Howard Steiger

Research Areas:

Clinical Psychology | Health Psychology

Research Summary:

At the Eating Disorders Program (EDP), research is integrated as fully as possible into clinical practices. The program is inspired by a multidimensional (biopsychosocial) model, and addresses diverse themes, including phenomenology, etiology and treatment of the Eating Disorders (EDs). Recent research at the EDP has concentrated on constitution–environment interactions that play in vulnerability to ED development. Present results indicate intriguing interactions between stressful life experiences (e.g., childhood abuse or current life stressors) and constitutional vulnerabilities (e.g., genetic and epigenetic factors influencing serotonin-system and HPA axis activity). Other arms of research at EDP examine factors that impact treatment response (including motivation for change, alliance, genetics, and other indices), effects of novel treatment approaches (like transcranial magnetic stimulation), and the impact of a population-level social program aimed at reducing media pressures favoring thinness upon behaviors and attitudes within the image industries and the population at large.