Katherine Gnall

Graduate Student

Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychological Sciences

---

Research Overview

My research interests include mind-body practices for the management of mental/physical symptoms of chronic illnesses, as well as the role of interoception in mind-body interventions. I also have interest in understanding predictors of engagement health-promoting behaviors, with a particular interest in dietary habits, physical activity engagement, and stress management practices. Prior to joining the UConn community, I worked as a research assistant at the National Center for PTSD. Currently, I am working as a graduate research assistant on two NIH-funded projects: a University of Connecticut and Yale Cancer Center collaborative NCI-funded study on resilience trajectories among cancer survivors as they transition from active treatment to survivorship, and an NCCIH-funded RCT examining physical activity interventions for chronic low back pain.

Education

B.A. – University of Massachusetts Amherst, Major: Psychology, 2017

Publications

Finkelstein-Fox, L., Gnall, K.E., & Park, C.L. (2020). Mindfulness moderates daily stress-comfort food snacking linkages: A multilevel examination. Journal of Behavioral Medicine. 43, 1062–1068.

Park, C. L., Fritzson, E., Gnall, K. E., Salafia, C., Ligus, K., Sinnott, S., & Bellizzi, K. M. (2021). Resilience across the transition to cancer survivorship. Research in Human Development, 18(3), 197-211.

Park, C. L., Sacco, S. J., Finkelstein-Fox, L., Sinnott, S. M., Scoglio, A. J., Lee, S. Y., Gnall, K. E., Mazure, C. M., Shirk, S. D., Hoff, R. A., & Kraus, S. W. (2021). Post-9/11 military veterans’ adjustment to civilian life over time following separation from service. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 77(9), 2077-2095.

PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATIONS:
Gnall, K. E., Park, C. L., Finkelstein-Fox, L., & Lee, S. Y. (2020, April). Predictors of Change in Health Behaviors During the College Transition: The Role of Self-Compassion. Poster presentation at the Society for Behavioral Medicine Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA. (Conference converted to virtual showcase due to COVID-19)

Lee, S. Y., Park, C. L., Aldwin, C. M., Finkelstein-Fox, L., Carney, L. M., Sinnott, S. M., & Gnall, K. E. (2020, April). Posttraumatic depreciation predicts repeat hospitalization in congestive heart failure patients. Poster presentation at the 41st Annual Meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, San Francisco, CA. (Conference canceled due to COVID-19)

Fritzson, E., Ligus, K., Gnall, K., Dibble, K.E., Sinnott, S., Bellizzi, K., Harel O., Sanft, T., Mehta, R., Behlman, L., & Park (2020, April). Differences in Psychological Well-Being Based on Cancer Type during Cancer Diagnosis. Poster presentation at the Society of Behavioral Medicine Annual Research Meeting, San Francisco, CA. (Conference converted to virtual showcase due to COVID-19)

Ligus, K., Fritzson, E., Gnall, K., Dibble, K.E., Sinnott, S., Park, C., Harel O., Sanft, T., Mehta, R., Behlman, L., & Bellizzi, K. (2020). Demographic Differences in Cancer Patients on Psychosocial Outcomes. Poster presentation at the American Psychosocial Oncology Society Annual Research Meeting, Portland, OR. (Conference canceled due to COVID-19)

Gnall, K., Cole, H.E., Creech, S.K., Taft, C.T., Murphy, C.M. (2019, November). National Implementation of a Trauma-informed Intervention for Intimate Partner Violence in Veterans: Three-year outcomes. Poster presentation at the 35th annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Boston, MA.

Gnall, K. & Taft, C.T. (2018, July). Intimate partner conflict, emotions, and health. Poster presentation at the International Family Violence and Child Victimization Conference, Portsmouth, NH.