Research/Clinical Interests

I am currently a post-doctoral associate at the University of Minnesota working with Dr. William Iacono. During my graduate studies at the University of Maryland-College Park, I worked with Dr. Carl Lejuez and Dr. Stacey Daughters, and completed my internship at the New Mexico VA. Throughout graduate and internship training, I have worked to develop a research program based in the framework of translational research which involves the use of basic methodologies with the explicit a priori goal of addressing clinically-relevant questions. Within the addiction domain, I have focused on three areas of research: (a) the role of poor impulse control in the development of substance use disorders and associated maladaptive behaviors, (b) the role of emotion dysregulation in the maintenance and comorbidity of substance use disorders, and (c) development of brief interventions for emotion dysregulation in high-risk, comorbid populations.

Current Projects

Several of my current research projects center around the area of emotion dysregulation in the maintenance and comorbidity of substance use disorders. Previous studies in our laboratory found that a behavioral measure of emotion dysregulation, specifically, a measure of an inability to tolerate intense emotional discomfort without reverting to avoidant or impulsive behavior (termed distress tolerance), is a predictor of early treatment failure among inner-city drug users. Based on these findings, I have developed a novel treatment, which consists of skills training + interoceptive exposure for the treatment/increase of distress tolerance and reduction of premature treatment termination rates. The skills training component of the treatment draws on emotional acceptance (rather then avoidance) strategies, interpersonal effectiveness strategies, and “healthy distraction” strategies. Additionally, the treatment has an emotional exposure component. This treatment is hypothesized to affect two major variables: distress tolerance proper, and residential substance use treatment retention, and is being compared to supportive counseling as well as treatment-as-usual conditions. Preliminary data indicates that the novel treatment is superior to supportive counseling and no-treatment control in improving distress tolerance and decreasing experiential avoidance among inner-city drug users, a sample that is at risk for various psychopathology and problem behaviors. Further, a considerable proportion of those in SIDI reached clinical improvement on measures theoretically related to distress tolerance, with this difference emerging as significant on the measure of affect regulation expectancies.

Outside Interests

In my free time, I study classical piano and Flamenco.

Selected Publications

Bornovalova, M. A., Gratz, K. L., Daughters, S. B.,  Nick,B., Delaney-Brumsey, A., Lynch, T. R., Kosson, D., and Lejuez, C. W. (provisional acceptance). The Relationship between Distress Tolerance and Borderline Personality Disorder in Two Samples of Inner City Treatment Seeking Drug Users: Preliminary Experimental Investigation and Examination of Potential Mediators. Psychiatry Research.

Bornovalova, M. A., & Daughters, S. B. (In press). How does Dialectical Behavior Therapy Facilitate Treatment Retention among Individuals with Comorbid Borderline Personality Disorder and Substance Use Disorders? Clinical Psychology Review.

Bornovalova, M. A., Gwadz, M., Kahler, C. W., Aklin, W. M., & Lejuez, C. W. (In Press). Sensation Seeking and Risk-taking Propensity as Mediators in the Relationship between Childhood Abuse and HIV-related Risk Behavior. Child Abuse and Neglect.

Bornovalova, M. A., Lejuez, C.W., Daughters, S. B., Rosenthal, M. Z., & Lynch, T. R. (2005). Impulsivity as a common process across borderline personality and substance use disorders. Clinical Psychology Review, 25, 790-812.

Bornovalova, M., Daughters, S. B., Richards, J., Hernandez, G. D., & Lejuez, C.W., (2005). Differences in Impulsivity and Risk Taking Propensity between Urban Crack/Cocaine and Heroin Users. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 13, 311-8.

Daughters, S. B., Lejuez, C. W., Bornovalova, M. A., Kahler, C. W., Strong, D. R., and Brown, R. A., (2005). Distress Tolerance as a Predictor of Early Treatment Dropout in a Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Facility. Journal of Abnormal Psychology,114, 729-34.

FUNDED GRANTS:

“Distress Tolerance Treatment for the Prevention of Treatment Failure”

Principal Investigator: Marina A. Bornovalova, M.A.

Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse R03

Dissertation Grant

Period: 09/28/2006 – 9/27/08

Role on Project: Principal Investigator

Total Costs = $146,000

COMPLETED GRANT FUNDING:

“Impulsivity Processes Underlying Drug Choice and Sexual Risk”

Principal Investigator: Marina A. Bornovalova, M.A.

Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse F31

Individual National Research Service Award

Period: 09/01/04 – 8/31/07

Role on Project: Principal Investigator

Total Costs = $99,683