Samantha Farris

About

Dr. Samantha Farris is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Rutgers University, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Medicine at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. She is the Director of The Rutgers Emotion, Health and Behavior (REHAB) Laboratory. Dr. Farris received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from The University of Houston and completed her psychology internship at the Alpert Medical School at Brown University. She also completed fellowships in cancer prevention at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and in cardiovascular behavioral medicine at The Miriam Hospital/Alpert Medical School at Brown University. Her research focuses on understanding how and why anxiety and fear affect physical health and risk behaviors. She studies psychological determinants of chronic disease and risk behaviors, with a particular emphasis on anxiety, which is distinguished by hyperarousal and fear-avoidance behavior. Dr. Farris and her lab utilize a translational research approach to identify biopsychological fear mechanisms that contribute to health behavior and physical disease, to examine how these mechanisms influence health behaviors in real time through experimental methodologies, and to develop tailored interventions targeting these mechanisms to promote health behavior change and prevent the onset or progression of chronic disease. Her work aims to inform disease prevention strategies and reduce the burden of illness in…

Research topics

• Psychology
• Psychiatry
• Clinical psychology
• Medicine
• Environmental health
• Sociology
• Developmental psychology
• Physical therapy

Selected publications

• A meta‐analysis of the associations of elements of the fear‐avoidance model of chronic pain with negative affect, depression, anxiety, pain‐related disability and pain intensity

  European Journal of Pain · 2022 · 220 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Biopsychosocial conceptualizations of clinical pain conditions recognize the multi-faceted nature of pain experience and its intersection with mental health. A primary cognitive-behavioural framework is the Fear-Avoidance Model, which posits that pain catastrophizing and fear of pain (including avoidance, cognitions and physiological reactivity) are key antecedents to, and drivers of, pain intensity and disability, in addition to pain-related psychological distress. Thi…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Anxiety, depression, and health anxiety in undergraduate students living in initial US outbreak “hotspot” during COVID-19 pandemic

  Cognitive Behaviour Therapy · 2021 · 102 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Evidence of the psychological distress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, including depression, anxiety, and health anxiety, has been documented globally. College students are a unique sub-set of the population with consistently elevated psychological distress associated with the pandemic, and well-informed intervention is urgently needed. The current study is the first, to our knowledge, to document the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of undergraduates in a heavily imp…

  DOI

• A Qualitative Study of COVID-19 Distress in University Students

  Emerging Adulthood · 2021 · 55 citations

  1st authorCorresponding

  The psychological effect of the pandemic and measures taken in response to control viral spread are not yet well understood in university students; in-depth qualitative analysis can provide nuanced information about the young adult distress experience. Undergraduate students ( N = 624) in an early US outbreak “hotspot” completed an online narrative writing about the impact and distress experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected April-May 2020. A random selection of 50 cases we…

  DOI

• Development and initial validation of the Exercise Sensitivity Questionnaire

  Mental health and physical activity · 2020 · 31 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  DOI

• Psychosocial predictors of virus and social distancing fears in undergraduate students living in a US COVID-19 “hotspot”

  Cognitive Behaviour Therapy · 2021 · 30 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  = 608) residing in a U.S. pandemic "hotspot" at the time of data collection (between 7 April to 9 May, 2020). Outcome variables included viral contamination fears and social distancing fears. Predictor variables included biological sex, underlying medical vulnerability, number of recent viral symptoms, presence of positive COVID-19 test in social network, anxiety, depression, stress, emotion dysregulation, intolerance of uncertainty, body vigilance, and health anxiety. Female sex, anxiety severi…

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Daily-Level Analysis of Ovarian Hormones, Smoking, and Anxiety

  NIH · $460k · 2018–2022

• Panic-Relevant Sensations and Smoking Motivation

  NIH · $101k · 2013–2016

Frequent coauthors

• Michael J. Zvolensky

  279 shared

• Ana M. Abrantes

  161 shared

• Marcel O. Bonn‐Miller

  Charlotte's Web (United States)

  96 shared

• Matthew Tyler Boden

  VA Center for Clinical Management Research

  81 shared

• Jane Metrik

  Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

  76 shared

• Elizabeth R. Aston

  Providence College

  58 shared

• Angelo M. DiBello

  Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

  47 shared

• Dale S. Bond

  Hartford Hospital

  42 shared

Education

• Postdoctoral Fellowship in Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine

  Brown University Warren Alpert Medical School

  2018

• Predoctoral Psychology Internship, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior

  Brown University Warren Alpert Medical School

  2016

• Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychology

  University of Houston

  2016

• Predoctoral Fellowship in Cancer Prevention Research, Department of Behavioral Sciences

  The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

  2015

Similar researchers at Rutgers University

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• Judith Hudsonh-49
• Maurice Eliash-48