Skip to main content

Tom Adams

Research Interests:
Causes of and treatments for anxiety
OCD
PTSD
Cognitive Neuroscience
CBT
Noninvasive Brain Stimulation
Neuroimaging
fMRI
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)
Exposure Therapy
Fear Extinction

Dr. Adams will NOT be reviewing applications for prospective graduate students for the 2024/2025 academic year.

My research aims to explore the mechanisms that are implicated in the etiology, maintenance, and treatment of anxiety and related disorders and to develop novel techniques to improve treatments for these problems. I use experimental psychopathology approaches to study both maladaptive and adaptive expressions of anxious psychopathology-linked traits among diverse samples. I also translate basic cognitive and behavioral neuroscience findings to develop and test novel, empirically-derived treatment, and treatment augmentation strategies. For example, I have several ongoing research projects that aim to test the effects of exercise and non-invasive brain stimulation [e.g., transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)] on brain metabolism and circuitry, fear extinction, and therapeutic exposure.

Selected Publications:

Peer Reviewed

Brake, A. C., Adams, T. G., Hood C. O., & Badour, C. L. (2018). Posttraumatic mental contamination and the interpersonal theory of suicide: Effects of DSM-5 PTSD symptom clusters on perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness. Cognitive Research and Therapy, doi: 10.1007/s10608-018-9959-9

*George, J., Kelmendi, B., Pittenger, C. Lohr., J. M. & Adams, T. G.(2018). Disgust sensitivity mediates the effects of race on contamination fears. The Journal of Obsessive Compulsive and Related Disorders, 19, 72-76. doi.org/10.1016/j.jocrd.2018.08.002

Brooks, H., Kichuk, S., Adams, T. G., Kelmendi, B. Gruner, P., Monahan, S., Wasylink, S., Pittenger, C., & Hampson, M. (2018). Developing Image Sets for Inducing Obsessive-Compulsive Checking Symptoms. Psychiatry Research. 265, 249-255. doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2018.04.035 

Adams, T. G., Kelmendi, B., Brake, A., Gruner, P. A., Badour, C. L., & Pittenger, C. (2018). The role of stress in the pathogenesis and maintenance of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Journal of Chronic Stress. doi: 10.1177/2470547018758043.

Kelmendi, B., Adams, T. G., Southwick, S., Abdallah, C. G., & Krystal, J. H. (2017).Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: an integrated overview and neurobiological rationale for pharmacology. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 24, doi: 10.1111/cpsp.12202

Adams. T. G., Bloch, M. & Pittenger, C. (2017). Intranasal Ketamine and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Treatment Refractory Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, 37, 269-271. doi: 10.1097/JCP.0000000000000659.

Kelmendi, B, Adams, T. G., Yarnell, S., Southwick, S., Abdallah, C. G., Krystal, J. H. (2016). Posttraumatic stress disorder: From neurobiology to pharmacological treatments. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 7, 31858,http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/ejpt.v7.31858

Gannon, M. A., Knapp, A. A., Adams, T. G., Long, S. A., & Parks, N. A. (2016). The spatial scaling of attentional enhancement and suppression in the visual field. PLOS One, 11, e0162190. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0162190

Badran, B. W., Glusman, C. E., Jenkins, S., Galbraith, V. Austelle, C. W., Thomas. T.,Adams, T. G., George, M. S., & Revuelta, G. J. (2016). A double-blind, sham-controlled pilot trial of pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) 1Hz rTMS to treat essential tremor. Brain Stimulation: Basic, Translational, and Clinical Research in Neuromodulation, 9, 945-947. doi.org/10.1016/j.brs.2016.08.003

Kelmendi, B., Adams, T. G., Jakubovski, E., Hawkins, K., Coric, V., & Pittenger, C., (2016). Probing implicit learning in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): Moderating role of medication in the weather prediction task. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, 9, 90-95. doi:10.1016/j.jocrd.2016.03.003

Abdallah, C. G., Adams, T. G.,Kelmendi, B., Esterlis, I., Sanacora, G., & Krystal, J. H. (2016). Ketamine’s mechanisms of action: A path to rapid-acting antidepressants. Journal of Depression and Anxiety, 33, 689-697.doi: 10.1002/da.22501

