Collage of a natural disaster, women going through a food line, and hands gripped together in solidarity

Trauma, Social Processes, and Resilience Lab

The Trauma, Social Processes, and Resilience Lab (TSPR) conducts original research on how people cope with—and successfully adapt to—significant life stressors. These may be acute and outside the range of usual human experience, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, bereavement, traumatic injury, terrorist attack, natural disaster, and military deployment, or more normative experiences that most of us will confront at some time, such as divorce, unemployment, childbirth, romantic break-ups, and academic stress. Our research focuses on how relationships and social connections help during these times, how individuals respond differently to the same events, and how adversity can even foster personal growth—what we call "psychosocial gains from adversity" (PGA).

We conduct cutting-edge research through surveys, field studies, and lab experiments with trauma-exposed, normative, and student samples.

We invite you to learn more about our ongoing research, recent news, publications, lab members, and opportunities to get involved.

Current Projects

Anthony Mancini, PhD, principal investigator, has received a 4-year, $440,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate the psychological aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The research focuses on how social environments can reduce the negative impacts of the pandemic, assessing factors like financial strain, well-being, loneliness, and social support.

The study aims to provide insights that can inform policy, clinical interventions, and future research on collective stressors.

In partnership with Jer Clifton and Nicholas Kerry at the Primals Project, UPenn Positive Psychology Center, the TSPR Lab is exploring the relationship between childhood adversity and primal beliefs—fundamental views about the world, such as the belief that the world is dangerous.

This study aims to determine whether childhood adversity shapes these core beliefs or if the beliefs themselves influence how we respond to adversity.

Causal Inference and “Psychosocial Gains from Adversity”

This project uses causal inference techniques to study the unexpected positive effects of acute stressors, such as natural disasters and spousal bereavement, on mental health and well-being. By analyzing data from the Changing Lives of Older Couples Study and the World Trade Center Health Registry, we examine how changes in social functioning before and after adversity can sometimes lead to improved psychological outcomes. The study builds on the concept of “psychosocial gains from adversity”, which suggests that stressors can enhance mental health if they positively impact the social environment without overwhelming the individual.

Using pre- and post-stressor assessments, a control group, and advanced statistical methods, we aim to establish stronger causal links between acute stress, social dynamics, and adaptive functioning.

Mental Health Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic

This project utilized a range of methodologies—meta-analysis, longitudinal trajectories, and quasi-experimental designs—to evaluate the overall effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health. A key finding is that most people demonstrated resilience, with significant disruptions occurring mainly in the presence of stressors like financial strain. The research also revealed that lockdowns had only a small average impact on mental health, the majority of people remained resilient during the first wave, and most individuals experienced minimal long-term change when compared to pre-pandemic functioning.

News and Publications

  • 2024

    Anthony Mancini, PhD, and Zachary Model participated in a weekend retreat for the Primals Project at the Positive Psychology Center, University of Pennsylvania. The purpose was to review and discuss state-of-the-art findings on Primal Beliefs, which are fundamental beliefs about the underlying character of the world. Thirty-three researchers from Germany, Israel, Norway, and the US attended.

    2023

    Anthony Mancini, PhD, presented on how and when acute stress improves psychological functioning for a virtual invited lecture at Borough of Manhattan Community College in New York.

    2022

    Anthony Mancini, PhD, gave a keynote address on heterogeneous outcomes, psychosocial gains, and resilience in response to COVID-19 at the symposium Suffering and Flourishing During The Covid-19 Pandemic by the Max Planck Institute’s Social Neuroscience Lab in Berlin, Germany.

    2021

    Anthony Mancini, PhD, presented on how and when acute stress improves psychological functioning for a virtual invited lecture at NYU Langone Health’s Rusk Rehabilitation Center in New York, NY.

    Anthony Mancini, PhD, spoke about the ability of acute stress to improve psychological functioning at a virtual invited lecture for the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

    Anthony Mancini, PhD, spoke on the social and psychological benefits of acute adversity at the Annual Fire Service Health Symposium.

