Andrew J. Smith

Andrew J. Smith, PhD

Languages spoken: English

Academic Information

Departments Adjunct - Psychiatry

Divisions: Adult Psychiatry

Academic Office Information

andrew.james.smith@hsc.utah.edu

Research Interests

  • Occupational Health
  • Stress Disorders, Traumatic
  • Social and Cultural Influences on Health
  • Resilience
  • Personalized Health Care

Andrew J. Smith, PhD, Assistant Professor, joined the department of psychiatry faculty in 2018. He is founder and director of the Occupational Trauma Program, which applies a clinical science model to assess and treat occupationally traumatized populations (firefighters, first responders, law enforcement, medical professionals, military service members and veterans). He holds a joint appointment at the VA Salt Lake City Healthcare System as a health psychologist in Primary Care Mental Health Integration.

Dr. Smith’s current and prospective research focuses developing resilience-oriented interventions that target functional outcomes in a manner that is personalizable, accessible, and culturally palatable for patients. Ongoing studies are aimed at measuring and modeling how social functioning changes over time, and how to improve motivation towards social connectivity as a natural, renewable resource to promote resilience and health.

Research Statement

Dr. Smith joined the department of psychiatry faculty in 2018. He is founder and director of the Occupational Trauma Program, which applies a clinical science model to assess and treat occupationally traumatized populations (firefighters, first responders, law enforcement, medical professionals, military service members and veterans). He holds a joint appointment at the VA Salt Lake City Healthcare System as a health psychologist in Primary Care Mental Health Integration.

Dr. Smith’s current and prospective research focuses developing resilience-oriented interventions that target functional outcomes in a manner that is personalizable, accessible, and culturally palatable for patients. Ongoing studies are aimed at measuring and modeling how social functioning changes over time, and how to improve motivation towards social connectivity as a natural, renewable resource to promote resilience and health.

Education History

Fellowship University of Utah School of Medicine/VA Salt Lake City Health Care System
 Postdoctoral Research Associate
VA Salt Lake City Health Care System
 Intern
Doctoral Training Virginia Tech
 PhD
University of Colorado Colorado Springs
 MA
Undergraduate Pennsylvania State University
 BS

Selected Publications

Journal Article

  1. Griffin, B J, Pyne, J M, Smith, A J, Usset, T, Harris, I J, Cooney, N, Messias, E, Cucciare, M A, Maguen, S (). Moral injury among first responders during the coronavirus pandemic. Manuscript under editorial review. (Epub ahead of print) J Clin Psychol.
  2. Ehman, A, Smith, A J, Wright, H, Benight, C C, Maguen, S, Pyne, J M, Cooney, N, Griffin, B J (). Exposure to potentially morally injurious events and mental health outcomes among frontline workers affected by COVID-19. (Epub ahead of print) J Clin Psychol.
  3. Smith, A J, Wright, H, Griffin, B, Ehman, A, Shoji, K, Love, T M, Morrow E, Locke, A, Call, M, Kerig, P K, Olff, M, Benight, C C, Langenecker, S A (2021). Mental health risks differentially associated with immunocompromised status among healthcare workers and family members at the pandemic outset. 15.
  4. Wright H, Griffin BJ, Shoji K, Love TM, Langenecker SA, Benight CC, Smith AJ (2020). Pandemic-related mental health risk among front line personnel. J Psychiatr Res.
  5. Shoji K, Smith AJ co-first authors, Sano R, Samuelson K, Benight CC (2020). Social engagement, self-efficacy, and posttraumatic stress symptoms across 6 months of psychotherapy. . J Clin Psychol.
  6. Marzalek D, Martinson A, Smith AJ, Marchand W, Sweeney C, Carney J, Lowery T, Clint-Lont J (2020). Examining the effect of a whole health primary care pain education and opioid monitoring program on implementation of VA/DoD-recommended guidelines for long-term opioid therapy in a primary care chronic pain population. Pain Med.
  7. Canada KE, Smith AJ, Peters C (2020). Mental health, social support, and coping among military veterans: The moderating role of arrests. Mil Behav Health.
  8. Smith AJ, Holohan D, Jones RT (2019). Emotion regulation difficulties and social cognitions predict PTSD severity and quality of life among treatment seeking combat veterans. . Mil Behav Health.
  9. Turner KA, Smith AJ, Jones RT, Harrison DW (2018). Adapting cognitive processing therapy to treat co-occurring posttraumatic stress disorder and mild traumatic brain injury: A case study. Cogn Behav Pract.
  10. Smith AJ, Layne CM, Coyle P, Kaplow JB, Brymer MJ, Pynoos RS, Jones RT (2017). Predicting Grief Reactions One Year Following a Mass University Shooting: Evaluating Dose-Response and Contextual Predictors. Violence Vict, 32(6), 1024-1043.
  11. Smith AJ, Felix ED, Benight CC, Jones RT (2017). Protective Factors, Coping Appraisals, and Social Barriers Predict Mental Health Following Community Violence: A Prospective Test of Social Cognitive Theory. J Trauma Stress, 30(3), 245-253.
  12. Smith AJ, Weisenbach SL, Jones RT (2017). Cynicism among veterans who struggle to adapt in post-combat contexts: Towards an understanding of adaptive functions and maladaptive consequences. Traumatology (Tallahass Fla).
  13. Smith AJ, Campbell RW, Harrison PK, Harrison DW (2016). Functional cerebral space theory: Towards an integration of theory and mechanisms of left hemineglect, anosognosia, and anosodiaphoria. NeuroRehabilitation.
  14. Sullivan C, Smith AJ, Lewis M, Hughes M, Jones RT (2016). A network analysis of PTSD symptoms after a mass shooting. Psychol Trauma, 10(1), 58-66.
  15. Smith AJ, Donlon K, Anderson SR, Hughes M, Jones RT (2015). When seeking influences believing and promotes posttraumatic adaptation. Anxiety Stress Coping.
  16. Smith AJ, Abeyta A, Hughes M, Jones RT (2015). Persistent grief in the aftermath of mass violence: The predictive roles of posttraumatic stress symptoms, self-efficacy, and disrupted worldview. Psychol Trauma.
  17. Wusik M, Smith AJ, Jones RT, Hughes M (2015). Dynamics among posttraumatic stress symptoms, forgiveness for the perpetrator, and posttraumatic growth following collective trauma. J Community Psychol, 43, 389-94.
  18. Smith AJ, Benight CC, Cieslak R (2013). Social support and post-deployment coping self-efficacy as predictors of posttraumatic distress among combat veterans. Mil Psychol, 25(5), 452-61.

Book Chapter

  1. Smith AJ, Hughes M (2016). Challenges to the empirical investigation of mass shootings. In Wilson LC (Ed.), Handbook of the Psychology of Mass Shootings (pp. 3-19). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.