Joshua Smyth
Three broadly defined areas – and the integration between them – comprise my research program: (1) What are the effects of experiencing stress or trauma on psychological and physical well-being, and under what circumstances (and to what degree) can we observe such effects? (2) Can we assess stress, affect, and health in an ecologically relevant manner that facilitates our understanding of biopsychosocial processes as they unfold in time and in context? Furthermore, how can this approach (i.e., dynamic within person data capture) allow testing of novel practical and theoretical perspectives? (3) Can psychological interventions improve health and well-being, both in healthy individuals and individuals with existing physical or psychiatric illness (with a particular research focus on theoretical and applied questions about the use of expressive writing interventions)?
Primary Interests:
- Applied Social Psychology
- Emotion, Mood, Affect
- Health Psychology
- Internet and Virtual Psychology
- Life Satisfaction, Well-Being
- Neuroscience, Psychophysiology
- Research Methods, Assessment
Books:
- Christensen, A., Martin, R., & Smyth, J. M. (Eds.). (2004). Encyclopedia of health psychology. New York: Kluwer Academic Press.
- Lepore, S., & Smyth, J. M. (Eds.). (2002). The writing cure: How expressive writing promotes health and emotional well-being. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association Press.
Journal Articles:
- Exline, J., Park, C., Smyth, J., & Carey, M. (2011). Anger toward God: Five foundational studies emphasizing predictors, doubts about God’s existence, and adjustment to bereavement and cancer. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100, 129-148.
- Heron, K., & Smyth, J.M. (2010). Ecological Momentary Interventions: Incorporating mobile technology into psychosocial and health behavior treatments. British Journal of Health Psychology, 15, 1-39.
- Juth, V., Smyth, J., & Santuzzi, A. (2008). How do you feel? Self-esteem predicts affect, stress, social interaction and symptom severity during daily life in patients with chronic illness. Journal of Health Psychology, 13(7), 884-894.
- Mullen, B., & Smyth, J. (2004). Immigrant suicide rates as a function of ethnophaulisms: Hate speech predicts death. Psychosomatic Medicine, 66(3), 343-348.
- Nazarian, D., & Smyth, J. (2010). Context moderates the effects of an expressive writing intervention: A randomized two-study replication and extension. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 29, 903-929.
- Sliwinski, M. Smyth, J., Hofer, S., & Stawski, R. (2006). Intraindividual coupling of daily stress and cognition. Psychology and Aging, 21, 545-557.
- Smyth, J. (1998). Written emotional expression: Effect size, outcome types, and moderating variables. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66, 174-184.
- Smyth, J.M., Hockemeyer, J., & Tulloch, H. (2008). Expressive writing and post-traumatic stress disorder: Effects on trauma symptoms, mood states, and cortisol reactivity. British Journal of Health Psychology, 13(1), 85-93.
- Smyth, J., Ockenfels, M., Porter, L., Kirschbaum, C., Hellhammer, D., & Stone, A. (1998). The association between daily stressors, mood and salivary cortisol secretion. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 23, 353-370.
- Smyth, J., & Stone, A. (2003). Ecological momentary assessment research in behavioral medicine. Journal of Happiness Studies, 4, 35-52.
- Smyth, J., Stone, A., Hurewitz, A., & Kaell, A. (1999). Writing about stressful events produces symptom reduction in asthmatics and rheumatoid arthritics: A randomized trial. Journal of the American Medical Association, 281, 1304-1309.
- Smyth, J., True, N., & Souto, J. (2001). Effects of writing about traumatic experiences: The necessity for narrative structure. Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology, 20, 161-172.
- Smyth, J., Wonderlich, S., Heron, K., Sliwinski, M., Crosby, R., Mitchell, J., & Engel, S. (2007). Daily and momentary mood and stress predict binge eating and vomiting in bulimia nervosa patients in the natural environment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 75, 629-638.
Other Publications:
- Smyth, J., & Heron, K (2011). Health psychology. In M. Mehl & T. Conner (Eds.), Handbook of Research Methods for Studying Daily Life (pp. 569-584). New York, NY: Guilford.
Joshua Smyth
Department of Biobehavioral Health
Pennsylvania State University
University Park, Pennsylvania 16802
United States of America