    Anthony Mancini, PhD, presented a Flash Talk, “When Hurricane Damage Stimulates Prosocial Behavior and Perceived Social Support: Consequences for Psychological Functioning,” at the 2021 Virtual Convention for the Association for Psychological Sciences.

    Anthony Mancini, PhD, presented on the social and psychological benefits of acute adversity.

    2020

    Anthony Mancini, PhD, gave a keynote address on psychosocial gains from adversity at the 6th International Symposium on Resilience at the Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research at the University of Mainz, Germany.

    Anthony Mancini, PhD, was interviewed by Psychology Today in relation to the impact of the pandemic, specifically its widely-varying effects.

    A network analysis of grief and personality disorder symptoms was published at Frontiers in Psychology, entitled "Understanding complicated grief symptoms and patterns of personality disorder symptoms in a substance users sample: A network analysis approach." Laura Masferrer-Boix, the first author, spent a semester working in the TSPR lab, and we collaborated with her on this paper.

    An article examining the role of threat appraisals and neuroticism in generating intrusive memories was also published at Anxiety, Stress, & Coping. All the co-authors on this paper are former members of the TSPR lab.

    Anthony Mancini, PhD, was asked to be the co-Chief Editor at Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, a Taylor & Francis journal. He had been serving as an Associate Editor, and he's delighted to be working with Patrick Gaudreau as co-editor.

    A commentary by Anthony Mancini, PhD, on the effects of the pandemic was published in Psychological Trauma, Theory, Research, and Practice, entitled "Heterogeneous Mental Health Effects of COVID-19: Costs and Benefits."

    Lab members had a poster accepted at the Association for Psychological Science (APS) national conference. "Mancini, A.D., Blumberg, A., Iseman, J., & Lynch, R. (2020, May 25-27). Natural Disaster Reduces Attachment Avoidance: A Prospective Quasi-Experimental Study [Conference presentation]. Association for Psychological Science 2020 Convention, Chicago, IL, United States."

    A symposium chaired by Anthony Mancini, PhD, was also accepted at APS, but was cancelled due to the pandemic. Mancini, A.D., Westphal, M. & Griffin, P. (2020, May 25-27). Social and psychological gains from natural disaster. In A. Mancini (Chair), New Perspectives on the Social, Psychological, and Behavioral Consequences of Adverse Experiences. Symposium at the Association for Psychological Science Conference, Chicago, IL.

    2019

    Anthony Mancini, PhD, is quoted several times in a Mercury News article on the dive boat tragedy in Santa Barbara.

    (May 22). We just posted a preprint of a manuscript on PsyArXiv entitled "Threat appraisals have causal effects on intrusive memories: An experiment with replication." Here we used random assignment and follow-up surveys to examine how threat appraisal influences intrusive memory one, three, five, and seven days later. We found that threat appraisal is a crucial factor, a finding that replicated across two samples and outcome measures.

    (May 1). Our PTSD network paper "PTSD Near and Far: Symptom Networks from Two to 12 Months After the Virginia Tech Campus Shootings" was accepted at Clinical Psychological Science! In a collaboration with Heather Littleton, Amie Grills, and Payton Jones, we found that symptom to symptom relationships (i.e., PTSD networks) change over time.

    Our research was highlighted in an LA Times article on the recent tragic suicides of survivors of school shootings.

    2018

    A solo theoretical paper by Anthony Mancini, PhD, which has been in the works for a long time, was accepted at Psychological Review. It's entitled "When Acute Adversity Improves Psychological Health: A Social-Contextual Framework." The paper outlines a theory called "psychosocial gains from adversity" (PGA).

    Lab members presented a poster at the APS conference in San Francisco entitled "Threat Appraisal Mediates the Effect of an Aversive Video on Intrusive Memories: An Experiment with Replication." Grace John, Serena Veith, Laura Aldrich, and Max Weissman did a great job of presenting it.

    Research from the lab on adaptation to marriage was cited in Stephanie Coontz's Sunday Review article in the New York Times.

    A poster submission went into the hopper for the Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention, this time in San Francisco. We'll update as we get the news. This will be the fifth consecutive year that lab members have submitted posters to this conference.

