Licensed Psychologist, State of Maine

Colby Emotion and Mood Lab

My research interests focus on the interplay of stress and personality on the course of depression, particularly during life transitions such as the transition to college. Current research projects in my lab include 1) an examination of the relationship of social problem-solving skills with depressive symptoms and personality pathology, 2) the use of experience sampling methods to identify patterns of interpersonal stress, social problem-solving strategies, and depression in young adults, and 3) an investigation of the association of social media use and emotional processing. Long-terms goals of this program of research include the development of an intervention to increase social belonging and prevent depression in matriculating college students.

Craighead, W. E., Sheets, E. S., Craighead, L. W., & Madsen, J. W. (2011). Recurrence of MDD among previously depressed young adults: A prospective study of personality pathology and cognitive distortions. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 2(2), 83-97.

Muralidharan, A., Sheets, E. S., Madsen, J., Craighead, L. W., & Craighead, W. E. (2011). Interpersonal competence across domains: Relevance to personality pathology. Journal of Personality Disorders, 25(1), 16-27.

Bjornsson, A.S., Carey, G., Hauser, M., Karris, A., Kaufmann, Sheets, E., & Craighead, W.E. (2010). The effects of experiential avoidance and rumination on depression among college students. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy, 3(4), 389-401.

Sheets, E. S., & Miller, I. W. (2010). Predictors of relationship functioning for patients with bipolar disorder and their partners. Journal of Family Psychology, 24, 371-379.

Sheets, E. S., & Brosse, A. L. (2010). Major depressive disorder. For I. B. Weiner & W. E. Craighead (Eds.), Corsini’s Encyclopedia of Psychology (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Ray, L. A., Capone, C., Sheets, E., Young, D., Chelminski, I., & Zimmerman, M. (2009). Posttraumatic stress disorder with and without alcohol use disorders: Diagnostic and clinical correlates in a psychiatric sample. Psychiatry Research, 170, 278-281.

Sheets, E. S., & Craighead, W. E. (2007). Toward an empirically based classification of personality pathology. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 14, 77-93.

Craighead, W. E., Sheets, E. S., Brosse, A. L., & Ilardi, S. S. (2007). Psychosocial treatments for major depressive disorder. In P. E. Nathan & J. M. Gorman (Eds.), A Guide to Treatments that Work (3rd ed., pp. 289-307). New York: Oxford University Press.

Craighead, W. E., Sheets, E. S., Bjornsson, A. S., & Arnarson, E. O. (2005). Specificity and non-specificity in psychotherapy. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 12, 189-193.

Craighead, W. E., Brosse, A. L., & Sheets, E. S. (2004). 58% of people recovering from a major depressive episode are unlikely to relapse after 5 years. Evidence Based Mental Health, 7(1), 5.

Brosse, A. L., & Sheets, E. S. (2004). Major depressive disorder: Recovery and recurrence. In W. E. Craighead & C. B. Nemeroff (Eds.), Concise Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences (3rd ed.). New York: Wiley.

Brosse, A. L., Sheets, E. S., Lett, H. S., & Blumenthal, J. A. (2002). Exercise and the treatment of clinical depression in adults: Recent findings and future directions. Sports Medicine, 32(12), 741-760.