Elahe Nezami , Ph.D.

Research Interests

Dr. Nezami?s research focuses on determinants of behavioral risk factors for chronic diseases, cancer and cardiovascular disease in particular. Risk factors of primary interest are tobacco use, physical activity and nutritional practices. Her other research projects include examination of personality characteristics (hostility, anger, aggression) in relation to cardiovascular disease. Dr. Nezami?s current research focuses on the self-medication theory of smoking. In particular, she is studying the relationship between depression and smoking in different cultures. Dr. Nezami is the principal investigator of a Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center (TTURC) project studying self-medication and smoking in the U.S., China and Iran. Dr. Nezami received her M.A. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Houston and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Southern California.

Degrees

University of Southern California, PHD, 1994
University of Southern California, MA, 1994
University of Houston, MA, 1985

Internships

Shapiro Control Inventory Research, Outpatient Clinic, University of California, Irvine,, 1992 - 1993

Fellowships

University of Southern California, Institute for Prevention Research, Los Angeles, CA, 1994 - 1997

Professional Experience

Research Associate, University of Texas Medical Branch, Department of Behavioral Scienes, Houston, TX., 1985 - 1988
Graduate Researcher, University of Southern California, Department of Psychology, Los Angeles, CA., 1988 - 1993

PUBLICATIONS

Unger, J.B., Baezconde-Garbanati, L., Shakib, S., Palmer, P.H., Nezami E. and Mora, J. (2004).
A cultural psychology approach to

Cinciripini, P.M., Benedict, C.E., Van Vunakis, H., Mace, R.M., Kitchens, K., Nezami, E., & Gjika, H.B. (1989).
The effects of smoking on the mood, cardiovascular and adrenergic reactivity of heavy and light smokers in a non-stressful environment. Biological Psychology, 29, 273-289.


Cinciripini, P.M., Nezami, E., & Mace, R. (1989).
Cardiovascular reactivity and smoking in coronary prone (Type A) and non-coronary
prone (Type B) subjects.
Addictive Behavior, 14, 83-90.


Cinciripini, P.M. Van Vunakis, H., Nezami, E., Mace, R.,Kitchens, K.E., Lapistsky, L.G., Benedict, C., & Gjika, H.B. (1989).Nicotine regulation among heavy and light smokers in a non-stressful environment. Biological Psychology, 28, 251-264.


Davison, G.C., Williams, M.E., Nezami, E., Bice, T., & DeQuattro, V.L. (1991).
Relaxation, reduction in angry articulated thoughts, and improvements in borderline hypertension and heart rate. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 14, 453-468.


Williams, M., Davison, G.C., Nezami, E., & DeQuattro, V.L. (1992).
Articulated thoughts of Type A and B individuals in response to social criticism.
Cognitive Therapy and Research, 16, 19-30.


Cinciripini, Paul M.,. Lapitsky, Lynn G., Wallfisch, Annette, Mace, Richard &
Nezami, Elahe. (1994-Jan-Feb.).
Evaluation of multicomponent treatment program involving scheduled smoking and relapse prevention procedures: initial findings.
Addictive Behaviors. 19(1), 13-22.


Haaga, D. A, Davison, G. C., Williams, M. E., Dolezal, S.L., Haleblian, J., Rosenbaum, J., Dwyer, J. H., Baker, S., Nezami, E., & DeQuattro, V. (1994).
Mode-specific impact of relaxation training for hypertensive men with Type A behavior pattern.
Behavior Therapy, 25, 209-223.


Unger, B.J., Johnson, C.A., Stoddard, J.L., & Nezami, E. (1996).
Identification of Adolescents at risk for smoking initiation.
Addictive Behavior, 22, 81-91.


Sussman, S., Nezami, E., & Mishra, S. (1997).
On operationalizing spiritual experience for health promotion research and practice.
Alternative Therapies in Clinical Medicine, 120-125.


Butcher, J. N., Lim, J., & Nezami, E. (1998).
Objective study of abnormal personality in cross-cultural settings. The Minnesota Multi phasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2).
Cross Cultural Psychology, 29, 189-211.


Sussman, S., Dent, C. W., Nezami, E., & Stacy, A. (1998).
Reasons for quitting and smoking temptation among adolescent smokers: Gender differences.
Substance Use and Misuse, 33(14), 2703-2720.


Nezami, E., Sussman, S. and Pentz, M.A. (2003).
Motivation in tobacco use cessation research.
Substance Use and Misuse, 38(1), 25-50.


Weiss, J.W., Mouttapa, M., Chou, C-P., Nezami, E., Johnson, C.A., Palmer, P.H., Cen, S., Gallaher, P., Ritt-Olson, A., Azen, S. & Unger, J.B. (2004).
Hostility, depressive symptoms, and smoking in early adolescence.
Journal of Adolescence, 28(1), 49-62.


Nezami, E., Unger, J., Tan, S., Mahaffey, C., Ritt-Olson, A., Sussman, S., Nguyen-Michel, S., Baezconde-Garbanati, L., Azen, S., and Johnson, C.A. (2005)
The influence of depressive symptoms on experimental smoking and intention to smoke in a diverse youth sample.
Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 7(2), 243-248.


Ritt-Olson, A., Unger, J., Valente, T., Nezami, E., Chou, C-P., Trinidad, D., Milam, J., Earleywine, M., Tan., S. and Johnson, C.A. (2005).
Exploring peers as a mediator of the association between depression and smoking in young adolescents.
Substance Use and Misuse, 40(1), 77-98.


Milam, J., Ritt-Olson, A., Tan, S., Unger, J. and Nezami, E. (2005).
The September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks and reports of posttraumatic growth among a multi-ethnic sample of adolescents. Traumatology, 11(4), 233-246.


Bass, S.B., Guttmacher, S., and Nezami, E. (2008).
Who will keep the public healthy? The case for undergraduate public health education. A review of three programs.
Journal of Public Health Management & Practice, 14(1), 6-14.


Nezami, E., Zamani, R. and DeFrank, G. (2008)
Linguistic Translation of psychological assessment tools: A case study of the MMPI-2
Evaluation and the Health Professions, 31(3), 313-317. (Sage Publications).