    2017

    Julianne DeLorenzo, PhD, successfully defended her dissertation, "Attachment Style, Rumination, and Romantic Relationship Conflict." A huge congrats to DeLorenzo, PhD, who managed the lab and produced a really fine study. The main finding was that rumination mediates the impact of anxious (but not avoidant) attachment on subsequent relationship conflict.

    Christy Denckla and Anthony Mancini, PhD, along with other researchers, published a paper on antepartum and postpartum depression trajectories. The key finding was that these patterns are separable and have distinct correlates. We also found a group that was depressed before the birth but not after, a unique pattern that is related to other lab research on psychosocial gains from adversity (among others the pattern of improvement after the Virginia Tech Campus shootings).

    A blog post published at Psychology Today by Anthony Mancini, PhD, about the sources of distress after disaster. He argues that when disaster disrupts and undermines our relationships, the damage is greatest.

  • *Indicates student co-author.

    2024 

    Prati, G., & Mancini, A. D. (2024). Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms and Subjective Well-Being Before and After the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Two Six-Year Longitudinal Studies. Journal of Psychiatric Research

    Mancini, A.D., *Chapman, C., *Kadir, A., *Model, Z., & Prati, G. (2024) Adaptive and maladaptive pathways of COVID-19 worry on well-being: A cross-national study. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. Advance online publication.            

    Mancini, A.D., *Sowards, S., *Blumberg, A., *Lynch, R., *Fardella, G., *Maewsky, N., & Prati, G. (2024). Media exposure related to COVID-19 is associated with worse mental health consequences in the United States compared to Italy. Anxiety, Stress & Coping, 37 (3), 348-360.   

    2023

    *Fox-Finkelstein, L., Eigsti, I.M., Mancini, A.D., Sawao, L., & Park, C. (2023). Disruptions in self-regulatory processes predict depression and sleep disturbance in bereaved young adults. Stress & Health, 40(2), e3310.  

    Prati, G., & Mancini A.D. (2023). Happiness before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy: A population-based longitudinal study. International Journal of Risk Reduction, 91, 103711.  

    Shilton. T, Mancini A.D., Perlstein, S., DiDomenico, G.D., Visoki, E., Greenberg, D., Brown, L.A., Gur, R.C., Gur, R.E., Waller, R.E., & Barzilay, R. (2023). Contribution of risk and resilience factors to anxiety trajectories during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal study. Stress & Health, 39, 927-939.  

    Prati, G., & Mancini A.D. (2023). Social and behavioral consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic: Validation of a Pandemic Disengagement Syndrome Scale (PDSS) in four national contexts. Psychological Assessment, 35, 1041-1053.  

    2022

    Klein, R. A., Cook, C. L., Ebersole, C. R., Vitiello, C., Nosek, B. A., Chartier, C. R., Christopherson, C.D., Clay, S., Collisson, B., Crawford, C., Cromar, R., Dudley, D., Gardiner, G., Gosnell, C., Grahe, J., Hall, C., Joy-Gaba, J., Legg, A.M., Levitan, C., Mancini, A.D., Manfredi, D., Miller, J.M., Nave, G., Redford, L., Ilaria, S.,  Schlitz, Schmidt, S., Skorinko, J., Storage, D., Swanson, T.,  Vaughn, L.A., & Cromar, R. (2022). Many Labs 4: Failure to replicate mortality salience effect with and without original author involvement. Collabra: Psychology, 8, 35271. 

    Mancini A.D., & Prati, G., (2022). A comparison of mental health outcomes in the United States and Italy at different levels of cumulative COVID-19 prevalence. Clinical Psychological Science (Special Issue on COVID-19 Pandemic and Mental Health), 10(6), 1027 –1043.  

    2021

    Prati, G., & Mancini A.D., (2021). The psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns: A review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies and natural experiments. Psychological Medicine, 51, 202-211. [Altmetric score = 624.] 

    *Shevorykin, A., Scheffer, C., Mancini, A., Legg, A., & Ruglass L. (2021). Exploring the role of traumatic event exposure in tobacco dependence treatment outcomes among African-Americans. Journal of Psychoactive Substances, 53 (5), 452-459. 

