The Anxiety, Stress, & Relationships Lab is headed by Keith Renshaw, Professor of Clinical Psychology, and Department Chair.
The lab focuses on the effects of anxiety, stress, and trauma on individuals and their relationships. Most prior projects have focused on understanding how PTSD affects and is affected by romantic relationships. Much of this research has focused on military couples, with additional studies focused on individual response to trauma, couples' communication and perceptions of criticism, effects of anxiety on relationship processes, and cultural influences on individual and interpersonal experiences of anxiety, stress, and trauma. Ongoing projects include examining appraisals of potentially traumatic events in different cultures, how PTSD affects parenting in military couples, and how PTSD affects functioning in veterans.
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, our lab has also launched a new study of individual and interpersonal coping during the pandemic: Coping During COVID-19. The pandemic is changing the way everyone across the globe is living. In addition to physical health concerns, people are experiencing a range of psychological and interpersonal challenges. Our longitudinal, online survey is designed to learn more about these challenges, and what types of approaches are helping people cope.
For more information on working in the lab, please see the research descriptions on Dr. Renshaw’s page.