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Mary de Groot

Research Area:
Clinical

Specializations:
Health

Contact Information:

Office: 239 Porter Hall

Phone: (740) 593-1086

E-mail: degroot@ohio.edu

Laboratories:

Diabetes and Depression

Research Interests:

Overview

I am interested in the psychological aspects of the chronic illness experience, with a particular focus on diabetes among adults. Work in this area has focused on two inter-related components: depression and diabetes and cultural aspects of diabetes self-care behaviors. I am also interested in individually-tailored health promotion interventions.

Depression and Diabetes

My work grows from the recent and increasing evidence that people with diabetes are two times more likely to experience symptoms of depression than individuals in the general population. My research interests in this area include: the experience of depression and diabetes among underserved populations; the self-care correlates of depression and diabetes; patient attitudes toward depression treatment; the development of effective depression interventions that systematically address self-care behaviors, and depression prevention among patients with diabetes.

Cultural Aspects Of Diabetes Self-Care Behaviors

My interest in this area is rooted, in part, in the growing epidemic of diabetes in communities of color. Culture influences every aspect of the disease experience: the identification of a set of physical or emotional experiences as a “problem”, causal attributions about disease, the labeling and experience of symptoms, and formulation of treatment. Culture also forms the framework for patient understanding of self-care recommendations as well as the implementation of these recommendations into daily life. Interests in this area include: exploration of the role of cultural orientation in diabetes self-care behaviors among urban African-Americans; trends in self-care behaviors among the urban poor; and exploration of Appalachian cultural components that may enhance or impede diabetes self-care and prevention.

Individually-Tailored Health Promotion Interventions

Interests in this area include the development and implementation of individually-tailored health behavior change interventions using the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change. Opportunities for students to obtain clinical training experiences in smoking cessation, weight management, stress management, and the psychological aspects of cardiac rehabilitation are under development. Students who share these training interests are welcome.

Recent Publications/Presentations:

See Laboratory page.

Courses Taught:

Undergraduate:
Health Psychology, Abnormal Psychology

Graduate:
Clinical Supervision, Health Psychology

Affiliations:

• American Diabetes Association
• American Psychological Association
• The Society of Behavioral Medicine

Graduate Students:

• See Laboratory page.