    Mancini, A.D., Westphal, M., & Griffin, P. (2021). Outside the eye of the storm: Can moderate hurricane exposure improve social, psychological, and attachment functioning? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 47(12), 1722-1734

    2020

    *Masferrer-Boix, L. Mancini, A.D., Campos, B. (2020). Understanding complicated grief and patterns of personality disorders in a substance users’ sample: A network analysis approach. Frontiers in Psychology.

    Mancini, A.D., *Aldrich, L., *Shevorykin, A., *Veith, S., & *John, G. (2020). Threat appraisal, neuroticism, and intrusive memories: A robust mediational approach with replication. Anxiety, Stress & Coping. Online first.

    Mancini, A.D. (2020). Heterogeneous mental health consequences of COVID-19: Costs and benefits (PDF). Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practices, and Policy, 12, S15–S16.

    2019

    Mancini, A.D. (2019). When acute adversity improves psychological health: A social-contextual framework. Psychological Review, 126, 486-505.

    Mancini, A.D., Littleton, H.L., Grills, A.E., & Jones, P. (in press). PTSD near and far: Symptom networks from two to 12 months after the Virginia Tech campus shootings. Clinical Psychological Science.

    Mancini, A.D., Westphal, M., & Griffin, P. (2019). Social and psychological gains from adversity: A prospective controlled study of natural disaster. PsyArXiv (preprint currently under review)

    Mancini, A.D., Aldrich, L., Shevorkykin, A., Veith, S., & John, G. (2019). Do threat appraisals have causal effects on intrusive memories? An Experiment with replication. PsyArXiv (preprint currently under review).

    2018

    Mancini, A.D., John, G.*, Veith, S.*, Bonaviso, L.*, Bloom, R.*, Pitcher, S., Aldrich, L*. & Weisman, M.* (2018, May). Threat Appraisal Mediates the Effect of an Aversive Video on Intrusive Memories: An Experiment with Replication. Poster session presented at the Annual Conference of the Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco.

    2017

    Denckla, C., Mancini. A.D., Consedine, N.S., Milanovic, S.M., Basu, Archana, B., Seedat, S., Spies, G., Henderson, D.C., Bonanno, G.A., Karestan, K.C. (2017). Distinguishing postpartum and antepartum depression trajectories in a large population-based cohort: The impact of exposure to adversity and offspring gender. Psychological Medicine.

    Mancini, A.D., Diamond, B.*, Shevorykin, A.*, John, G.*, Veith, S.*, Bonaviso, L.*, Marino, C.*, Bloom, R.*, Pitcher, S., & Caiola, J*. (2017, May). Cumulative lifetime adversity and memory for aversive stimuli: An experimental investigation. Poster session presented at the Annual Conference of the Association for Psychological Science, Boston, MA.

    2016

    Mancini, A.D., Littleton, H.L., Grills, A.E. (2016). Can people benefit from acute stress? Social support, psychological improvement, and resilience after the Virginia Tech campus shootings. Clinical Psychological Science, 4, 401-417.

    Mancini, A.D., Diamond, B.*, Tirado, A.*, & Delorenzo, J.* (2016, May) Subjective bonding moderates the impact of shared aversive experiences. Poster presented at the 122nd Annual Convention for the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, IL.

    2015

    Mancini, A.D., Sinan, B. *, & Bonanno, G.A. (2015). Predictors of prolonged grief, resilience, and recovery among bereaved spouses. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 71, 1245-1258.

    Mancini, A.D. (2015). Are positive appraisals always adaptive? Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

    Denckla, C.A., Bornstein, R.F., Mancini, A.D., & Bonanno, G.A. (2015). Disambiguating dependency and attachment among conjugally bereaved adults. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 20, 468-483

    Denckla, C.A., Bornstein, R.F., Mancini, A.D., & Bonanno, G.A. (2015). Extending the construct validity of dependency among conjugally bereaved adults. Assessment, 22, 385-393.

    Mancini, A.D. & Bonanno, G.A. (2015). The trouble with averages: The impact of major life events and acute stress may not be what you think. In B.J. Risman (Ed.), Families as They Really Are, New York: W.W. Norton.

