences of perceived racial discrimination in a Black American sample. One potential factor is attention to and clarification of what is meaningful for the individual (i.e.,values clarification). Fourteen Black American participants were recruited from a larger stu...
A growing body of research suggests that mindfulness- and acceptance-based principles can increase efforts aimed at reducing human suffering and increasing quality of life. A critical step in the development and evaluation of these new approaches to treatment is to determine the acceptability and efficacy of these treatments for clients from nondom...
Applied Relaxation (AR), which involves noticing early signs of anxiety and responding with a relaxation response, is an empirically supported treatment for Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). However, research on hypothesized mechanisms of AR (e.g., reduced muscle tension) has been mixed, making it likely that additional mechanisms are contributin...
This research considers the relationship between perceived racism and self-esteem among Asian Americans. In theory, perceiving racism protects racial minorities' self-esteem because disparate treatment is externally attributed to a racist system rather than internally attributed to a personal or racial group deficit. However, previous empirical res...
The current study explores the potential buffering effect of church-based social support on the effect of racism on anxiety symptomology in a Black sample. Fifty participants completed a questionnaire packet containing measures of anxious arousal and stress (general anxiety) symptoms, church-based social support, and experience of racist events. Re...
Two studies examined the correlational relationships between self-reported mindfulness and impulsivity in samples of 347 and
227 university students. Using multidimensional measures of both mindfulness and impulsivity, results from both studies indicate
that several aspects of mindfulness are negatively correlated with elements of impulsivity, even...
Theory and research suggest that generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is associated with diminished quality of life and restriction in valued action. The purpose of this study was to examine the relevance of values-consistent behavior (valued action) in understanding the impairment in quality of life in GAD.
Treatment-seeking clients with a principal...
Given the recent proliferation of mindfulness and acceptance-based therapies, there is a growing need for clarification of the construct of mindfulness and how to evaluate its progression during these treatments. Although mindfulness has been conceptualized as a process, it has been primarily operationalized as an outcome; therefore, important aspe...
Although cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is efficacious in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), many individuals remain symptomatic following treatment, indicating a need for further treatment development. As a result, many researchers have developed unique cognitive-behavioral therapies that highlight specific targets for interv...
In response to clinical observations and research findings that individuals with generalized anxiety disorder are reactive to their internal experiences, avoid and suppress painful emotions, thoughts, and sensations, and limit their involvement in meaningful activities, an Acceptance Based Behavioral Therapy (ABBT) was developed to specifically tar...
Prior research has shown that losses of personal, social, and material resources resulting from traumatic events significantly contribute to psychopathology. Gains of such resources have been shown to have protective effects on posttrauma mental health. Few previous studies of resource change, however, have controlled for pretrauma mental health. T...
Perceived racial discrimination (PRD) has deleterious effects on Black Americans. However, there is minimal empirical research on the influence of gender and coping on the relationship between PRD and mental health. This study posited that coping style (i.e., problem-focused coping and avoidant coping) would moderate the relationship between PRD an...
This study details a preliminary investigation of the subjective and physiological effects of emotion suppression, relative to the allowance of emotional experience, within one distressing situation on responses to another, unrelated situation. Thirty-four men were instructed to suppress or allow their emotional responses to a distressing film clip...
The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among chronic worry, perceived racial stress, and intolerance of uncertainty in a sample of adults who racially identify as Black. Intolerance of uncertainty has been associated with worry and generalized anxiety disorder in predominantly White samples. Given that racial stress is likely to...
Despite encouraging preliminary findings regarding the efficacy of mindfulness and acceptance-based treatments for a range of psychological presentations, we have yet to elucidate mechanisms of action within these treatments. One mechanism through which mindfulness may reduce psychological symptoms and promote functioning is enhancing emotional res...
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a clinical anxiety disorder that is centrally characterized by excessive, pervasive, and chronic worry. Worry is a cognitive activity that involves repeatedly thinking about potential negative future events, such as “What if I can't finish this task?” “What if I never graduate?” “What if I have some type of ill...
Based on the theory that generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is maintained through a reactive and fused relationship with one's internal experiences and a tendency towards experiential avoidance and behavioral restriction, an acceptance-based behavior therapy (ABBT) was developed to specifically target these elements. Since ABBT has been shown to be...
