ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Dr. Verona hails from Miami, FL, where she completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Miami (1995). She completed her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the Department of Psychology at Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL (2001), where she worked with Dr. Chris Patrick in the areas of emotion, psychopathy, and aggression. She spent a year on her clinical internship at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, part of the University of Pittsburgh. In 2001, she arrived at her first position as Assistant Professor of Psychology at Kent State University in Ohio, and then joined the faculty in the Psychology Department at the University of Illinois in 2004. She was awarded tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in 2008. The products of her work, which integrates clinical, social, and affective neuroscience methods, have appeared in premiere journals including Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, and American Journal of Psychiatry. She is also licensed as a clinical psychologist in Illinois.
Dr. Verona's Research InterestsDr. Verona has pursued two distinct but related areas of research. The first has involved experimental laboratory research that examines emotional, psychophysiological (EEG and startle), and motor-behavioral correlates of aggression and externalizing disorders. The work on aggression has revealed gender and temperamental differences in aggressive responses to stress that relate to how emotion and physiology differentially activate approach and withdrawal behaviors across individuals. In other work, Dr. Verona has focused on using models of temperament/personality and emotion to advance understanding of antisocial behavior, aggression, and impulsive behaviors to identify subgroups of externalizing adults and youth. An especially novel feature of this work involves investigating the spectrum of emotional experience and expression at its two extremes in this population: 1) the classic psychopath, in whom emotional reactivity is believed to be blunted or deficient; and 2) highly antisocial individuals who may be at particular risk for affective violence and impulsive suicide, and are more likely to have decreased executive function and a history of abuse or adversity. It is the investigation of this latter subgroup of offenders that represents the link between the laboratory aggression research and work on antisocial personality and externalizing syndromes in clinical and forensic populations. Recent work has dealt with gender differences in the development and manifestations of these syndromes.
Dr. Verona's Curriculum Vitae can be downloaded here.Selected Publications
* Denotes student advisee/collaborator
Journal ArticlesPatrick, C.J., *Kramer, M., Tellegen, A., Verona, E., & Kaemmer, B.A. (accepted). Development and preliminary validation of a Simplified-Wording Form of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire. Assessment.
*Sadeh, N., *Javdani, S., & Verona, E. (in press). Analysis of monoaminergic genes, childhood abuse, and dimensions of psychopathy. Journal of Abnormal Psychology.
Verona, E., *Sprague, J., & *Javdani, S. (in press). Gender and factor level interactions in psychopathy: Implications for suicide-related behavior and borderline personality disorder. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment.
*Sadeh, N., & Verona, E. (2012). Visual Complexity Attenuates Emotional Processing in Psychopathy: Implications for Fear-Potentiated Startle Deficits. Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience, 12, 346-360.
Verona, E., *Sprague, J., & *Sadeh, N. (2012). Inhibitory control and negative emotional processing in psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 121, 498-510.
*Sprague, J., *Javdani, S., *Sadeh, N., Newman, J., & Verona, E. (2012). Borderline Personality Disorder as a Female Phenotypic Expression of Psychopathy? Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 3, 127-139.
Sachs-Ericsson, N., Keel, P.K., Holland, L., Selby, E.A., Verona, E., Cougle, J., & Palmer, E. (2012). Parental disorders, childhood abuse, and binge eating in a large community sample. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 45, 316-325.
*Javdani, S., *Sadeh, N., & Verona, E. (2011). Expanding our Lens: Female Pathways to Antisocial Behavior in Adolescence and Adulthood. Clinical Psychology Review, 31, 1324-48.
Verona, E., & *Javdani, S. (2011). Dimensions of Adolescent Psychopathology and Relationships to Suicide Risk Indicators. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 40, 958-971.
*Javdani, S., *Sadeh, N., & Verona, E. (2011). Suicidality as a Function of Impulsivity, Callous/Unemotional Traits, and Depressive Symptoms in Youth. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 120, 400-413.
Verona, E., *Javdani, S., & *Sprague, J. (2011). Comparing Factor Structures of Adolescent Psychopathology. Psychological Assessment, 23, 545-551.
*Javdani, S., *Sadeh, N., & Verona, E. (2011). Gendered Social Forces: A Review of the Impact of Institutionalized Factors on Women and Girls' Criminal Justice Trajectories. Psychology, Public Policy, & Law, 17, 161-211.
*Sprague, J., Verona, E., Kalkhoff, W., & *Kilmer, A. (2011). Moderators and Mediators in the Stress-Aggression Relationship: The Role of Executive Function and State Anger. Emotion, 11, 61-73.
*Schoenleber, M., *Sadeh, N., & Verona, E. (2011). Parallel syndromes: Two dimensions of narcissism and the facets of psychopathic personality. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 2, 113-127.
*Sadeh, N., *Javdani, S., *Finy, S.M., & Verona, E. (2011). Gender and Negative Emotional Links to Self- versus Other-Directed Violence. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 79, 106-117.