    Delorenzo, J.*, Theriault, C.*, Wagner, C.*, & Mancini, A.D. (2015, May) Self-fulfilling prophecy? Attachment pattern predicts who initiates a romantic breakup. Poster presented at the 121st Annual Convention for the Association for Psychological Science, New York, NY.

    2014

    Mancini, A.D., Sinan, B. *, & Bonanno, G.A. (2014). A brief retrospective method for identifying longitudinal trajectories of adjustment following acute stress. Assessment, 1-11.

    Westphal, M., Bonanno, G.A. & Mancini, A.D. (2014). Attachment and attentional biases for facial expressions of disgust. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 33, 169-186.

    Mancini, A.D. (2014). Resilience and other reactions to military deployment: The complex task of identifying distinct adjustment trajectories. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 75, e956-e957.

    Bates-Krakoff, J.*, Falcone, G.*, Griffin, P., & Mancini, A.D. (2014, May) Resilience to Hurricane Sandy: Examining the Protective Effects of Positive Affect and Social Support. Poster presented at the 120th Annual Convention for the Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA.

    2013

    Manuel, J.I., Appelbaum, P.S., LeMelle, S., Mancini, A.D., Huz, S., Stellato, C., & Finnerty, M. (2013). Use of engagement strategies on ACT teams. Psychiatric Services, 64, 579-585.

    Lewandowski, E.R., Verdeli, H., Wickramaratne, P., Warner, V., Mancini, A.D., Weissman, M., et al. (2013). Predictors of positive outcomes in offspring of depressed parents and non-depressed parents across 20 years. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 1-12.

    Mancini, A.D. (2013). The trouble with averages: The impact of major life events and acute stress may not be what you think. Council on Contemporary Families, Research Brief.

    Denckla, C.D., & Mancini, A.D. (2013). Multi-method assessment of resilience: Integration with an individual differences model. In R. Bornstein & C. Hopwood (eds.) Multimethod Clinical Assessment. New York: Guilford.

    Boerner, K., Mancini, A.D., & Bonanno, G.A. (2013). On the nature and prevalence of uncomplicated and complicated patterns of grief. In M. Stroebe, D., H. Schut, J. van den Bout, P. Boelen (Eds.), Complicated Grief: Scientific Foundations for Health Care Professionals (pp. 55-68). New York: Routledge.

    2012

    Mancini, A.D. (2012). A postwar picture of resilience. (Op-ed article.) The New York Times, February 6, A23.

    Mancini, A.D. & Bonanno, G.A. (2012). The persistence of attachment: Prolonged grief, threat, and mental representations of the deceased. Journal of Affective Disorders, 139, 256-263.

    Bonanno, G.A., Westphal, M., & Mancini, A.D. (2012). Loss, trauma and resilience in adulthood. Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 32, 189-211.

    Lam, W.T., Li, W.W., Bonanno, G.A., Mancini, A.D., Ho, S., Chan, M., Or, A., & Fielding, R. (2012). Trajectories of body image and sexuality in the year following diagnosis of breast cancer and their relationship to 6 years psychosocial outcomes. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, 131, 957-967.

    Mancini, A.D. (2012). Are you traumatized? Not necessarily, thanks to the magic of human resilience. Zocalo Public Square, February 1.

    Lam, W.T., Shing. Y.T., Bonanno, G.A., Mancini, A.D., & Fielding, R. (2012). Distress trajectories at the first year diagnosis of breast cancer in relation to 6-years survivorship. Psycho-oncology, 21, 90-99.

    Bonanno, G.A., Mancini, A.D., Horton, J.L., Powell, T.M., LeardMann, C.A., Boyko, E.J., Wells, T.S., Hooper, T.I., Gackstetter, G.G., &Smith, T.C.; for the Millennium Cohort Study Team (2012). Trajectories of trauma symptoms and resilience in deployed U.S. Military service members: A prospective cohort study. British Journal of Psychiatry, 200, 1-7.

    Bonanno, G.A. & Mancini, A.D. (2012). Beyond resilience and PTSD: Mapping the heterogeneity of responses to potential trauma. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 4, 74-83.

