Dr. Kristin Vickers

Biography

Dr. Vickers came to Ryerson University in 2005 after completing her undergraduate and doctoral degrees at Harvard University. She has enjoyed pursuing both teaching and research interests at Ryerson. Her teaching includes courses on Introductory Psychology and Abnormal Psychology. Dr. Vickers was awarded the Slobodan Drakulic Cross-Disciplinary Teaching Award for the Faculty of Arts at Ryerson University in 2012. Her research focuses on the anxiety disorder area, with a specific emphasis on understanding the causes and correlates of unexpected panic attacks. Her enthusiasm for research in this area was incited early in graduate school as she sat in a course on Anxiety Disorders taught by her graduate school adviser, Dr. Richard J. McNally, who was lecturing that day on panic disorder and how panic could be induced in some--but only some--participants in laboratory environments. Dr. Vickers continues to have this interest today and envisions a research trajectory in which the factors that both protect against and promote likelihood of panic attacks are further clarified. She is also interested in furthering understanding of risk and resilience factors in stress responses through the biological provocation of stress. Dr. Vickers welcomes student involvement in the lab and look forward to engaging in a productive dialogue with those who find themselves also intrigued by the anxiety disorder area. 

Selected Publications

Dyson, B., Vickers, K., Turtle, J., Cowan, S., & Tassone, A. (2015). Evaluating the use of Facebook to increase student engagement and understanding in lecture-based classes. Higher Education, 69, 303-313.

Choi, K., Vickers, K., & Tassone, A. (2014). Trait emotional intelligence, anxiety sensitivity, and experiential avoidance in stress reactivity and their improvement through psychological methods. Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 10, 376–404.

Vickers, K. (2013). Psychological factors influencing inter-individual variation in carbon dioxide-induced stress response. In L. Cavalcanti and S. Azevedo (Eds.), Psychology of stress: New research. New York. Nova.

Smith, B. N., Wang, J. M., Vogt. D., Vickers, K., King, D. W., & King, L. A. (2013). Gulf war illness: Symptomatology among veterans 10 years after deployment. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 55, 104-110. doi:10.1097/JOM.0b013e318270d709

Vickers, K. (2012). Hypersensitivity to hypercapnia: Definition/(s). Psychiatry Research, 197, 7-12.

Vickers, K., Jafarpour, S., Mofidi, A., Rafat, B., & Woznica, A. (2012). The 35% carbon dioxide test in stress and panic research: Overview of effects and integration of findings. Clinical Psychology Review, 32, 153-164.

Monforton, J., Vickers, K., & Antony, M.A. (2012). “If only I didn’t embarrass myself in front of the class!”: Social anxiety and upward counterfactual thinking. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 31, 312-328.

Pereira, J., Vickers, K., Atkinson, L., Gonzalez, A., Wekerle, C., & Levitan, R. (2012). Parenting stress mediates between maternal maltreatment history and maternal sensitivity in a community sample. Child Abuse and Neglect, 36, 433-437.

Want, S.C., Vickers, K., & Amos, J. (2009). The influence of television programs on appearance satisfaction: Making and mitigating social comparisons to“Friends.” Sex Roles, 60, 642-655.

Vickers, K., & McNally, R. J. (2004). Panic disorder and suicide attempt in the National Comorbidity Survey. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 113, 582-591.