Daniel Bradford, Ph.D.
Credentials: Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology
University of Miami
Position title: Doctoral Student 9/09 – 8/19
Email: dbradford@miami.edu
Ph.D, Clinical Psychology University of Wisconsin, Madison, 2019
M.S., Clinical Psychology, University of Wisconsin, 2010
B.A., Psychology, Auburn University, 2007
Research Interests
My program of research takes a multi-measure experimental psychopathology approach to better understand the role of stress reactivity in mental health. In this research, I focus on psychological processes at the interface of affect and addiction. I use novel experimental tasks with precise manipulation of laboratory stressors, pharmacological challenges and psychophysiological measures that allow tight translation between animal and human research. This approach builds on preclinical findings in animals to identify specific stressor characteristics and neurobehavioral, cognitive, and affective mechanisms of reactivity to stressors key in the understanding of stress reactivity in human psychopathology. This mechanistic understanding may provide novel targets for prevention and treatment of the negative impacts of acute and chronic drug use as well as comorbid anxiety and depression.
I am also passionate about the empirical refinement of psychophysiology methods and the improvement of clinical psychological science broadly.
Current Projects
The role of uncontrollable and unpredictable stressors in recreational and addictive drug use.
Methodological advancement and refinement in the study of the psychophysiology of stress.
Selected Publications
Bradford, DE, Motschman, CA, Starr, MJ, Curtin, JJ (2017). Alcohol’s effects on emotionally motivated attention, defensive reactivity, and subjective anxiety during uncertain threat. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 12(11), 1823–1832. PDF | OSF
Bradford DE, Curtin JJ, Piper ME (2015). Anticipation of smoking sufficiently dampens stress reactivity for nicotine deprived smokers. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 124, 128-36. PMC4332561. PDF
Bradford DE, Kaye JT, Curtin JJ (2014). Not just noise: Individual differences in general startle reactivity predict startle reactivity to uncertain and certain threat. Psychophysiology, 51, 407-411. PMC3984356. PDF
Bradford DE, Shapiro BL, Curtin JJ (2013). How Bad Could It Be? Alcohol Dampens Stress Responses to Threat of Uncertain Intensity. Psychological Science, 24, 2541-2549. PMC3951286. PDF | Study Highlights