Pittenger, C., Adams, T.G., Gallezot, J.-D., Crowley, M.J., Nabulsi, N., Ropchan, J., Gao, H., Kichuk, S.A., Rimpson, r., Billingslea, E., Hannestad, J., Bloch, M., Mayes, L., Bhagwagar, Z., and Carson, R.E. (2016).  OCD is associated with an altered association between sensorimotor gating and cortical and subcortical 5-HT1b receptor binding. Journal of Affective Disorders, 196, 87-96. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2016.02.021.

*Kichuk, S. A., Lebowitz, M. S., & Adams, T. G.(2015). Can biomedical models of psychopathology interfere with cognitive-behavioral treatment processes? The Behavior Therapist, 38, 181-186. ISSN  0278-8403

Adams, T. G. (2015). Exposure to Emotionally Arousing, Contamination-Relevant Pictorial Stimuli Interferes with Response Inhibition: Implication for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, 6, 66-71. doi:10.1016/j.jocrd.2015.05.001

Wetterneck, C. T., Siev, J., & Adams, T. G., Slimowicz, J. C., & Smith, A. H. (2015). Assessing sexually intrusive thoughts: Parsing unacceptable thoughts on the dimensional obsessive-compulsive scale. Behavior Therapy, 46. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2015.05.006

Adams, T. G., Adams, Z., Mandel, H., Robinson, K., & Wang, Z. (2015). The effects of inattentiveness and hyperactivity on posttraumatic stress symptoms: Does a diagnosis of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder matter? Journal of Attention Disorders, 1-9. doi: 10.1177/1087054715580846

Adams, T.G., Brady, R. E., Lohr, J. M., & Jacobs, W. J. (2015). A meta-analysis of CBT components for anxiety disorders. The Behavior Therapist,38, 87-97. ISSN 0278-8403

Adams, T. G., Badran, B. W., & George, M. S. (2014). Integration of cortical brain stimulation and exposure and response prevention for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Brain Stimulation7, 764-765. doi: 10.1016/j.brs.2014.06.010

Adams, T. G., Stewart, P. A., & Blanchar, J. C. (2014). Disgust and the politics of sex: Exposure to disgusting odorant increases conservative views on sex and decreases support for gay marriage. PLoS One, 9, e95572. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0095572

Adams, T. G., Badour, C. L., Cisler, J. M., & Feldner, M. T. (2014). Contamination aversion and posttraumatic stress symptom severity following sexual trauma. Cognitive Therapy and Research,38, 449-457. doi: 10.1007/s10608-014-9609-9

Dutton, C. E.,Adams, T., Bujarski, S., Badour, C., & Feldner, M. T. (2014). Posttraumatic stress disorder and alcohol dependence: Individual and combined associations with social network problems. Journal of Anxiety Disorders,28, 67-74. doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2013.11.010

Adams, T. G., Badour, C. L., Lohr, J. M., & Feldner, M. T. (2013) Treatment of disgust related psychopathology. Annals of Psychotherapy & Integrative Health, 16, 26-34.

Adams, T. G., Cisler, J. M., Brady, R. E., Olatunji, B. O., & Lohr, J. M. (2013). Preliminary psychometric evidence for distinct affective and cognitive mechanisms mediating contamination fears. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment. 35, 375-388. doi: 10.1007/s10862-013-9343-8

Adams, T. G. (2012). Multiple pathways to and from responsibility cognitions and the etiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Journal of Experimental Psychopathology, 3, 807-824. doi: http://dx/doi.org/10.5127/jep.025311

Adams, T. G.(2012). The unique roles of affect and impulsivity in the prediction of skin picking severity.Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, 1, 138-143. doi: 10.1016/j.jocrd.2012.03.003

Adams, T. G.  & Lohr, J. M. (2012). Disgust mediates the relations between attentional shifting and contamination aversion. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 43, 975-980. doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2012.03.002

Badour, C. L., Bown, S., Adams, T. G., Bunaciu, L., & Feldner, M. T. (2012). Specificity of fear and disgust experienced during traumatic interpersonal victimization in predicting posttraumatic stress and contamination-based obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 26, 590-598. doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2012.03.001

Adams, T. G., Cisler, J. M., Brady, R. E. & Lohr, J. M. (2012). The effects of cognitive and affective priming on law of contagion appraisals. Journal of Experimental Psychopathology, 3, 470-478. doi: 10.5127/jep.025911.  

