Adriel Boals Department of Psychology 1155 Union Circle #311280 Denton, TX 76203 Email: adriel@unt.edu Phone: 940-369-8443
University of North Texas
Research Summary:
I completed a B.S. in psychology
from the University of Florida in 1995, my Ph.D. in Social Psychology from
North Carolina State University in 2002, and completed a Post-Doc in Cognitive
Psychology at Duke University. My primary research interest is coping with
stress and trauma, with an emphasis on autobiographical memory. This topic
includes 1) understanding the etiology of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
and Posttraumatic Growth (PTG), with an emphasis on cognitive and
autobiographical memory processes 2) understanding the expressive writing
intervention as a coping process, and 3) how we can gain insight into healthy
coping strategies through narrative analyses. I endeavor to achieve a
comprehensive view of coping with stress, which requires an integration of
research from a variety of subdisciplines within
psychology, including experimental, social, cognitive, clinical, and health
psychology.
Representative
Publications:
*Indicates student author
Boals, A., Banks, J.B.*, & Hayslip, B. (in press). A
self-administered, mild form of exposure therapy for older adults. Aging and Mental Health.
Gerber, M.M.**,
Boals, A., & Schuettler, D.* (in
press). The unique contributions of positive religious coping
to posttraumatic growth. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.
Boals, A., vanDellen, M.R., & Banks, J.B.* (in press). The relationship between
self-control and mental and physical health: The mediating effects of avoidant
coping. Psychology and
Health.
Boals, A. & Schuettler, D.* (in press). A double-edged sword: The
relationship between event centrality, PTSD, and posttraumatic growth. Applied Cognitive Psychology.
Boals, A. & Rubin, D.C. (in press). The integration of emotions
in traumatic memories: Cognitive-emotional distinctiveness and posttraumatic
stress disorder. Applied
Cognitive Psychology.
Morgan, H.**,
Banks, J.B.*, & Boals, A. (in
press). Social anxiety and word use: How environments can influence words. Journal of Young
Investigators.
Rogers, R., Boals, A., & Drogin, E.Y. (in
press). Applying cognitive models of deception to national security
investigations in the context of public policy, law, and ethical practices.
Journal of Law and
Psychiatry.
Schuettler,
D.* & Boals, A. (2011). The path to posttraumatic
growth versus PTSD: Contributions of event centrality and coping. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 16, 180-194.
Kraha,
A.* & Boals, A. (2011). Parents and
vehicle purchases for their children: A surprising source of weight bias. Obesity, 19, 541-545.
Boals, A., Banks, J.B.*, Hathaway, L.M.*, & Schuettler, D.* (2011). Use of cognitive words in
stressful narratives reflects the meaning-making process. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 30, 378-403.
Boals,
A., Steward,
J.M.**, & Schuettler, D.* (2010). Advancing our understanding of posttraumatic growth by considering
event centrality. Journal of Loss
and Trauma, 15, 518-533.
Boals, A., Kraha, A.*, Banks, J.B.*, & Schuettler, D.* (2010). Defining traumatic events: An examination of the A criteria. In S.J. Egan (ed.) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment. Nova Publishers: Hauppauge, NY.
McLaughlin, P.D.* & Boals, A. (2010). Perception can affect performance on rhythmic tasks. Psychology of Music, 38, 395-401.
Rubin, D.C. & Boals, A. (2010). People who seek psychotherapy believe that it is much more likely that they have forgotten an incident of childhood trauma. Memory, 18, 556-562.
Boals, A. & Hathaway, L.M.* (2010). The importance of the DSM-IV E and F criteria in self-report assessments of PTSD. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 4, 161-166.
Klein, K. & Boals, A. (2010). Coherence, cohesiveness and narrative structure in personal accounts of stressful experiences. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 29, 258-282.
Rubin, D.C., Boals, A., & Klein, K. (2010). Voluntary and involuntary autobiographical memories for very negative events: Effects of writing about and rating memories. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 34, 35-48.
Hathaway, L.M.*, Boals, A., & Banks, J.B*. (2010). PTSD symptoms and dominant emotional response to a stressful event: An examination of DSM-IV criterion A2. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 23, 119-126.
Boals, A. (2010). Autobiographical memories that have become central to identity: Gender differences in the Centrality of Events Scale for positive and negative events. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24, 107-121.
Boals, A. & Perez, A.S.* (2009). Language use predicts phenomenological properties of Holocaust memories and health. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23, 1318-1332.
Boals, A. & Schuettler, D.* (2009). PTSD symptoms in response to traumatic and non-traumatic events: The role of respondent perception and the A2 criterion. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 23, 458-462.
Boals, A. (2008). Intrusive thoughts and everyday cognitive failures in Holocaust survivors. Stress and Health, 24, 401-405.
Rubin, D. C., Boals, A., & Berntsen, D. (2008).
Memory in posttraumatic stress disorder: Properties of voluntary and
involuntary, traumatic and non-traumatic autobiographical memories in people
with and without PTSD symptoms. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,
137, 591-614.
Boals, A., Rubin, D.C., & Klein, K. (2008). Memory and coping with stress: The relationship between cognitive-emotional distinctiveness, memory valence, and distress. Memory, 16, 637-657.
Boals, A. & Klein, K. (2005a). Cognitive-emotional distinctiveness: Separating emotions from non-emotions in the representation of a stressful memory. Memory, 13, 638-648.
Boals, A. & Klein, K. (2005b). Word use in emotional narratives about failed romantic relationships and subsequent mental health. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 24, 252-268.
Klein, K. & Boals, A. (2001a). Expressive writing can increase working memory capacity. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 130, 520-533.
Klein, K. & Boals, A. (2001b). The relationship of life stress and working memory. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 15, 565-579.