2019 - 2020 TaSSC News and Events

December 2020

• Congratulations to Maya Zegel for resubmitting her F31 proposal to NIAAA!

• Congratulations to Antoine Lebeaut for submitting his F31 proposal to NIAAA!

• Congratulations to Antoine for publishing two first-author papers this year!

  • Lebeaut, A., Zegel, M., Leonard, S., Bartlett, B. A., & Vujanovic, A. A. (in press). Examining transdiagnostic factors among firefighters in relation to trauma exposure, probable PTSD, and probable alcohol use disorder. Journal of Dual Diagnosis. doi: 10.1080/15504263.2020.1854411

  • Lebeaut, A., Tran, J. K., & Vujanovic, A. A. (2020). Posttraumatic stress, alcohol use, and alcohol use motives among firefighters: The role of anxiety sensitivity. Addictive Behaviors, 106. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2020.106353

• Maya Zegel received the Cullen Graduate Student Success Fellowship. Congratulations, Maya!!

November 2020

• Our team presented at the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies virtual meeting:

  • Healy, N. A. & Vujanovic, A. A. (2020, November). Posttraumatic stress and suicide Risk among firefighters: The role of sleep disturbance. Poster session presented at the 36th annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies [virtual meeting].

  • Leonard, S. J.& Vujanovic, A. A. (2020, November). Social disconnectedness and PTSD severity among firefighters: The role of emotion regulation difficulties. Poster session presented at the 36th annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies [virtual meeting].

  • Lebeaut, A., Leonard, S. J., Tran, J. K., & Vujanovic, A. A. (2020, November).Associations between lower-order anxiety sensitivity facets and PTSD symptoms among trauma-exposed firefighters with probable alcohol use disorder. Poster session presented at the 36th annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies [virtual meeting].

  • Zegel, M., Healy, N. A., & Vujanovic A. A. (2020, November). Distress overtolerance among firefighters: Associations with posttraumatic stress symptom severity, alcohol use severity, and alcohol use motives.Poster session presented at the 36th annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies [virtual meeting]. 

October 2020

• Antoine’s article was featured in the Houston Fire Department newsletter!

  • Lebeaut, A. (2020, October). Shrink Rap: Mindfulness. Houston Fire Department.

• Congratulations to Dania Amarneh! Dania placed 2nd overall in the University of Houston ExCITE Talks competition. Dania presented on the results of her summer research project (SURF), “The Role of Anxiety Sensitivity in the Association between Childhood Maltreatment and Sleep Quality.”

• Our recent work was featured on the Cognitive Behaviour Therapy blog.

September 2020

• Maya’s article was featured in the Houston Fire Department newsletter!

  • Zegel, M. (2020, September). Shrink Rap: Distress Overtolerance. Houston Fire Department.

• Congratulations to Maya for another first-author publication!

  • Zegel, M., Rogers, A. H., Vujanovic, A. A., & Zvolensky, M. J. (in press). Alcohol use problems and opioid misuse and dependence among adults with chronic pain: The role of distress tolerance.  Psychology of Addictive Behaviors. doi: 10.1037/adb0000587

• Congratulations to Antoine Lebeaut! Antoine received the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies Student Registration Award.

Congratulations to Nate Healy! Nate successfully defended his M.A. thesis, entitled “PTSD Symptoms and Suicide Risk among Firefighters: The Moderating Role of Sleep Disturbance.” 

August 2020

• Congratulations to Sam Leonard! He successfully defended his M.A. thesis, entitled “Thwarted Belongingness and PTSD Symptom Severity among Firefighters: The Role of Emotion Regulation Difficulties.”

