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Kenneth J. Ruggiero, Ph.D.   
[ NCVC rotations]

 Dr. Ruggiero, an Associate Professor at MUSC's National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, received his B.A. from SUNY Buffalo and M.A. and Ph.D. from West Virginia University. He is principal investigator on four ongoing federally funded grants. One is an R01 funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to develop and evaluate a brief Web-based Intervention for disaster-affected adolescents and families. Under a second NIMH grant, we are developing and evaluating mobile web applications that are designed to improve quality of care in child mental health treatment via increased child engagement and provider fidelity. Another grant is through VA Health Services Research & Development (HSR&D) to develop self-help online mental health resources for OIF/OEF/OND Veterans. The fourth, also through HSR&D, involves evaluation of a web-training protocol in Prolonged Exposure for PTSD. Dr. Ruggiero also is a co-investigator on several ongoing grants funded by the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute of Mental Health, and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration. These grants address several areas, including: (a) epidemiology of violence exposure and post-disaster mental health, (b) development and evaluation of self-administered resources for at-risk youth (c) efficacy evaluations of behavioral interventions delivered via in-person vs. telepsychology formats, and (d) dissemination and transport of evidence-based interventions for youth exposed to violence.

Research Interests: efficacy, transport, dissemination, and effectiveness of evidence-based psychosocial interventions for youth; design and evaluation of Web-based educational interventions for disaster-, combat-, violence-affected communities; design and evaluation of Web-based training protocols for clinicians in evidence-based practice.

Honors/Awards:

Select Publications:

• Davidson, T. M., Price, M., McCauley, J. L., & Ruggiero, K. J. (in press). Disaster impact across cultural groups: Comparison of European Americans, African Americans, and Latinos. American Journal of Community Psychology.
• Price, M., Davidson, T., Andrews, J. O., Ruggiero, K. J. (in press). Access, use, and completion of a brief disaster mental health intervention among Hispanics, African Americans, and Whites affected by Hurricane Ike. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare.
• Gros, D. F., Price, M., Stauffacher Gros, K., Paul, L. A., McCauley, J. L., & Ruggiero, K. J. (2012). Relations between loss of services and psychiatric symptoms in urban and non-urban settings following a natural disaster. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 34, 343-350.
• Pietrzak, R. H., Tracy, M., Galea, S., Kilpatrick, D. G., Ruggiero, K. J., Hamblen, J. L., Southwick, S. M., & Norris, F. (2012). Resilience in the face of disaster: Prevalence and longitudinal course of mental disorders following Hurricane Ike. PLoS One, 7, e38964. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0038964.
• Price, M., Gros, D. F., McCauley, J. L., Gros, K. S., & Ruggiero, K. J. (2012). Nonuse and dropout attrition for a web-based mental health intervention delivered in a post-disaster context. Psychiatry: Interpersonal and Biological Processes, 75, 266-283.
• Ruggiero, K. J., Gros, K., McCauley, J. L., Resnick, H. S., Morgan, M., Kilpatrick, D. G., Muzzy, W., & Acierno, R. (2012). Mental health outcomes among adults in Galveston and Chambers Counties after Hurricane Ike. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 6, 26-32.
• Ruggiero, K. J., Resnick, H. S., Paul, L. A., Gros, K., McCauley, J. L., Acierno, R., Morgan, M., & Galea, S. (2012). Randomized controlled trial of an Internet-based intervention using random-digit-dial recruitment: The Disaster Recovery Web project. Contemporary Clinical Trials, 33, 237-246.
• Strachan, M., Gros, D. Ruggiero, K. J., Lejuez, C. W., & Acierno, R. (2012). An integrated approach to delivering exposure-based treatment for symptoms of PTSD and depression in OIF/OEF Veterans: Preliminary findings. Behavior Therapy, 43, 560-569.
• Ruggiero, K. J., Gros, D. F., McCauley, J., de Arellano, M. A., & Danielson, C. K. (2011). Rural adults’ use of health-related information online: Data from a 2006 national online health survey. Telemedicine and e-Health, 17, 329-334.
• Wolitzky-Taylor, K. B., Resnick, H. S., McCauley, J. L., Amstadter, A. B., Kilpatrick, D. G., & Ruggiero, K. J. (2011). Is reporting of rape on the rise? A comparison of women with reported vs. unreported rape experiences in the National Women’s Study-Replication. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 26, 807-832.

Representative Presentations:

• Davidson, T., & Ruggiero, K. J. (2012, November). Development of a web-based depression resource for Latino adolescents. In E. Yuen & K. J. Ruggiero (co-Chairs), Developing high quality remote interventions for youth. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, National Harbor, MD.
• Price, M., Davidson, T., Rawls, T. C., & Ruggiero, K. J. (2012, November). Comparison of engagement in a web-based intervention across Hispanics, African Americans, and Whites affected by a natural disaster. Poster presented for the Technology and Behavior Special Interest Group at the 45th annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, National Harbor, MD.
• Ruggiero, K. J., Gros, K., Resnick, H. S., et al. (2012, November). Bounce Back Now! A web-based post-disaster intervention for adolescents and parents. In E. Yuen & K. J. Ruggiero (co-Chairs), Developing high quality remote interventions for youth. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, National Harbor, MD.
• Yuen, E., Gros, K., & Ruggiero, K. J. (2012, November). A formal usability approach to improve remote interventions for adolescents. In E. Yuen & K. J. Ruggiero (co-Chairs), Developing high quality remote interventions for youth. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, National Harbor, MD.
• Fleeman, A., Henderson, T., Boyle, J., & Ruggiero, K. J. (2012, November). Targeting precise geographic or localized areas using an address based sampling frame. Presentation at the annual Conference on Survey Methods for Hard to Reach Populations. New Orleans, LA.
• Danielson, C. K., Adams, Z. W., McCauley, J., Lejuez, C. W., & Ruggiero, K. J. (2012, August). Drug use, distress tolerance, and risk-taking propensity among disaster-exposed adolescents: Findings from the Alabama/Joplin, Missouri Tornado Study. Poster presented at the 120th annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Orlando, FL.
• Ruggiero, K. J., Stauffacher, K., Resnick, H. S., Wolitzky-Taylor, K., Tuerk, P. W., & Acierno, R. (2012, April). Web-based intervention for postdisaster mental health: Preliminary efficacy data. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, Arlington, VA.
• Welsh, K., Strachan, M., Rheingold, A., Foa, E., Acierno, R., & Ruggiero, K. J. (2011, November). PE-Web: Disseminating evidence based practice. Poster presented at the 45th annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Toronto, Canada.
• Ruggiero, K. J., & Adams, T. (2010, November). Efficacy of cognitive and behavioral treatments for PTSD: A review of component controlled treatment outcome research. In J. Lohr (Chair), Specificity of cognitive behavioral therapy: Evidence from experimental analyses of behavioral and cognitive content. Symposium presented at the 44th annual convention of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, San Francisco, CA.
• Ruggiero, K. J., Stauffacher, K., Resnick, H. S., Wolitzky-Taylor, K., Zinzow, H., Ruscio, A., Schmidt, N. B., & Acierno, R. (2010, November). Web-based intervention for postdisaster mental health: Preliminary efficacy data. In J. Herbert (Chair), New developments in remote and Internet-based treatment. Paper presented at the 44th annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, San Francisco, CA.

Curriculum Vitae   (2010) (Requires Adobe® Reader to view)

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