Olatunji, B. O., Adams, T. G., Ciesielski, B. G., David, B., Sarawgi, S., & Broman-Fulks, J. J. (2012). The three domains of disgust scale: Factor structure, psychometric properties, and conceptual limitations. Assessment, 19, 205-225. doi: 10.1177/1073191111432881

Adams, T. G., Riemann, B. C., Wetterneck, C. T., & Cisler, J. M. (2012). Obsessive beliefs predict cognitive-behavior therapy outcomes for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 41, 203-211doi: 10.1080/16506073.2011.621969

Cisler, J. M., Wolitzky-Taylor, K. B., Adams, T. G., Babson, K. A., Badour, C. L., & Willems, J. L. (2011). The emotional Stroop task and posttraumatic stress disorder: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 31, 817-828.doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2011.03.007

Adams, T.G., Willems, J. L., & Bridges, A. J. (2011). Contamination aversion and repeated exposure to disgusting stimuli. Anxiety Stress and Coping24, 157-165. doi: 10.1080/10615806.2010.506953

Cisler, J. M., Adams, T. G., Brady, R. E., Bridges, A. J., Lohr, J. M., & Olatunji, B.O. (2010). Unique affective and cognitive processes in contamination appraisals: Implications for contamination fear. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 25, 28-35. doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2010.07.002

Brady, R. E., Adams, T. G., & Lohr, J. M. (2010). Disgust in contamination-based OCD: A review and model. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 10, 1295-1305. doi: 10.1586/ern.10.46

Abramowitz, J. S., Deacon, B., Olatunji, B., Wheaton, M. G., Berman, N., Timpano, K., McGrath, P., Riemann, B., Adams, T. G, Bjorgvinsson, T., Storch, E. A., & Hale, L. (2010). Assessment of obsessive-compulsive symptom dimensions: development and validation of the Dimensional Obsessive-Compulsive Scale. Psychological Assessment, 22, 180-198. doi: 10.1037/a0018260

 

Book Chapters

Kelmendi, B., Adams, T. G., Abdallah, C., Harpaz-Rotem, I., Esterlis, I., Southwick, S., & Krystal, J. H., (submitted to editors). Investigational agents in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In C. Marmar C., & Nemeroff C. (Eds.) Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Oxford, United Kindom: Oxford University Press.

Pittenger, C., Gruner, P, Adams, T. G., & Kelmendi, B (2017). The dynamics of obsessive-compulsive disorder: A heuristic framework. In C. Pittenger (Ed.). Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Phenomenology, Pathophysiology, and Treatment. (669-882). New York: Oxford University Press.

Badour, C. L. & Adams, T. G. (2015). Contaminated by trauma: Understanding links between self-disgust, mental contamination, and PTSD. In P. Powell, P. Overton, & J. Simpson (Eds.). The Revolting Self: Perspectives on the Psychological and Clinical Implications of Self-Directed Disgust. (pp. 127-150). London, UK: Karnac Books.

Adams, T. G., Sawchuk, C., Cisler, J. C., Lohr, J. M., & Olatunji, B. O. (2014). Specific Phobias. In T. Ehring and P. Emmelkamp (Eds.). The Wiley Handbook of Anxiety Disorders. (pp. 295-320). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.

Adams, T. G., Brady, R. E., & Lohr, J. M. (2011). The nature and function of disgust in coping and control. In T. Radek, B. Karel & K. Martin (Eds.), Re-constructing emotional spaces: From experience to regulation (1st ed., pp. 63-76). Prague: Prague Psychosocial Press.

 

PubMed Publications*: 
* Publications are automatically pulled from pubmed.gov based on a user-specific query. Results may include incorrect citations. See: Tutorial on improving PubMed results.