Alison C. McLeish

Assistant Professor
409D Dyer Hall
513-556-5123
alison.mcleish@uc.edu
http://web.me.com/amcleish

Professional Summary

Dr. McLeish is the director of the Health and Anxiety Psychopathology Lab in the Psychology Department at the University of Cincinnati. She obtained her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Vermont after completing an internship at the University of Mississippi Medical Center/Jackson VA Medical Center in Jackson, MS. Dr. McLeish went on to complete a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Mississippi Medical Center where she specialized in anxiety and smoking cessation. Her current research interests center on understanding cognitive vulnerability for comorbid anxiety and health problems.

Education

Ph.D., University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, 2006 (Clinical Psychology).

B.A., Duke University, Durham, NC, 1997 (Psychology).

Positions & Work Experience

2008 to Present, Assistant Professor, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH.

Research Interests

My program of research focuses on systematically evaluating cognitive vulnerability for anxiety problems. This line of research seeks to (1) understand the role of anxiety sensitivity (fears of the negative consequences of anxiety and bodily sensations) in the etiology and maintenance of anxiety and health problems; (2) develop prevention and intervention programs to target these patient populations; and (3) address barriers to successful dissemination and implementation of these programs. Current research projects include: (1) understanding associations between anxiety sensitivity and asthma, including the role that smoking plays in this association; (2) developing an exposure-based intervention to improve asthma symptoms; and (3) examining ways to standardize interoceptive exposure treatment using both self-report and psychophysiological data collection strategies.

Research Support

(PI) Alison C. McLeish, Ph.D. and Randy S. Burke, Ph.D., Self-Guided Tobacco Cessation Program for Veterans, Department of Veterans Affairs/Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center. $1281. Funded 11-2006 to 10-2007.

Peer Reviewed Publications

McLeish, A. C., Zvolensky, M. J., Del Ben, K. S., & Burke, R. S. Anxiety sensitivity as a moderator of the association between smoking rate and panic-relevant symptoms among a community sample of middle-aged adult daily smokers. American Journal on Addictions.

McLeish, A. C., Zvolensky, M. J., Marshall, E. C., & Leyro, T. M. Negative Affectivity as a moderator of the association between smoking status and anxiety sensitivity, anxiety symptoms, and perceived health among young adults. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease.

McLeish, A. C. & Del Ben, K. S. (2008). Symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder in an outpatient population before and after Hurricane Katrina. Depression and Axiety, 25, 406-421. [Link]

Gregor, K. L., Zvolensky, M. J., McLeish, A. C., Bernstein, A., & Morrisette, S. B. (2008). Anxiety sensitivity and perceived control over anxiety-related events: Associations with smoking outcome expectancies and perceived cessation barriers among daily smokers. Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 10, 627-635.

Kashdan, T. B., Zvolensky, M. J., & McLeish, A. C. (2008). The toxicity of anxiety sensitivity and worry as a function of emotion regulatory strategies. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 22, 429-440. [Link]

McLeish, A. C., Zvolensky, M. J., Yartz, A. R., & Leyro, T. M. (2008). Anxiety sensitivity as a moderator of the association between smoking status and anxiety symptoms and body vigilance: Replication and extension in a young adult sample. Addictive Behaviors, 33, 315-327. [Link]

Zvolensky, M. J., Vujanovic, A. A., Bonn-Miller, M. O., Bernstein, A., Yartz, A. R., Gregor, K. L., McLeish, A. C., Marshall, E. C., & Gibson, L. E. (2008). Incremental validity of anxiety sensitivity in terms of motivation to quit, reasons for quitting, and barriers to quitting among community-recruited daily smokers. Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 9, 965-975.

McLeish, A. C., Zvolensky, M. J., & Bucossi, M. M. (2007). Interaction between smoking rate and anxiety sensitivity: Relation to anticipatory anxiety and panic-relevant avoidance among daily smokers. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 21, 849-859. [Link]

Vujanovic, A. A., Zvolensky, M. J., Bernstein, A., Feldner, M. T., & McLeish, A. C. (2007). A test of the interactive effects of anxiety sensitivity and mindfulness in the prediction of anxious arousal, agoraphobic cognitions, and body vigilance. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45, 1393-1400. [Link]

McLeish, A. C., Zvolensky, M. J., Smits, J.A., Bonn-Miller, M. O., & Gregor, K. (2007). Concurrent associations between anxiety sensitivity and perceived health and health disability among young adult daily smokers. Cognitive Behavior Therapy, 36, 1-11.

Del Ben, K. S., McLeish, A. C., & Elkin, T. D. (2006). Research and ethics following a natural disaster: From the public's point of view. the Behavior Therapist, 29, 128-130.

Zvolensky, M. J., Solomon, S. E., McLeish, A. C., Cassidy, D., Bernstein, A., Bowman, C. J., & Yartz, A. R. (2006). Incremental validity of mindfulness-based attention in relation to the concurrent prediction of anxiety and depressive symptomatology and perceptions of health. Cognitive Behavior Thearpy, 35, 148-158. [Link]

McLeish, A. C., Zvolensky, M. J., Bonn-Miller, M. O., & Bernstein, A. (2006). Perceived health moderates the association between smoking rate and panic vulnerability variables among daily smokers. Depression and Axiety, 23, 257-265. [Link]

Zvolensky, M. J., Bonn-Miller, M. O., Bernstein, A., McLeish, A. C., Feldner, M. T., & Leen-Feldner, E. W. (2006). Anxiety sensitivity interacts with marijuana use in the prediction of anxiety symptoms and panic-related catastrophic thinking among daily tobacco users. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44, 907-924. [Link]

Zvolensky, M. J., Bonn-Miller, M. O., Feldner, M. T., Leen-Feldner, E. W., McLeish, A. C., & Gregor, K. (2006). Anxiety Sensitivity: Concurrent association with negative affect smoking motives and abstinence self-confidence among young adult smokers. Addictive Behaviors, 31, 429-439. [Link]

Zvolensky, M. J., Feldner, M. T., Leen-Feldner, E. W., & McLeish, A. C. (2005). Smoking and panic attacks, panic disorder, and agoraphobia: A review of the empirical literature. Clinical Psychology Review, 25, 761-789. [Link]

Zvolensky, M. J., Feldner, M. T., Leen-Feldner, E. W., Bonn-Miller, M. O., McLeish, A. C., & Gregor, K. (2004). Evaluating the role of anxiety sensitivity in smoking outcome expectancies among regular smokers. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 28, 473-486. [Link]

Book Chapters

Zvolensky, M. J., Bernstein, A., Yartz, A. R., McLeish, A. C., & Feldner, M. T. (2008). Cognitive-behavioral treatment of comorbid panic psychopathology and tobacco use and dependence. In S. H. Steward & P. Conrad (Eds.), Comorbidity of anxiety and substance use disorders (pp. 177-200). New York: Springer.

Zvolensky, M. J., Feldner, M. T., & McLeish, A. C. (2005). Manualized behavior therapy. In M. Hersen & J. Rosqvist (Eds.), Encyclopedia of behavior modification and cognitive behavior therapy: Vol. 1. Adult clinical applications (pp. 359-365). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Post Graduate Training & Education

2006-2008, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS.