Areas of Expertise:
- Clinical Psychology
- Major Depressive Disorder
- Stress Reactivity
- Social Belonging
My primary line of research focuses on the interplay of personality and stress on the course of depression, particularly during emerging adulthood (ages 18 – 29). I also have expanded this to a second line of research examining interpersonally-relevant emotion regulation skills in nonclinical samples.
Our research primarily focuses on depression during the transition to young adulthood, while also examining basic emotion processes in healthy individuals. One question of interest to our lab is how a strong sense of belonging within one’s community and its opposite, belonging uncertainty, impact mental health. Our lab utilizes a variety of research methods, including ecological momentary assessment, interpersonal laboratory tasks, diagnostic interviews, and quantitative self-report measures.
Erin Sheets is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Colby College, where she teaches courses in introductory psychology, statistics and research methods, psychological disorders, clinical interventions, emotion, and creativity. Her research interests focus on college mental health, particularly on the course of depression and prevention of depression during the transition to college.
Current Projects:
- Social Belonging at a Liberal Arts College: Promoting and Interfering Factors
- Stress Generation and Daily Fluctuations in Negative Affect During the Transition to College
Previous Projects:
- The Impact of Interpersonal Chronic Stress on Depression Recurrence
- Regulating Anger Experience
- Social Problem-Solving Skills Deficits, Personality, and Depression
- Social Networking Use, Emotion Regulation, and Emotional Awareness Skills
