Gail Williamson, Ph.D.
- Professor
- Life-Span Developmental Psychology Program (Program Chair)
- Ph.D., Carnegie-Mellon University, 1989
- Office: Room 240
- Ph: (706) 542-3069
- Fax: (706) 542-3275
- Email: lgmw {at} uga dt edu
Requests for information about the Life-Span Developmental program should be sent to Ms. Elizabeth Davis, gradpsyc {at} uga dt edu.
Research Interests
I am a Social/Health Psychologist. My interests are in identifying psychosocial factors that predict adjustment of patients and their families to chronic and/or serious illness, with particular focus on helping and caregiving, emotions, interpersonal relationships, and physical health. I have studied adjustment in diverse subpopulations with various illness conditions, ranging from children with chronically painful conditions to medically compromised elderly patients. An ongoing program of research investigates processes underlying the effects that providing help/care to frail elderly persons has on providers’ well-being and the quality of care they actually provide.
Grants
Williamson, G.M. (Principal Investigator), Miller, L.S., Lance, C.E., Schulz, R., & Weiner, M. Caregiver mental health impairment: Impact on elder care. National Institute on Aging. (Total costs = $1,616,300), funded for September 30, 1997 to July 31, 2002.
Williamson, G. M. (Principal Investigator), Dooley, W. K., Kosberg, J., Lance, C. E., Nelson-Gardell, D. M., Miller, L. S., Schulz, R., Scoggin, F., & Shaffer, D. R. Quality of informal care and caregiving transitions. National Institute on Aging. (Total costs = $2,695,421), funded for August 1, 2002 to July 31, 2008.
Selected Publications
Dooley, W. K., Shaffer, D. R., & Williamson, G. M. (in press). Informal care can be better than adequate: Development and evaluation of the Exemplary Care Scale. Rehabilitation Psychology.
Chisholm, M. A., Williamson, G. M., Lance, C. E., & Mulloy, L. L. (2007). Predicting adherence to immunosuppressant therapy: A prospective analysis of the theory of planned behaviour. Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation, 22, 2339-2348.
Shaffer, D. R., Dooley, W. K., & Williamson, G. M. (2007). Endorsement of proactively aggressive caregiving strategies moderates the relation between caregiver mental health and potentially harmful caregiving behavior. Psychology and Aging, 22, 494-504.
Loucks-Atkinson, A., Kleiber, D. A., & Williamson, G. M. (2006). Activity restriction and well-being in middle-aged and older caregivers. Topics in Geriatric Rehabilitation, 22, 269-282.
Shaffer, D. R., & Williamson, G. M. (2006). Shall we select selective investment theory? A viewpoint from the informal care arena. Psychological Inquiry, 17, 51-55.
Miller, L. S., Lewis, M. S., Williamson, G. M., Lance, C. E., Dooley, W. K., Schulz, R., & Weiner, M. F. (2006). Caregiver cognitive status and potentially harmful caregiver behavior. Aging and Mental Health, 10, 125-133.
Chisholm, M. A., Lance, C. E., & Williamson, G. M. (2005). Development and validation of an immunosuppressant therapy adherence instrument. Patient Education and Counseling, 59, 13-20.
Williamson, G. M., Martin-Cook, K., Weiner, M. F., Svetlik, D. A., Saine, K., Hynan, L. S., Dooley, W. K., & Schulz, R. (2005). Caregiver resentment: Explaining why care recipients exhibit problem behavior. Rehabilitation Psychology, 50, 215-223. ** Harold Yuker Award for Research Excellence (most highly rated paper published in Rehabilitation Psychology in 2005-2006)**
Svetlik, D., Dooley, W. K., Weiner, M. F., Williamson, G. M., & Walters, A. S. (2005). Declines in satisfaction with physical intimacy predict caregiver perceptions of overall relationship loss: A study of elderly caregiving spousal dyads. Journal of Sexuality and Disability, 23, 65-79.
Beach, S. R., Schulz, R., Williamson, G. M., Miller, L. S., Weiner, M. F., & Lance, C. E. (2005). Risk factors for potentially harmful informal caregiver behavior. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 53, 255-261.
Peck, S. R., Shaffer, D. R., & Williamson, G. M. (2004). Sexual satisfaction and relationship satisfaction in dating couples: The contributions of relationship communality and favorability of sexual exchanges. Journal of Psychology and Human Sexuality, 16, 17-37.
Past Doctoral Students
Andrew S. Walters (Ph.D., 1992) "The Effect of Appraisal, Coping, and Family Variables on Stress Outcomes of Pediatric Chronic Pain Patients" andy dt walters {at} nau dt edu
Linda J. Pegalis (Ph.D., 1994) "Frequency and Duration of Positive Affect: The Dispositionality of Happiness" linda {at} telecnnct.com
Shirley A. Cumbest (Ph.D., 1996) "Depressed Affect and Coping Among Women: Stability Across the Life Span" scumbest {at} aol dt com
Barbara Bjorklund (Ph.D., 1996) "Developmental Changes in Mother-Daughter Relationships During Adulthood: The Effects of Daughters' First Pregnancy" bbjorklu {at} fau dt edu
Lori A. Ingram (Ph.D., 1996) "Congruence and Contagion of Affect in Elderly Caregiver-Care Recipient Spousal Pairs" lorif {at} mindspring dt com
Won-Kyung Kim (Ph.D., 1998) "Social Withdrawal and Psychological Well-Being in Older Adults" wkkim99 {at} hanmail dt net
Kaye L. Baron (Ph.D., 1998) "Examination of Sociodemographic, Cognitive, and Personality Variables as Predictors of Psychiatric Hospital Readmissions" kayebaron {at} aol dt com
Jay G. Silverman (Ph.D., 1998) "An Outcome Evaluation of a School-Based Curriculum for the Primary Prevention of Dating Violence among Adolescents" jsilverm {at} hsph dt harvard dt edu
Robert J. F. Elsner (Ph.D., 2001) "The Effects of Age, Mood, Environment, Pharmacology, and Cognitive Status on Life-Span Olfactory Memory" relsner {at} fubmc dt edu
Diane T. Byrd (Ph.D., 2006) "African American Research Participation: A Developmental Perspective" dtbyrd {at} uga dt edu
William Keith Dooley (Ph.D, 2006) "Caregiver Adjustment to Care Recipient Nursing Home Placement and Death: Depressive Symptoms, Grief, and Relief in Context” keith dt dooley{at} murraystate dt edu
