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Erica Ahlich, Ph.D.
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Erica Ahlich, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology

 

Dr. Ahlich will be reviewing graduate student applications for the 2024-2025 academic year.

Education

  • APA Accredited Clinical Psychology Internship, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
  • APA and PCSAS Accredited Ph.D. Clinical Psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
  • M.A. Psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
  • B.A. Psychology, Albion College, Albion, Michigan

Research Interests

My clinical and research interests focus broadly on the promotion of physical health and sense of wellbeing among adults, with a particular interest in eating behaviors. Recent focus areas have included:

  • Antecedents and consequences of dysregulated eating
  • Affective processes (feelings, emotions, mood, stress) relevant to eating behaviors
  • Aspects of the built environment and individual vulnerability factors (e.g., interoception, emotion regulation, social support, food craving, body image) as they relate to eating behaviors and health disparities in cardiometabolic health
  • Historically under-represented populations in eating and weight-related research
  • Disordered eating risk factors
  • Predicting and improving bariatric surgery outcomes
  • Innovative methods of investigating dysregulated eating behaviors and underlying mechanisms (ecological momentary assessment; qualitative, observational, and experimental approaches)
  • Issues of measurement (e.g., measurement invariance)
  • Advanced statistical techniques (e.g., multilevel modeling, structural equation modeling, within-person analytic approaches).

I have been fortunate to receive amazing mentorship throughout my training, beginning as an undergraduate psychology student and continuing today. I am passionate about "paying it forward" by helping students develop their own research ideas and cultivating skills that will help them achieve their goals.

Recent Publications

(NEW)   1.     James, D., Larkey, L., Evans, B., Sebren, A., Goldsmith, K., Ahlich, E, Hawley, N., & Kechter, A. (In Press). Mechanisms of Changed Body Composition in Menopausal Women Practicing Tai Chi/Qigong: A Biobehavioral Model. Menopause.

(NEW)   2.     Ahlich, E., Poovey, K., & Rancourt, D. (2023). Examination of the Water Load Task as a Measure of Gastric Interoception and Associations with Disordered Eating. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 56, 1432-1443. doi:10.1002/eat.23964

(NEW)   3.     Ahlich, E., Goldstein, S. P., & Thomas, J. G. (2023). Characterizing emotional eating: Ecological momentary assessment with person-specific modeling. Appetite, 183, 106476. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2023.106476

(REVISE, dates, volume, doi) 4.     Ahlich, E., & Rancourt, D. (2022). Boredom proneness, interoception, and emotional eating. Appetite, 178, 106167. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2022.106167

Google Scholar Link