Theory and research suggest that treatments targeting experiential avoidance may enhance outcomes for patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The present study examined the role of experiential avoidance and distress about emotions in a treatment-seeking sample with a principal diagnosis of GAD compared with demographically matched nonanx...
Diminished levels of mindfulness (awareness and acceptance/nonjudgment) and difficulties in emotion regulation have both been proposed to play a role in symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD); the current studies investigated these relationships in nonclinical and clinical samples. In the first study, among a sample of 395 individuals at an...
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a chronic anxiety disorder, associated with comorbidity and impairment in quality of life, for which improved psychosocial treatments are needed. GAD is also associated with reactivity to and avoidance of internal experiences. The current study examined the efficacy of an acceptance-based behavioral therapy aim...
The current study examined the impact of both the tendency to worry (trait worry) and the process of worry (state worry) on subsequent behavioral responding in a schedule discrimination learning task. High and low trait worriers were randomly assigned to a state worry or relaxation incubation condition and completed a test of executive functioning...
This study examined the effects of emotional suppression and acceptance in a depressed sample. Sixty participants with diagnoses of unipolar depression completed a questionnaire packet and participated in an experiment. The experiment utilized two conditions to explore correlates of the spontaneous use of emotion regulation strategies and the effec...
Recent studies have demonstrated that individuals with a history of uncued panic attacks exhibit heightened difficulties in emotion regulation, including experiential avoidance, emotional non-acceptance, and lack of emotional clarity. The purpose of this study was to extend these findings by examining whether the fear of bodily sensations predicted...
Despite the theoretical emphasis on the role of emotion dysregulation in deliberate self-harm (DSH), few studies have examined this relationship. The present study sought to examine the role of emotion dysregulation in DSH by extending the findings of Gratz (2006) regarding the environmental (i.e. childhood maltreatment) and individual (i.e. emotio...
Emotion regulation difficulties among nonclinical uncued panickers were examined in two studies. In Study 1, participants with a recent history of uncued panic attacks (n=91), compared to a nonpanic sample (n=91), reported significantly greater levels of experiential avoidance, lack of emotional acceptance, and lack of emotional clarity. In Study 2...
This study examined the relationship between posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms and particular aspects of emotion regulation difficulties among trauma-exposed individuals. Participants were an ethnically diverse sample of 108 undergraduates from an urban university. PTS symptom severity was found to be associated with lack of emotional acceptance,...
Heightened negative affect (NA) intensity and the tendency to negatively evaluate emotions may be associated with the development and maintenance of posttraumatic stress symptoms. However, the specific role of these vulnerabilities has yet to be explored. Thus, this study was conducted to examine the influence of NA intensity and the fear of emotio...
Research suggests that experiential avoidance may play an important role in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD); see . Expanding our conceptualization of and treatment for generalized anxiety disorder: Integrating mindfulness/acceptance-based approaches with existing cognitive-behavioral models. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 9, 54-68, f...
Diverse theories of psychopathology suggest that reactions to internal experiences, such as emotion, are important in the development and maintenance of psychological distress and symptomatology. This study examines the relationships between one type of reaction to emotion, fear of emotion, and reactivity to, recovery from, and interference of emot...
This study examined the association between worry and fearful responding to a 3-min voluntary hyperventilation procedure. Participants were 160 adolescents (71 females) between the ages of 12 and 17 years (M=14.92 years). After accounting for the significant effects of state anxiety and anxiety sensitivity, results indicated that pre-challenge leve...
This chapter discusses a new integrative treatment of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) by incorporating elements of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) into existing cognitive behavioral treatments (CBT) for this disorder. It presets the theoretical rationale...
This study examined the relationship between emotion regulation deficits and GAD-related outcomes in an analogue sample. Consistent with hypotheses, general emotion dysregulation was associated with reports of chronic worry and with analogue GAD status. Also, specific regulation deficits, including deficits in emotional clarity, acceptance of emoti...
Some individuals exposed to potentially traumatic events (PTEs) will develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), whereas others do not. Rumination is thought to exacerbate symptoms by the increased and repeated negative attention given not only to the event but to negative events in general. Dissociation is also thought to worsen sym...
Male participants (N=204) were assessed using measures of masculine ideology, masculine gender-role stress, proneness to shame, and fear of emotions. These variables served as predictors of men’s anger expression and overt hostility. Results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that masculinity, proneness to shame, and men’s fear of emotio...