Research Interests

My primary research focus is the role of stress and early trauma in the etiology and ongoing pathology of major depression in adolescence and adulthood. My current work focuses on gene-environment interactions that increase the biological and psychosocial sensitivity to stress in major depression.

Selected Publications

Harkness, K. L., Bagby, R. M., & Kennedy, S. (2012). Childhood Maltreatment and Differential Treatment Response and Recurrence in Episodic Major Depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 80, 342-353.

Harkness, K. L., Jacobson, J. A., Sinclair, B., Chan, E., & Sabbagh, M. A. (2012). For Love or Money? What Motivates People to Know Others’ Minds? Cognition and Emotion, 26, 541-549.

Monroe, S. M., & Harkness, K. L. (2011). Recurrence in Major Depression: A Conceptual Analysis. Psychological Review, 118, 655-674.

Harkness, K. L., Washburn, D., Theriault, J., Lee, L., & Sabbagh, M. A. (2011). Maternal history of depression is associated with enhanced theory of mind ability in depressed and non-depressed women. Psychiatry Research, 189, 91-96.

Harkness, K. L., Stewart, J. G., & Wynne-Edwards, K. E. (2011). Cortisol Reactivity to Social Stress in Adolescents: Moderation by Depression Severity and Child Maltreatment. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 36, 173-181.

Harkness, K. L., Alavi, N., Monroe, S. M., Slavich, G. M., Gotlib, I. H., Bagby, R. M. (2010). Sex Differences in Life Events Prior to Onset of Major Depressive Disorder: The Moderating Effect of Age. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 119, 791-803.

Harkness, K. L., Jacobson, J. A., Duong, D., & Sabbagh, M. A. (2010). Mental State Decoding in Past Major Depression: Effect of Sad Versus Happy Mood Induction. Cognition and Emotion, 24, 497-513.

Bulmash, E., Harkness, K. L., Stewart, J. G., & R. M. Bagby. (2009). Personality, Stressful Life Events, and Treatment Response in Major Depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 77, 1067-1077.

Harkness, K. L., & Stewart, J. E. (2009). Symptom Specificity and the Prospective Generation of Life Events in Adolescence. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 118, 278-287.

Harkness, K. L., Bruce, A. E., & Lumley, M. N. (2006). The role of childhood abuse and neglect in the sensitization to stressful life events in adolescent depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 115, 730-741.

Monroe, S. M. & Harkness, K. L. (2005). Life stress, the ‘kindling’ hypothesis, and the recurrence of depression: Considerations from a life stress perspective. Psychological Review, 112, 417-445.