Research

The Colby Emotion and Mood Lab integrates theories and methods of basic emotion research and clinical psychology to further our understanding of the impact of stress and interpersonal functioning on emotional reactivity and mood disorders. Our research primarily focuses on depression during the transition to young adulthood, while also examining basic emotion processes in healthy individuals. One question of interest to our lab is how a strong sense of belonging within one’s community and its opposite, belonging uncertainty, impact mental health. Our lab utilizes a variety of research methods, including ecological momentary assessment, interpersonal laboratory tasks, diagnostic interviews, and quantitative self-report measures.

Recent research projects in the Emotion and Mood Lab include 1) a randomized, controlled trial of a brief social belonging intervention to prevent depression, 2) the use of experience sampling methods to identify patterns of interpersonal stress, stress reactivity, and depression in young adults, and 3) a comparison of strategies to regulate anger.

For a more detailed description of current projects, select this link.

(click on titles for PDFs)

* denotes Colby College student/alumnus author

Huebschmann, N. A., & Sheets, E. S. (2021). Don’t fear conflict: Relationship stress beliefs in friend, familial, and romantic relationships. Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research, 26(2), 252-261. https://doi.org/10.24839/2325-7342.JN26.2.252.

Sheets, E. S., & Armey, M. F. (2020). Daily interpersonal and noninterpersonal stress reactivity in current and remitted depression. Cognitive Therapy & Research, 44(4), 774-787. doi: 10.1007/s10608-020-10096-2

Huebschmann, N. A.*, & Sheets, E. S. (2020). The right mindset: Stress mindset moderates the association between perceived stress and depressive symptoms. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 33, 248-255. doi: 10.1080/10615806.2020.1736900

Rabasco, A. N.*, & Sheets, E. S. (2016). The effects of face-to-face and online social stress on emotion identification. Modern Psychological Studies, 22(1), 53-63.

Sheets, E. S., Bujarski, S., Leventhal, A. M., & Ray, L. A. (2015). Emotion differentiation and intensity during acute tobacco abstinence: A comparison of heavy and light smokers. Addictive Behaviors, 47, 70-73. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2015.03.024

Sheets, E. S., & Craighead, W. E. (2014). Comparing chronic interpersonal and noninterpersonal stress domains as predictors of depression recurrence in emerging adults. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 63, 36-42.doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2014.09.001

Sheets, E. S., & Kraines, M.* (2014). Personality disorder traits as a moderator of poor social problem-solving skills and depressive symptoms. Journal of Individual Differences, 35(2), 103-110. doi: 10.1027/1614-0001/a000132

Dreaded Conflicts? Colby Magazine.

Stressed about Stress? Think Again-and Differently Colby Magazine.

What’s On Your Mind? Colby Magazine.