• Our team will be presenting posters at the upcoming (virtual) annual International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies meeting:

  • Zegel, M., Healy, N. A., & Vujanovic A. A. (2020, November). Distress overtolerance among firefighters: Associations with posttraumatic stress symptom severity, alcohol use severity, and alcohol use motives. Poster accepted for presentation at the 36th annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

  • Healy, N. A. & Vujanovic, A. A. (2020, November). Posttraumatic stress and suicide risk among firefighters: The role of sleep Disturbance. Poster accepted for presentation at the 36th annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

  • Lebeaut, A., Leonard, S. J., Tran, J. K., & Vujanovic, A. A. (2020, November). Associations between lower-order anxiety sensitivity facets and PTSD symptoms among trauma-exposed firefighters with probable alcohol use disorder. Poster accepted for presentation at the 36th annual convention of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

  • Leonard, S.J. & Vujanovic, A. A. (2020, November). Social disconnectedness and PTSD severity among firefighters: The role of emotion regulation difficulties. Poster accepted for presentation for the 36th annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

July 2020

• Congratulations to Antoine Lebeaut for being nominated and elected Student Representative for the UH Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program! 

• Congratulationsto Maya Zegel for being nominated and elected Student Member of the UH Institutional Review Board!

• Congratulations to Maya Zegel for being nominated and elected Student Member of the CPDD Early Career Members Committee! 

June 2020 

• Our team presented at the College on Problems of Drug Dependence annual conference:

  • Zegel, M., Rogers, A. H., Vujanovic, A. A. & Zvolensky, M. J. (2020, June). Co-occurring alcohol and opioid use among trauma-exposed adults with chronic pain: The role of distress tolerance. Poster presented at the 82nd annual meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence, Hollywood, FL.

Lebeaut, A., Smith, L. J., Leonard, S., & Vujanovic, A. A. (2020, June). Transdiagnostic correlates of co-occurring probable PTSD and substance use disorder among low-income, acute-care psychiatric inpatients. Poster presented at the 82st annual meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence, Hollywood, FL. 

May 2020

• Congratulations to Antoine Lebeaut! Antoine received the Early Career Investigator Travel Award from the College on Problems of Drug Dependence.

• Congratulations to Nate Healy! He successfully proposed his M.A. thesis, entitled “PTSD Symptoms and Suicide Risk among Firefighters: The Moderating Role of Sleep Disturbance.”

• Congratulations to Katherine Kabel for receiving the UH Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship! Katherine will be studying alcohol use, sleep disturbance, and distress tolerance in undergraduate students.

• Congratulations to Dania Amarneh for receiving the UH Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship! Dania will be studying relations childhood trauma, anxiety sensitivity, and sleep quality.

• Our team contributed articles and information to the First Responder Center for Excellence in support of the behavioral health of first responders during the COVID-19 crisis. https://www.firstrespondercenter.org/were-here-for-you/

• Congratulations to Dania Amarneh and Katherine Kabel for receiving the Callicutt Scholarship from the UH Department of Psychology!

• Dr. Vujanovic talked about the mental health impact of a potential second wave of COVID-19 on Houston Matters – Houston Public Media on 5/18/2020.

April 2020 

• Congratulations to Sam Leonard! He successfully proposed his M.A. thesis, entitled “Thwarted Belongingness and PTSD Symptom Severity among Firefighters: The Role of Emotion Regulation Difficulties.”

• Congratulations to Brooke Bartlett! She successfully defended her dissertation, entitled “An Examination of the Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicide among Urban Firefighters: Associations with Posttraumatic Stress and Distress Tolerance.”

March 2020

• Congratulations to Antoine Lebeaut! He was elected Student Co-Chair of the Trauma and Substance Use Disorders Special Interest Group of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies!

• Congratulations to Sara Zare for accepting a position in the clinical psychology doctoral program at the University of South Dakota 

February 2020 

• Congratulations to Brooke Bartlett! She will be attending the pre-doctoral internship program at the University of California – San Diego Consortium/VA San Diego Healthcare System.

• Congratulations to Katherine Kabel! She was selected a Student Research Competition Finalist at the Southwestern Psychology Association annual conference!

January 2020

• Maya’s first-author paper was featured in a Danish magazine, Magasinet Arbejdsmiljø, about occupational safety and health

• Brooke wrote a brief newsletter article that was featured on the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies Stress Points eNewsletter:

  1. Bartlett, B. A. (2020, January). Stress Points eNewsletter: Trauma exposure as a risk factor for suicidal thoughts and behaviors among firefighters. International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. Retrieved from Informz.net