Sarah Robertson

Professor of Psychology

Education

Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, University of Tennessee

M.A. in Clinical Psychology, University of Colorado

B.S. in Psychology, Furman University

Research Interests

I am a clinical psychologist, and my research centers around the understanding and treatment of mental health symptoms. My research program primarily involves assessing the efficacy of expressive writing interventions. More specifically, I’m interested in how expressive writing interventions help reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. My most recent studies have been focused on the efficacy of a COVID-focused expressive writing intervention in reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Courses Taught

  • PSYC 103: Introduction to Psychological Science
  • PSYC 211: Psychological Statistics
  • PSYC 221: Psychopathology
  • PSYC 391: Foundations of Psychotherapy
  • PSYC 397: Internship Experience

Selected Publications

Robertson, S. M. C., Short, S. D., *Auger, L. & *Murray, M.  (2023).  The effect of COVID-focused expressive writing on symptoms of depression, anxiety and distress in college students: Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 42, 238-266. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2023.42.3.238.

Robertson, S. M. C., Short, S. D., *McSween, D., *Medlen, S. & *Schneider, K.  (2022).  Randomized controlled trial assessing the efficacy of expressive writing in reducing symptoms of anxiety: Waitlist control design. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 41, 54-78. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2021.40.6.54

Robertson, S. M. C., Short S. D., *Sawyer, L. & *Sweazy, S.  (2020).  Randomized controlled trial assessing the efficacy of expressive writing in reducing anxiety in first-year college students: The role of linguistic features. Psychology and Health, 36, 1041-1065.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2020.1827146 

Robertson, S. M. C., Short, S. D., *Asper, A., *Venezia, K., *Yetman, C., *Connelly, M. *Trumbull, J.  (2019).  The Effect of Expressive Writing on Symptoms of Depression in College Students: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 38, 427-450.  https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2019.38.5.427 

Robertson, S. M. C. & Swickert, R. J.  (2016).  The stories we tell:  How age, gender, and forgiveness affect the emotional content of autobiographical narratives. Aging and Mental Health, 22, 535-543. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2016.1269149

Swickert, R., Robertson, S. M. C. & *Baird, D.  (2015).  Age Moderates the Mediational Role of Empathy in the Association between Gender and Forgiveness.Current Psychology, 35, 354-360.

Robertson, S. M. C., Swickert, R. J., *Connelly, K. & *Galizio, A.  (2015).  Physiological Reactivity during Autobiographical Narratives in Older Adults: The Roles of Depression and Anxiety. Aging and Mental Health, 19, 689-697.

Robertson, S. M. C. & Hopko, D. R. (2013).  Emotional Expression as a Function of Aging and Gender: Support for the Socioemotional Selectivity Theory. Journal of Adult Development, 20, 76-86.

* denotes student collaborators