*Sadeh, N., *Javdani, S., *Jackson, J., Reynolds, E.K., Potenza, M.N., Gelernter, J., Lejuez, C.W., & Verona. E. (2010). Serotonin Transporter Gene Associations with Psychopathic Traits in Youth Vary as a Function of Socioeconomic Resources. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 119, 604-609.
*Sprague, J., & Verona, E. (2010). Emotional Conditions Disrupt Behavioral Control among Individuals with Dysregulated Personality Traits. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 119, 409-419.
*Sadeh, N., Verona, E., *Javdani, S., & *Olson, L. (2009). Examining
Psychopathic Tendencies in Adolescence from the Perspective of Personality
Theory. Aggressive Behavior, 35, 399-407.
Verona, E., *Sadeh, N., & Curtin, J.J. (2009). Stress-induced asymmetric frontal brain activity and aggression risk. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 118, 131-145.
Verona, E., *Sadeh, N., *Case, S., Reed, A., & *Bhattacharjee, A. (2008). Self-reported use of different forms of aggression in adolescents and young adults: Validation and correlates. Assessment, 15, 493-510.
*Sadeh, N., & Verona, E. (2008). Psychopathy traits and selective impairments in attentional functioning. Neuropsychology, 22, 669-680.
Verona, E., & *Sullivan, E. (2008). Catharsis and aggression revisited: Heart rate reduction following aggressive responding. Emotion, 8, 331-340.
Verona, E., & *Kilmer, A. (2007). Stress exposure and affective modulation of aggressive behavior in men and women. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 116, 410-421.
*Sellbom, M., & Verona, E. (2007). Neuropsychological Correlates of Psychopathic Traits in a Non-Incarcerated Sample. Journal of Research in Personality, 41, 276-294.
Verona, E., Reed, A., Curtin, J., & *Pole, M. (2007). Gender differences in emotional and overt/covert aggressive responses to stress. Aggressive Behavior, 33, 261-271.
Sachs-Ericsson, N., Verona, E., Joiner, T.E., Preacher, K.J. (2006). Parental verbal abuse and the mediating role of self-criticism in adult internalizing disorders. Journal of Affective Disorders, 93, 71-78.
Verona, E., & Curtin, J.J. (2006). Gender differences in the negative affective priming of aggressive behavior. Emotion, 6, 115-124.
Verona, E., Joiner, T.E., Johnson, F., & *Bender, T. (2006). Gender specific gene-environment interactions on laboratory-assessed aggression. Biological Psychology, 71, 33-41.
Verona, E., & Sachs-Ericsson, N. (2005). The intergenerational transmission of externalizing behaviors in adult participants: The mediating role of childhood abuse. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73, 1135-1145.
Verona, E., *Hicks, B., & Patrick, C.J. (2005). Psychopathy and suicidality in female offenders: Mediating effects of temperament and abuse. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73, 1065-1073.
Verona, E. (2005). Moderating effects of rumination and gender on context-specific aggression. Aggressive Behavior, 31, 420-436.
Verona, E., Patrick, C. J., & Curtin, J.J., Lang, P.J., & Bradley, M.M. (2004). Psychopathy and physiological response to emotionally evocative sounds. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 113, 99-108.
Verona, E., Sachs-Ericsson, N., & Joiner, T.E. (2004). Suicide attempts associated with externalizing psychopathology in an epidemiological sample. American Journal of Psychiatry, 161, 444-451.
Verona, E., Patrick, C.J., & Lang, A.R. (2002). A direct assessment of the role of state and trait negative emotion in aggressive behavior. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 111, 249-258.
Verona, E., Patrick, C.J., & Joiner, T.E. (2001). Psychopathy, antisocial personality, and suicide risk. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 110, 462-470.
Verona, E., & Carbonell, J.L. (2000). Female violence and personality: Evidence for a pattern of overcontrolled hostility among one-time violent female offenders. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 27, 176-195.
Book Chapters
Verona, E., *Sadeh, N., & *Javdani, S. (2010). The Influences of Gender and Culture on Adolescent and Child Psychopathy. In R. Salekin & D. Lynam (Eds.). Handbook on Child and Adolescent Psychopathy (pp. 317-342). New York: Guilford Press.
Patrick, C.J., & Verona, E. (2007). The Psychophysiology of Aggression: Autonomic, Electrocortical, and Neuro-Imaging Findings. In D. Flannery, A. Vazsonyi, & I. Waldman (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of violent behavior and aggression (pp. 111-150). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Verona, E. & Vitale, J. (2005). Psychopathy in women: Assessment, manifestations, and etiology. In C.J. Patrick (Ed.), Handbook of Psychopathy (pp. 415-436). New York: Guilford.
Verona, E., & Patrick, C. J. (2000). Suicide risk in externalizing syndromes: Temperamental and neurobiological underpinnings. In T. E. Joiner, & Rudd, D. (Eds.), Suicide science: Expanding the boundaries (pp. 137-173). Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
