acepeda@uvm.edu
2 Colchester Avenue
John Dewey Hall, Rm 120
Burlington, VT 05405-0134
United States
Alma mater(s)
- B.A. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 1988
- M.S. Purdue University, 1991
- Ph.D. Purdue University, 1994
Document
Download CV (495.01 KB)
Affiliated Department(s)
Clinical Psychology
BIO
- I am collaborating with the UVM Cancer Center to establish a smoking cessation clinic that will focus on helping long-term smokers quit with the aid of a computerized assisted program and by creating a “teaching moment” associated with how feedback is given to lung-cancer screened patients who test negative for cancer.
- I also collaborate with the Vermont Center on Tobacco Regulatory Sciences to examine the impact of regulatory policies on smoking and tobacco use behaviors in vulnerable populations. My present focus is rural populations and women of reproductive age.
- With colleagues from the Universidad de Granada and the Universidad de Jaen (both in Spain), I continue to investigate body image, food cravings, and eating disorder symptoms in women.
- With a colleague from the Universidad de Alicante, Spain, and a colleague from Texas A&M University, we are currently working toward the publication of the Marital Satisfaction Inventory-Revised in Spanish in Spain.
- With colleagues from the Universidad Católica de Valencia, I am working to understand the impact of research networking and collaborating on research output, both in terms of volume as well as societal impact. Our current focus is on eating disorders research, PI collaborations, and transnational collaborations.
- I’ve become interested in “placebo” effects and I am currently jump starting a research program to test and compare “blind placebo” and “honest placebo” effects. In a nutshell, there is good evidence that placebo treatments help even when individuals understand what a placebo is and know they are receiving the placebo rather than the experimental treatment.
Publications
Google Scholar - Antonio Cepeda-Benito
Awards and Achievements
- Fulbright Scholar: Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez (Spring 2024)
- Zambrano Professor (Universidad de Jaen, 2022-23)
- Top 100 Most Influential Hispanics: Hispanic Business Magazine-2009
- National Award of Excellence in Mentorship-2008 (National Hispanic Science Network [NHSN] on Drug Abuse).
- National Award of Excellence in Public Service-2006 (NHSN)
- Executive Vice President & Provost Outstanding Individual Achievement—DIVERSITY AWARD-2003 (Texas A&M University).
- College of Liberal Arts Superior Service Awards-2002—DIVERSITY AWARD (Texas A&M University)
- Texas A&M University Academic Inspiration Award-1999 (Student nominated)
Bio
- I am collaborating with the UVM Cancer Center to establish a smoking cessation clinic that will focus on helping long-term smokers quit with the aid of a computerized assisted program and by creating a “teaching moment” associated with how feedback is given to lung-cancer screened patients who test negative for cancer.
- I also collaborate with the Vermont Center on Tobacco Regulatory Sciences to examine the impact of regulatory policies on smoking and tobacco use behaviors in vulnerable populations. My present focus is rural populations and women of reproductive age.
- With colleagues from the Universidad de Granada and the Universidad de Jaen (both in Spain), I continue to investigate body image, food cravings, and eating disorder symptoms in women.
- With a colleague from the Universidad de Alicante, Spain, and a colleague from Texas A&M University, we are currently working toward the publication of the Marital Satisfaction Inventory-Revised in Spanish in Spain.
- With colleagues from the Universidad Católica de Valencia, I am working to understand the impact of research networking and collaborating on research output, both in terms of volume as well as societal impact. Our current focus is on eating disorders research, PI collaborations, and transnational collaborations.
- I’ve become interested in “placebo” effects and I am currently jump starting a research program to test and compare “blind placebo” and “honest placebo” effects. In a nutshell, there is good evidence that placebo treatments help even when individuals understand what a placebo is and know they are receiving the placebo rather than the experimental treatment.
Publications
Awards and Achievements
- Fulbright Scholar: Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez (Spring 2024)
- Zambrano Professor (Universidad de Jaen, 2022-23)
- Top 100 Most Influential Hispanics: Hispanic Business Magazine-2009
- National Award of Excellence in Mentorship-2008 (National Hispanic Science Network [NHSN] on Drug Abuse).
- National Award of Excellence in Public Service-2006 (NHSN)
- Executive Vice President & Provost Outstanding Individual Achievement—DIVERSITY AWARD-2003 (Texas A&M University).
- College of Liberal Arts Superior Service Awards-2002—DIVERSITY AWARD (Texas A&M University)
- Texas A&M University Academic Inspiration Award-1999 (Student nominated)
Research and Creative Works
I’m currently active in three related lines of research in collaboration with researchers from Spain, at the Universidad de Jaén, and Chile, at the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez.
