APF Advances Stigma Research

Lindsey Monteith, a clinical psychology graduate student, won a $5,000 Violet and Cyril Franks scholarship to study whether a negative bias exists against depression relative to physical illness in an ethnically diverse undergraduate sample. Ms. Monteith seeks to improve the understanding of stigma against depression, and to investigate effective and efficient strategies of addressing this stigma. This scholarship was established by Violet and Cyril Franks to help reduce the stigma and fear associated with mental illness.

Lauren M. Bylsma, a Clinical Psychology Doctoral Candidate at the University of South Florida, won the annual 2009 $2,000 F.J. McGuigan Dissertation Scholarship to research emotional functioning in major depression. Ms. Bylsma aims to clarify the nature of emotional reactivity and regulation deficits in persons with major depression.

The F.J. McGuigan award funds dissertation research oriented toward advancing a unified conception of brain and behavior, primarily - but not exclusively - in the psycho-physiological area.