    Mancini, A.D., & Bonanno, G. A. (2012). Differential pathways to resilience after loss and trauma. In B. McMackin, T. Keane, E. Newman, & J, Fogler (Eds.), Toward an Integrated Approach to Trauma Focused Therapy: Placing Evidence-Based Interventions in an Expanded Psychological Context (pp. 79-98). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    2011

    Mancini, A.D. (2011). Resilience. In. D. Dunn (Ed.) Oxford University Bibliographies Online: Psychology. New York: Oxford University Press, December 1, 2011.

    Denckla, C.A., Mancini, A.D., Bornstein, R.F., & Bonanno, G.A. (2011) Adaptive and maladaptive dependency in bereavement: Distinguishing prolonged and resolved grief trajectories. Personality and Individual Differences, 51, 1012-1017.

    Mancini, A.D., Griffin, P., & Bonanno, G.A., (2011). Recent trends in the treatment of prolonged grief. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 25, 46-51.

    Hobfoll, S.E., Mancini, A.D., Hall, B.J., Canetti, D., & Bonanno, G.A. (2011). The limits of resilience: Distress following chronic political violence in the Palestinian Authority. Social Science and Medicine, 72, 1400-1408.

    Galatzer-Levy, I., Mazursky, H., Mancini, A.D., & Bonanno,G.A. (2011). What we don’t expect when expecting: Subjective well-being in response to parenthood. Journal of Family Psychology, 25, 384-392.

    Mancini, A.D., Bonanno, G.A., & Clark, A. (2011). Stepping off the hedonic treadmill: Individual differences in response to major life events. Journal of Individual Differences, 32, 144-152.

    Bonanno, G.A., Westphal, M., & Mancini, A.D. (2011). Resilience to loss and potential trauma. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology. 7, 511-535.

    Shear, M.K., Simon, N., Wall, M., Zisook, S., Neimeyer, R., Naihua, D., Reynolds, C., Lebowitz, B., Sung, S., Ghesquiere, A., Gorscak, B., Ito, M., Nakajima, S., Konishi, T., Melhem, N., Meert, K., Schiff, M., O’Conner, M., First, M., Sareen, J., Bolton, J., Skritskaya, N., Mancini, A.D., & Keshaviah, A. (2011). Complicated grief and related bereavement issues for DSM-5. Depression and Anxiety, 28, 103-117.

    Mancini, A.D., Prati, G., & Black, S. (2011). Self-worth mediates the effects of violent loss on PTSD symptoms. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 24, 116-120.

    Mancini, A.D., & Prati, G., & Bonanno, G.A. (2011). Do shattered worldviews lead to complicated grief? Prospective and longitudinal analyses. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 30, 184-215.

    Bonanno, G. A., & Mancini, A. D. (2011). Toward a lifespan approach to resilience and trauma. In S. Southwick, D. Charney, M. Freedman, B.Litz (Eds.), Resilience and mental health: Responding to challenges across the lifespan (pp. 120-134). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

    Mancini, A. D., & Bonanno, G. A. (2011). Loss and grief: The role of individual differences. In S. Southwick, D. Charney, M. Freedman, B.Litz (Eds.), Resilience and mental health: Responding to challenges across the lifespan (pp.189-199). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

    2010

    Horton, J.L., Powell, T.M., Bonanno, G.A., Mancini, A.D., LeardMann, C.A., Boyko, E.J., Wells, T.S., Hooper, T.I., Gackstetter, G.G., &Smith, T.C.; for the Millennium Cohort Study Team (2010). Mental health trajectories and their predictors: Application of latent growth mixture modeling in the Millenium Cohort Study. Annals of Epidemiology, 20, 714-715.

    Galatzer-Levy, I., Bonanno, G.A., & Mancini, A.D. (2010). From Marianthal to latent growth mixture modeling: A return to the exploration of individual differences in response to unemployment. Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics, 3, 116-125.

