Faculty

Joseph Constans, Ph.D.

Louisiana State University, Clinical Psychology, 1993 Clinical Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Neurology
PTSD Research Team Leader, South Central MIRECC, Veterans Affairs Medical Center

Email: joseph.constans@va.gov

Dr. Constans studies the effects of trauma on emotional and cognitive functioning. In particular, he is interested in studying attention, judgment, and memory biases in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and in examining the hypothesis that these biases help maintain pathological emotional responses to trauma.

Research Interests

Cognition and emotion; Posttrauamatic stress disorder (PTSD); Violence prevention in trauma-exposed populations; PTSD-related biases in attention, judgment, memory; Anxiety disorders.

Representative Publications

Constans,J., Vasterling, J., Deitch, E., Han, X., Teten Tharp, A., Davis, T., Sullivan, G. (in press). Pre-Katrina mental illness, postdisaster negative cognitions, and PTSD symptoms in male veterans following hurricane Katrina. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. doi: 10.1037/a0027487

Teten Tharp, A.L., Vasterling, J.J., Sullivan, G., Han, X., Davis, T., Deitch, B., & Constans, J.(2011). Effects of pre- and post-Katrina nonviolent and violent experiences on male veterans' psychological functioning. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 5(2), 227-234.

Peters, K., Constans, J.I., & Mathews, A. (2011). Experimental modification of attribution processes. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 120, 168-173. doi: 10.1037/a0021899

Brailey, K., Vasterling, J.J., Proctor, S.P., Constans, J.I., & Friedman, M.J. (2007). PTSD symptoms, life events, and unit cohesion in U.S. soldiers: Baseline findings from the Neurocognition Deployment Health Study. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 20, 1 - 8. doi: 10.1002/jts.20234

Manguno-Mire, G.M., Constans, J.I., & Geer, J.  (2005). Anxiety-related differences in affective categorizations of lexical stimuli. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 43, 197-213. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2004.01.005

Constans, J.I., McCloskey, M., Vasterling, J.J., Brailey, K., & Mathews, A. (2004). Suppression of attentional bias in PTSD. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 113, 315-323. doi: 10.1037/0021-843x.113.2.315