Research Interests
The ultimate goal of my research is to explain the development of adult psychopathology, with a focus on the role of emotional processes. My research is not limited to a single circumscribed etiological factor or experimental paradigm. This is important because of the overwhelming evidence that psychopathological conditions are complex and multidetermined. The vast majority of work in my lab has been guided by a framework for describing emotional disturbances that was proposed by my students and me (Berenbaum et al, 2003). Specifically, we proposed that there are three broad types of emotional disturbances (each of which includes several subtypes): (a) disturbances in emotional valence (e.g., excessive levels of unpleasant emotion); (b) disturbances in emotional intensity/variability/regulation; and (c) disturbances in emotional awareness. In recent years, my work has focused on the following phenomena: (a) emotional awareness and other meta-emotion factors; (b) pleasurable emotions; (c) misophonia; and (d) worry.
Education
Ph.D. from Indiana University
Additional Campus Affiliations
Professor, Psychology
Affiliate, Social & Behavioral Science Institute
For prospective students:
Professor Berenbaum is not planning to recruit any new doctoral students in the foreseeable future.
Recent Publications
Ajmera, S., Khan, R. A., Kim, G., Jain, N., Castro, A., Berenbaum, H., & Husain, F. T. (2026). Altered intrinsic brain connectivity in misophonia, with and without hyperacusis. Hearing Research, 471, Article 109521. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heares.2025.109521
DeHart, S., Thomas, J. G., & Berenbaum, H. (2026). Deprivation, contentment, and depression. Journal of Positive Psychology, 21(2), 282-290. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2025.2459422
Gong, B., Yao, N., Xie, H., Huang, C., Kishimoto, T., Berenbaum, H., & Mu, W. (2026). Efficacy, User Engagement, and Acceptability of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy–Oriented Psychological Chatbots for Adults With Depressive and/or Anxiety Symptoms: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Journal of medical Internet research, 28(1), Article e82677. https://doi.org/10.2196/82677
Hohl, K., Dolcos, S., Mull, D. D., Reddy, Y., Ho, G., Davis, A., Faibishenko, J. S., Bogdan, P. C., Bian, Z., Buetti, S., Lleras, A., Berenbaum, H., & Dolcos, F. (2026). Enhancing resilience, flexibility, and well-being through cognitive-emotional training: behavioral and neural evidence. Scientific reports, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-63059-0
Jain, N., Ajmera, S., Shahsavarani, S., Khan, R. A., Kim, G., Berenbaum, H., & Husain, F. T. (2026). Differential brain responses to affective sounds in misophonia and hyperacusis: A task-based fMRI approach. Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience, 26(4), 1741-1760. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-026-01435-z