Member Profiles

Teresa DeCicco

My research on human health involves three major areas: 1) The investigation of adaptive coping with illness. In particular, I am examining coping skills with cancer patients and people with stress-related disorders. 2) The investigation of perfectionism and motivation in relation to depression, anxiety and distress. 3) The examination of personality and self-construal on depression, anxiety, distress and adaptive coping.

Bibliography of recent articles, books, etc. related to human health

DeCicco, T. L. (2003). Perfectionism and Motivation: An investigation of the link between multidimensional perfectionism and approach and avoidance achievement motivation in university students. Personality and Individual Differences. Manuscript in preparation.

DeCicco, T. L. (2003). Is The Concept of The Self Useful for Predicting Distress and Adaptiveness? An Investigation of The Big Five and Self-Construal in Relation to Distress and Adaptiveness. Manuscript in Preparation.

DeCicco, T. L. & Stroink, M. L.( 2003). A new model of self-construal: The Metapersonal Self. Journal of Self and Identity. Manuscript under review.

Kohn, P. M., Fillion, L., DeCicco, T. L., & Cunningham, A. (2003). Adaptiveness and coping in cancer patients: Is mood a moderator of adaptiveness? Personality and Individual Differences. Manuscript under review.

Kohn, P. M., Fillion, L., DeCicco, T. L., & Cunningham, A. (2003). The perceived "benefits" of cancer with respect to adaptiveness, hassles and mood in metastatic cancer patients. Personality and Individual Differences. Manuscript under review.

Kohn, P. M., O'Brien-Wood, C., Pickering, D., & DeCicco, T. L., (2003). The personal functioning inventory: A reliable and valid measure of adaptiveness in coping. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Sciences, 35:2, 111-123.

Kohn, P. M., Kantor, L. N., DeCicco, T. L., & Beck, A. T. (2003). The Beck Anxiety Inventory-Trait (BAI-T). A Measure of dispositional anxiety not confounded by dispositional depression. Health Psychology. Manuscript under review.

Clinical Publications

These publications have been designed and produced as clinical tools. They are distributed to psychosocial program participants and are also distributed to clinicians for use in private practice.

DeCicco, T. L. (2002). Skills for Coping With Stress and Anxiety: A Handbook for Patients. James Publishing: Ontario.

DeCicco, T. L. (2002). Skills for Coping with Cancer: A Handbook for Cancer Patients. James Publishing: Ontario.

DeCicco, T, L. (2002). Skills for Coping with Heart Disease: A Handbook for Cardiac Patients. James Publishing: Ontario.

DeCicco, T. L. (2001). Metta-Morphosis: Stress Reduction with Teresa DeCicco, Applied Behavioural Medicine. Instructional Health Psychology CD. Neoplanta Sound Productions, Toronto, Ontario.

Programs, organizations, associations

American Psychological Association
Health Studies Institute at Trent University
International Network on Personal Meaning
Midwestern Psychological Association
National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine (Member of the Leadership Council)
Ontario Association for Consultants, Counselors, Psychometrists and Psychotherapists
Society for Personality and Social Psychology

Courses taught and the graduate thesis topics supervised

Undergraduate Courses Taught:
Health Psychology
Intro to Abnormal Psychology
Advanced Abnormal Psychology
Personality Research
Dreams and Dreaming

Supervision of Health Related Topics:

1. Master's student: Applied Behavioural Medicine
2. Undergraduates: Depression, Anxiety, Distress, Adaptive coping, Identity and mental health

Research projects and grants received to complete research on human health:

Project One: Perfectionism, Achievement Motivation, Distress and Adpativeness
I have investigated the relationship between perfectionism and achievement motivation with respect to distress and academic achievement (DeCicco & Flett, 2003). Having completed a series of studies with university undergraduates to examine these variables, I am now investigating the mediating variables between perfectionism, achievement motivation and distress. Having refined a trait-scale of anxiety (Kohn, Kantor, DeCicco & Beck, 2003) this scale is now being incorporated into the research. A second study is being conducted to examine the variables of perfectionism and achievement motivation with adaptiveness as the outcome variable. Having developed the Personal Functioning Inventory with a team of colleagues, this adaptiveness scale is being incorporated into the research (Kohn, O'Brien-Wood, Pickering & DeCicco, 2003). A third study examining the approach and avoidance achievement motivational conflict, which was found in the first study with self-oriented perfectionists, is also being conducted. This study is examining the effects of approach and avoidance achievement motivation, coping patterns and distress specifically in self-oriented perfectionists.

Project Two: Personality, Adaptive Coping and Distress Coping with stress, illness and disease is my second major area of research. Having investigated adaptive coping in cancer patients (Kohn, Fillion, DeCicco, & Cunningham, 2003) I am now expanding this inquiry to specific stress and anxiety disorders (Kohn, Kantor, DeCico & Beck, 2003). This research investigates the relationship between The Big Five personality variables, adaptive coping using the PFI (Kohn, O'Brien-Wood, Pickering & DeCicco, 2003) and distress.

Project Three: Personality, Self-Construal, Adaptiveness and Distress Having developed a new model and measure of self-construal (DeCicco & Stroink, 2002) this measure is now being used to investigate the relationship between trait personality, self-construal, distress and adaptiveness. Having refined the BAIT-T, which is a trait-scale of anxiety (Kohn, Kantor, DeCicco & Beck, 2003) this scale is now being used as one component of the "distress" variable. Furthermore, having developed the Personal Functioning Inventory, which is an adaptiveness scale (Kohn, O'Brien-Wood, Pickering & DeCicco, 2003), this measure is being used as the adaptiveness measurement component.

Return to Trent University Home
Go to Trent University Site Index A to Z
Maintained by the Communications Office
Last Updated September 10, 2006