- Health-Related Stigmas. Health-related stigmas can exacerbate psychological distress, leading to decreased self-esteem, depression, and anxiety among affected individuals. These stigmas also contribute to barriers in seeking help and support, as individuals may fear judgment or rejection from others. Related to this area of research, we recently developed the Smoking Self-Stigma Questionnaire (SSSQ)1 and are in the process of validating the Smoking Public Stigma Questionnaire (SPSQ), and a Spanish version of the SSSQ. I will soon embark on a three-month Fulbright Scholar Fellowship (Spring 2024), where I will be working with Chilean colleagues to develop an explicit measure of Adolescent Overweight Public Stigma. We have also made advances in this area of research by developing an online version of the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP)2, which we then adapted to assess implicit smoking stigma in smokers and non-smokers and will soon submit our findings for publication. Shortly, we’d like to adapt the IRAP to measure other health-related stigmas.
- Body Image. Body image is key to the conformation of self-concept and self-esteem, particularly during adolescence and early adulthood. We are currently investigating the impact of online social-media behaviors on body image in men and women, focusing on Instagram and the interactions of users with Influencers and interest in body-positive and fitness content. We’re particularly interested in understanding whether and how the relationships between these phenomena might differ across genders, sexual orientation, and age. Related to this area, we are conducting experimental investigations that examine reactivity to images of people with different body types and how that reactivity might be potentiated or invited by individual differences, such as the individual’s tendency to compare themselves to others or their attitudes toward influencers. Examples of relatively recent publications in this area of research include a study investigating the differential effects of exposure to images of very thin female fashion models vs plus-size models.3 In A somewhat more recent publication we tested a conditional mediation model where thin-ideal awareness predicted body image dissatisfaction through Internalization of the thin ideal moderated by body-mass index and nationality (Argentine vs. Spanish).4
- Disordered Eating and Food Cravings. Food reward and overeating share psychological and neurobiological mechanisms with drug reward and drug abuse. Like drug cues in the addicted brain, food cues may elicit food cravings and trigger binge consumption episodes with caloric intake. We’ve recently conducted research to show that food can be classified along a continuum of addictiveness potential and that food addiction symptoms potentiate reactivity to both Ultra-Processed and Processed foods, but not minimally processed foods.5
RECENT PUBLICATIONS (*students/mentees; ∳corresponding author)
- Hernández-López, M., ∳Cepeda-Benito, A., *Geist, T., Torres-Dotor, P., *Pomichter, E., & Rodríguez-Valverde, M. (2024). Validation of the Spanish version of the body image acceptance and action questionnaire (BI-AAQ-Spanish): Measurement invariance across cultures. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 32, 100755.
- *Geist, T., *Goldberg, K., Burt, K., *Pomichter, E., ∳Cepeda-Benito, A. (2023). Development and Validation of the Smoker Self-Stigma Questionnaire (SSSQ). Tobacco, Nicotine & Research, 25(7), 1283-1290.
- *Geist, T., Plezia, S., Cepeda-Benito, A., et al. (2023). Online Administration of the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure: The Web-IRAP. Psychol Rec https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-022-00533-x
- *Moreno-Domínguez, S., Servián-Franco, F., Reyes del Paso, G. A., ∳Cepeda-Benito, A. (2019). Images of thin and plus-size models produce opposite effects on women’s body image, body dissatisfaction, and anxiety. Sex Roles, 80 (9-10), 607-616
- *Moreno-Domínguez, S., Rusztein, G., *Geist, T. A., *Pomichter, E. E., & ∳Cepeda-Benito, A. (2019). Body Mass Index and Nationality (Argentine vs Spanish) Moderate the Relationship between Internalization of the Thin Ideal and Body Dissatisfaction: A Conditional Mediation Model. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 582
- Delgado-Rodríguez, R., Moreno-Padilla, M., Moreno-Domínguez, S., & ∳Cepeda-Benito, A. (2023). Food addiction correlates with emotional and craving reactivity to industrially prepared (ultra-processed) and home-cooked (processed) foods but not unprocessed or minimally processed foods. Food Quality and Preference, 110, 104961.
- *Ugarte-Pérez, C. A., Cruzat-Mandich, C., … Cepeda-Benito, A. (2023). Feasibility and Comparative Efficacy of Remotely Delivered Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training (MB-EAT) and Psychoeducational Counseling during Covid-19 Confinement. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1285834
- ∳Cepeda-Benito, A., *Ugarte Pérez, C., Lizana-Calderón, P., & *Moreno-Domínguez, S. (2023). Food-cravings, body image and eating disorders: perspectives across cultures and genders. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1285834.
- *Hernández-López, M., Cepeda-Benito, A., & Rodríguez-Valverde, M. (2021). Psychological Inflexibility and Mental Health Symptoms during the COVID-19 Lockdown in Spain: A Longitudinal Study. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 19, 42-49.
- ∳Cepeda-Benito, A., *Moreno-Domínguez, S. (2019). Beyond Eating and Body Image Disturbances: Cultural, Transcultural and Accultural Perspectives. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2601.
- ∳Cepeda-Benito, A. (2020). Nicotine effects, body weight concerns and smoking: A literature review. Current Pharmaceutical Design, 26(20), 2316-2326.