Heather Davis

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Faculty, Department of Psychology
EMail
heatherdavis@vt.edu
Office Address
319 Williams Hall
Accepting Students?
Not currently accepting students
Research Center/Lab
Study of Emotions and Eating Disorders (SEED) Lab
Web Link
Lab website
Web Link 2
ResearchGate
Short Bio
Dr. Heather Davis conducts research to understand the overlap between disordered eating, depression, anxiety, substance use, and suicidality. In particular, Dr. Davis investigates shame as a transdiagnostic mechanism underlying the overlap between multiple mental health problems. Dr. Davis also studies individuals at high risk for mental health problems, but underrepresented in the research literature.

Dr. Davis and her team are currently working to address mental health disparities among Virginians - especially in rural communities - experiencing financial hardship by adapting an evidence-based mental health intervention that will be integrated - in the future - with federal nutrition promotion interventions to address both problems simultaneously. She is also developing a single-session intervention to reduce shame following binge eating.

Dr. Davis’s research has been funded by the National Institute on Mental Health (NIMH) in the National Institutes of Health, the Lipman Foundation, and the Philanthropic Educational Organization.

Dr. Davis will not be accepting applications to the Clinical Science PhD program for the 2026-2027 academic year.

Select Publications
  • *Denotes mentee coauthor

  • *Patarinski, A. G. G., *Garban, A., *Athanasaw, K., Murray, M. F., Davis, H. A. (in press). Cognitive restraint and body dissatisfaction are more strongly related to muscle building behaviors for men than women. Eating Behaviors.

  • Davis, H. A., Misyak, S., Serrano, E. (in press). Promoting comprehensive approaches and wrap-around services to address stigma and shame among nutrition education participants. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.

  • Kells, M. R., Davis, H. A., *Roske, C., *Holzman, S., Wildes, J. E. (in press). The experience of treatment for eating disorders as told on TikToK. Eating Disorders: Journal of Treatment and Prevention.

  • Kells, M. R., Davis, H. A., *Patarinski, A. G. G., & Wildes, J. E. (in press). Trauma exposure proximity associated with eating disorder diagnosis in women with food insecurity. Appetite.

  • *Murray, M. F., Davis, H. A., & Wildes, J. E. (in press). Sexual and gender minorities present to outpatient eating disorder treatment at younger ages and with more severe depressive symptoms than their cisgender heterosexual peers. Eating Disorders: Journal of Treatment and Prevention.

  • Burnette, C. B. & Davis, H. A. (in press). A case for integrating self-compassion interventions targeting shame and self-criticism into eating disorder treatment. International Journal of Eating Disorders.

  • *Patarinski, A. G. G., Smith, G. T., Davis, H. A. (in press). Eating disorder-related functional impairment predicts greater depressive symptoms across one semester of college. Eating Behaviors.

  • Davis H. A., Kells, M., *Patarinski, A. G. G., Wildes, J. E. (in press). Associations among weight history, weight bias, and eating disorder diagnosis in women with current food insecurity. Eating Disorders: Journal of Treatment and Prevention.

  • Davis, H. A., Smith, Z. R. & Smith, G. T. (2024). Longitudinal transactions between fasting and negative urgency predict binge eating. Appetite, 192. 107113. Advance online publication.

  • Davis, H. A., *Patarinski, A. G. G., Hahn, S. L., *Kesselring-Dacey, D., Smith, G. T. (2023). A longitudinal test of problematic alcohol use and binge eating among college women: The moderating role of shame. Alcohol, S0741-8329(23)00333-6. Advance online publication.

  • Davis, H. A., Kells, M., *Roske, C., *Holzman, S., Wildes, J. E. (2023). A Reflexive Thematic Analysis of #WhatIEatInADay on TikTok. Eating Behaviors. 

  • Davis, H. A. & Smith, G. T. (2023). Examining the role of urgency in predicting binge size in bulimia nervosa. Frontiers in Psychology

  • Kells, M., Davis, H. A., Todorov, S., Wildes, J. E. (2023). Health literacy and eating disorder pathology in women with food insecurity: A preliminary cross-sectional study. Eating Behaviors, 49, 101727. Advance online publication.

  • Davis, H. A., Kells, M., *Todorov, S., *Kosmas, J., Wildes, J. E. (2023). Comorbid Eating, Depressive, and Anxiety Psychopathology is Associated with Elevated Shame in Women with Food Insecurity. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 56 (6), 1087-1097.

  • Davis, H. A., Keel, P. K., Tangney, J., & Smith, G. T. (2022). Increases in shame following binge eating among women: Laboratory and longitudinal findings. Appetite, 178, 106276.

  • Davis, H. A., *Rush, M., & Smith, G. T. (2022). Reciprocal relations between body image disturbance and driven exercise. Journal of American College Health, 1–7. Advance online publication.

  • Davis, H. A., Graham, A. K., & Wildes, J. E. (2020). Overview of binge eating disorder. Current Cardiovascular Risk Reports , 14(12), 1-10.

  • Davis, H. A., Smith, G. T., & Keel, P. K. (2020). An examination of negative urgency and other impulsigenic traits in purging disorder. Eating Behaviors. 36, 101365.

  • Smith, G. T., Atkinson, E. A., Davis, H. A., Riley, E. N., & Oltmanns, J. R. (2020). The general factor of psychopathology. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology 16 (1), 75-98.

  • Davis, H. A., *Ortiz, A. M. L, & Smith, G. T. (2019). Transactions between early binge eating and personality predict transdiagnostic risk. European Eating Disorders Review, 27(6), 614-627.

  • Davis, H. A. & Smith, G. T. (2018). An integrative model of risk for high school disordered eating. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 127(6), 559-570.

  • *Peterson, S. J., Davis, H. A., & Smith, G. T. (2018). Personality and learning predictors of adolescent alcohol consumption trajectories. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 127(5), 482-495.

  • Davis, H. A., *Ortiz, A. M. L. & Smith G. T. (2018). The occurrence and covariation of binge eating and compensatory behaviors across early to mid-adolescence. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 43(1), 402-412.
Degrees
  • T32 Postdoctoral fellowship in Eating Disorders Research, University of Chicago (2021)
  • Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, University of Kentucky (2020)
  • B.S. in Psychology, Florida State University (2012)