Faculty and Research

Psychology

Biography

Dr. Bedwell is considering applicants as a major advisor for the program start date of August 2023.

Professor, Department of Psychology

Program Director and Director of Clinical Training,
Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program

Secondary Joint Appointment: Professor of Medicine, Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Medicine

Licensed Clinical Psychologist (Florida – PY 7264)
Member, American Psychological Association
Member, Association for Psychological Sciences
Member, Society for Research in Psychopathology

Dr. Jeffrey Bedwell joined UCF in 2004 after completing his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Georgia, with a predoctoral clinical internship at the Medical University of South Carolina/Dept. of Veterans Affairs Consortium in Charleston, SC. Prior to graduate studies, Dr. Bedwell received a B.S. in Psychology from James Madison University and worked for several years as a full-time research assistant at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in Bethesda, MD (1996 – 1999). Dr. Bedwell’s research lab, the Mood, Personality, and CogniTion (MPACT) Lab, uses a transdiagnostic NIMH Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) approach to examine the underlying causes of reduced motivation (i.e., avolition/apathy), reduced pleasure (anhedonia), and reduced emotional expression (i.e., constricted/blunted affect). Dr. Bedwell has a particular interest in how these symptoms manifest in mood disorders such as depression and bipolar disorder. Other current and upcoming research examines relationships of these constructs with psychopathy, social anxiety severity, and suicidal thoughts/attempts. Most of Dr. Bedwell’s research uses a cognitive neuroscience and experimental psychopathology approach (e.g., event-related potentials, pupillometry, inflammatory markers). The long-term goal of this research is to improve treatment and prevention efforts targeted toward these specific symptoms. For more information on Dr. Bedwell’s research, please see: Mood, Personality, and CogniTion (MPACT) Lab.

Publications

Recent Refereed Journal Articles (* indicates a student working under my supervision):

  1. Bedwell, J.S., Potts, G.F., Gooding, D.C., Trachik, B.J.*, Chan, C.C.*, & Spencer, C.C.* (2016). Transdiagnostic psychiatric symptoms and event-related potentials following rewarding and aversive outcomes. PLOS ONE, 11(6): e0157084, http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0157084
  2. Bedwell, J.S., Butler, P.D., Chan, C.C.*, & Trachik, B.J.* (2015). Transdiagnostic psychiatric symptoms related to visual-evoked potential abnormalities. Psychiatry Research, 230, 262-270.
  3. Chan, C.C.*, Trachik, B.J.*, & Bedwell, J.S. (2015). An event-related potential investigation of error monitoring in adults with a history of psychosis. Clinical Neurophysiology, 126, 1717-1726.
  4. Bedwell, J.S., Gooding, D.C., Chan, C.C.*, & Trachik, B.J.* (2014). Anhedonia in the age of RDoC. Schizophrenia Research, 160, 226-227.
  5. Bedwell, J.S., Compton, M.T., Jentsch, F.G., Deptula, A.E.*, Goulding, S.M., & Tone, E.B. (2014). Latent factor modeling of four schizotypy dimensions with theory of mind and empathy. PLOS ONE, 9(11), e113853, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0113853.

 

Active Federal Grants

 

National Institute of Mental Health (1R15MH097222-01A1)                          1/8/13 – 11/30/16

“Transdiagnostic psychiatric symptoms related to visual processing abnormalities.”

This project investigates clusters of psychiatric symptoms that relate to visual-evoked potential abnormalities across a broadly-defined schizophrenia-spectrum, which includes bipolar disorder. The overarching goal is to inform the NIMH Research Domain Criteria initiative, which aims to develop “new ways of classifying mental disorders based on dimensions of observable behavior and neurobiological measures.”

Role: Principal Investigator (Total Costs: $404,036; 100% credit)

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