David M. Fresco

Research Area:

• Clinical - Adult Psychopathology

Does Dr. Fresco plan to recruit a doctoral student for the next incoming class?

Website:

PERL Site

Research Interests:

I direct the Psychopathology and Emotion Regulation Laboratory (PERL) and am a Co-Director of the Kent Electrophysiological Neuroscience Laboratory (KENL). My program of research adopts an affective science perspective to the study of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and major depressive disorder (MDD).  Working at the interface of cognitive behavioral and emotion regulation approaches, I conduct survey, experimental, and treatment research to examine factors associated with major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) including metacognitive factors (e.g., decentering, rumination, worry), functional neuroimaging (fMRI & EEG), peripheral psychophysiology, and serum markers (e.g., inflammation, neurodegeneration). Another focus of our lab is the development of treatments informed by affective and contemplative neuroscience findings that incorporate mindfulness meditation and other practices derived from Buddhist mental training exercises into Western psychosocial treatments.  Presently, I am PI of grant entitled, "Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for High Blood Pressure: A Two-Site RCT” (1R01HL119977),  Co-I on grants entitled, "SMART Center II: Brain-Behavior Connections in Self-Management Science (1P30NR015326), “Emotional Eating in Obese Low-Income Adolescents with Mindfulness-Based Behavioral Weight Reducing Management” (1R21HD095099), “Neural Mechanisms of Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)” (1R61AT009867), Co-Sponsor of a grant entitled “The Effect of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy on ERP Markers of Attentional Bias in Anxiety” (1F31AT010299), and MPI of a pending grant entitled “Emotion Regulation in Distress Disorders: Elucidating the Role of Cognitive Processes and Person-Situation Fit in the Laboratory and Daily Life” (1R01MH118218).

Lab Site:

Psychopathology & Emotion Regulation Lab

Kent Electrophysiological Neuroscience Laboratory (KENL) Site

Serenity Study's Facebook Page

Courses Frequently Taught

• Abnormal Psychology (undergraduate)

• Emotion (undergraduate)

• Introduction to Psychotherapy (graduate)

• Cognitive Behavior Therapy (graduate)

• Clinical Supervision (graduate)

Publications:

• Hoge, E.A., Bui, E., Goetter, E., Robinaugh, D.J., Ojserkis, R.A., Fresco, D.M., Simon, N. (2015). Change in Decentering Mediates Improvement in Anxiety in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Cognitive Therapy and Research, 39, 228-235. NIHMSID # 635177
• Mennin, D. S. & Fresco, D. M. (2015) Advancing Emotion Regulation Perspectives on Psychopathology: The Challenge of Distress Disorders, Psychological Inquiry: An International Journal for the Advancement of Psychological Theory, 26, 80-92, DOI: 10.1080/1047840X.2015.969624
• Bernstein, A., Hadash, Y., Lichtash, Y., Tanay, G., *Shepherd, K., & Fresco, D. M. (in press). Decentering and Related Constructs: A Critical Review and Meta-Cognitive Processes Model. Perspectives on Psychological Science.
• Mennin, D. S., Fresco, D. M., Ritter, M., & Heimberg, R. G., (in press). An Open Trial of Emotion Regulation Therapy For Generalized Anxiety Disorder with Co-Occurring depression. Depression and Anxiety.
• Mennin, D. S. & Fresco, D. M. (2014). Emotion Regulation Therapy. (pp. 469-490). In J. J. Gross (Ed.) Handbook of Emotion Regulation, 2nd Ed. New York: Guilford Press.
• Hughes, J. W., Fresco, D. M., Myerscough, R., van Dulmen, M., Carlson, L. E., & Josephson, R. (2013). Randomized Controlled Trial of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction for Prehypertension. Psychosomatic Medicine, 75, 721-728.
• Mennin, D. S. & Fresco, D. M. (2013). What, me worry and ruminate about DSM-5 and RDoC?: The importance of targeting negative self-referential processing. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 20, 259-268.
• Mennin, D. S., Ellard, K. K., Fresco, D. M., & Gross, J. J. (2013). Emphasizing commonalities of cognitive-behavioral therapies within a broadening field of intervention science. Behavior Therapy, 44, 234-248.
• *Moore, M. T. & Fresco, D. M. (2012). Depressive Realism: A Meta-Analytic Review. Clinical Psychology Review, 32, 1-14.
• Fresco, D. M., Segal, Z. V., Buis, T., & Kennedy, S. (2007). Relationship of post treatment decentering and cognitive reactivity following an emotion evocation challenge to relapse of major depressive disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 75, 447-455.
• Fresco, D. M., *Moore, M. T., van Dulmen, M., Segal, Z. V., Teasdale, J. D., Ma, D., & Williams, J. M. G. (2007). Initial psychometric properties of the Experiences Questionnaire: A self-report survey of decentering. Behavior Therapy, 38, 234-246.