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Faculty by area of expertise 
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Scott Vrana
Professor and Chair
Contact information
Phone: (804) 828-8089
E-mail: srvrana@vcu.edu
Education
Ph.D. (1988), University of Florida
Program affiliation
Research and clinical interests
My research interests most generally involve the study of emotion, especially fear and anxiety, from an information processing and psychophysiological perspective. Current specific interests include psychophysiological studies of emotional and attentional processes during emotional imagery, the psychophysiology of social interaction, the development of emotion, and the effect of ethnic/cultural differences and social context on the expression of emotion and on social interaction. My clinical interests involve intellectual assessment and the assessment and treatment of anxiety disorders.
Selected publications
Vrana, S. R., Hughes, J. W., Dennis, M. F., Calhoun, P. S., & Beckham, J. C. (In press). Effects of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder status and covert hostility on cardiovascular responses to relived anger in women with and without PTSD. Biological Psychology.
Vrana, S. R. (2009). The psychophysiology of disgust: Motivation, action, and autonomic support. In B. O. Olatunji & D. McKay (Eds.), Disgust and its disorders: Theory, assessment, and treatment (pp. 123-143), Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
McDonald, S. D., Hartman, N., & Vrana, S. R. (2008). Trait anxiety, disgust sensitivity, and the hierarchic structure of fears. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 22, 1059-1074.
Beckham, J. C., Dennis, M. F., McClernon, F. J., Mozley, S. L., Collie, C. F., & Vrana, S. R. (2007). Cigarette smoking and script-driven imagery in smokers with and without Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Addictive Behaviors, 32, 2900-2915.
Panayiotou, G., Brown, R., & Vrana, S. R. (2007). Emotional dimensions as determinants of self-focused attention. Cognition & Emotion, 21, 982-998.
Recent/current courses taught at VCU
- Introduction to Clinical Psychology, undergraduate level
- Honors Seminar, undergraduate level
- Anxiety Disorders practicum, graduate level
| Recent grants or awards |
| Enhancing the mental and physical health benefits of trauma disclosure through response training, National Institute of Mental Health, 1 F31 MH 076675-01 (sponsor), May 2006 - April 2010, $49,424/year, $197,696 total. |
| Adolescent’s physiological response to anger before and after intervention, National Institute of Mental Health, 1 F31 MH65102 (sponsor), September 2001 to August 2003, $23,994/year. |
| The Social Context of Emotion in Black Adolescents, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD30581), May 1, 1993 to April 30, 1999, $916,998. |