    Lam, W.T., Bonanno, G.A., Mancini, A.D., Ho, S., Chan, M., Ka Hung, W., Or, A., Fielding, R. (2010). Trajectories of psychological distress among Chinese women diagnosed with breast cancer. Psycho-oncology, 19, 1044-1051.

    de-Roon-Cassini, T.A., Mancini, A.D., Rusch, M., & Bonanno, G.A. (2010). Psychopathology and resilience following traumatic injury: A latent growth mixture model analysis. Rehabilitation Psychology, 55, 1-11. (Awarded the Harold Yuker Award for Research Excellence, APA Division 22, as the best paper published in the journal in 2011.)

    Mancini, A.D., & Bonanno, G.A., (2010). Resilience to potential trauma: Toward a lifespan approach. In J.W. Reich, A.J. Zautra, & J. Hall (eds.) Handbook of Adult Resilience: Concepts, Methods, and Applications (pp. 258-282). New York: Guilford.

    2009

    Mancini, A.D. & Bonanno, G.A. (2009). Predictors and parameters of resilience to loss: Toward an individual differences model. Journal of Personality, 77, 1805-1832.

    Mancini, A.D., Robinaugh, D.*, Shear, M.K., & Bonanno, G.A. (2009). Does attachment avoidance help people cope with loss? The moderating effects of relationship quality. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65, 1-10.

    2008

    Gupta, S., Rosenthal, M.Z, Mancini, A.D., & Cheavens, J.S. & Lynch, T.R. (2008). Emotion regulation skills mediate the effects of shame on eating disorder symptoms in women. Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention, 16, 405-417.

    Mancini, A.D. (2008). Self-determination theory: A framework for the recovery paradigm. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 14, 358-365.

    Bonanno, G.A., & Mancini A.D. (2008). The human capacity to thrive in the face of potential trauma. Pediatrics, 121, 369-375.

    Mancini, A. D., & Bonanno, G. A. (2008). Resilience. In Reyes, G., Elhai, J., & Ford, J. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Psychological Trauma (pp. 584-585). New York: Wiley.

    2005 - 2007

    Bonanno, G.A., Nerial, Y., Mancini, A.D., Coifman, K.G., & Litz, B. (2007). Is there more to grief than depression and PTSD? A test of incremental validity. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 116, 342-351.

    Mancini, A.D. & Bonanno, G.A. (2006). Marital closeness, functional disability, and adjustment in late life. Psychology and Aging, 21, 600-610.

    Mancini, A.D. & Bonanno, G.A. (2006). Resilience in the face of potential trauma: Clinical practices and illustrations. Journal of Clinical Psychology: In Session, 62, 971-985.

    Mancini, A.D., Pressman, D.L., & Bonanno, G.A. (2006). Clinical interventions with the bereaved: What clinicians and counselors can learn from the CLOC study. In D. Carr, R.M. Nesse, & C.B. Wortman (Eds.), Spousal Bereavement in Late Life (pp. 255-278). New York: Springer Publishing Company.

    Mancini, A.D., Bonanno, G.A. (2006).Bereavement. In J. E. Fisher & W. O’Donohue (Eds.), Practitioner’s Guide to Evidence-based Psychotherapy (pp. 122-130). New York: Springer Academic.

    Bonanno, G.A., & Mancini A.D. (2005). Evaluating interventions for bereavement-related depression and PTSD. In L. Barbanel, & R.J. Sternberg (Eds.), Psychological Interventions for Victims of Disaster and Trauma. New York: Singer.

Location

Marks Hall
861 Bedford Road
Pleasantville, NY 10570

Research Team

  • Anthony Mancini, PhD, is a Professor in the Psychology Department at Pace University, Pleasantville. He grew up in New York City and earned his BA from Hunter College and his PhD from Columbia University. A clinical psychologist, he has published extensively in the field of psychological resilience to trauma, bereavement, individual differences in responses to stress, and the role of social processes in adaptation. He has published over 60 journal articles and book chapters. His work has also been featured in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Forbes, the Desert News, the Mercury News, and other outlets. He serves as the Chief Editor of Anxiety, Stress & Coping, a Taylor & Francis journal, and he is currently the principal investigator on a four-year NIH-funded on the long-term psychological, social, and economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Cherylle Chapman is a doctoral student in the Mental Health Counseling PhD program at Pace University. She received a MS in mental health counseling from Pace and a BA in psychology from the University at Albany, SUNY. She is interested in positive psychology, resiliency, and improving mental health treatment and outcomes in the community.

  • Giovanni Fardella is a medical student at NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine. He graduated from Pace University in 2021 with a BS in biochemistry and a mathematics minor. He has been involved in a variety of research laboratories, including polymer engineering, applied biochemistry, and psychology. Additionally, he completed a senior thesis examining the transcription factor NRF2 and its role as a potent activator of antioxidant response in the body. After graduating, he worked as a research assistant at Burke Neurological Institute in the Stroke Neuroimmunology Laboratory. While there, he aided in developing methods to mitigate muscle atrophy following strokes. He is currently pursuing his medical degree in addition to a Masters degree in Applied Biological Science and Medical Education. 

  • Asha Mohammed Kadir completed her PhD in Mental Health Counseling at Pace University. Her research is dedicated to uncovering ways to improve college student outcomes. She investigates the roles that social factors and core self-evaluations play in increasing resilience and enhanced well-being. Her PhD thesis explored practical applications of social interaction and affiliation in improving well-being and reducing acculturative stress among international students in the USA. Before this, she earned a Master of Science in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program at Lynn University, where she co-authored a resilience-building workbook titled "Finding Your OASES, Strategies for Coping with Stress and Developing a Resilient Identity." She continues to incorporate these techniques in her current work with students at Pace University. She earned her BS with honors in the Psychology with Counseling Skills program at Middlesex University, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Her undergraduate thesis, which explored the impact of teachers' self-efficacy and self-esteem on stress in Dubai's culturally diverse teacher population, laid the foundation for her current research. Whether advocating for sexual violence prevention or disseminating ideas in a classroom, her work and values are informed and shaped by research.

  • Nicole C. Maewsky is a doctoral student at Yeshiva University’s Clinical Psychology with Health Emphasis. She completed a BA in psychology at Pace University in 2023. At Pace, she executed an independent project under Anthony Mancini’s mentorship examining the effects of COVID-related bereavement. She also conducted research at Pace’s Interpersonal Behavior Lab. Nicole completed an internship at NYSPI studying the long-term effects of trauma in marginalized populations as well as an internship at the Nathan Kline Institute examining MRIs of trauma victims. She has worked as a counselor for mentally ill, chemically addicted adults.

  • Zachary Model is the research coordinator for a four-year NIH funded study led by Anthony Mancini, PhD, exploring social affiliation, social capital, and longitudinal adaptation to COVID-19 economic stress. He completed a master’s degree in mental health counseling at Columbia in 2018 and is currently a doctoral student at Pace. His dissertation is a prospective longitudinal study exploring the relationship between primal world beliefs and stressful and traumatic events. He has served as a RA in four labs at Pace University and Columbia University exploring stress, social interactions, and functioning. He is a supervisor and psychotherapist in private practice, specializing in experiential approaches to learning (Gestalt therapy, Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy, Developmental Somatic Psychotherapy, Feldenkrais method). He is a teacher and supervisor for the Center for Somatic Studies and a teacher and group facilitator at the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science.

  • Angelina Rigoroso is a doctoral student in the Mental Health Counseling PhD program at Pace University.

  • Rachael Roizer is a senior at the University of Connecticut pursuing a BA in Cognitive Science. On campus, she is a research assistant at the Connecticut Autism and Language Lab. There, she is interested in gestural communication, executive functioning, and long-term outcomes for individuals with autism. As a research assistant at the TSPR Lab, Rachael is interested in the positive psychological and social effects of enduring hardship and the power of resiliency. After graduating in May 2025, she hopes to continue her education in graduate school for psychology.

  • Karina Shpilberg is a junior at Crystal Springs Uplands School and has a deep interest in applied psychology. She writes a weekly blog on Applied Psychology Research which explores new published research. Karina is a research assistant at Pace University, currently supporting the NIH funded study led by Anthony Mancini, PhD, exploring social impacts of COVID-19 stress.