MATTHEW D. JOHNSON 
Associate Professor of Psychology  
Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
Internship: Veteran Affairs Medical Center, Long Beach, California
 
Area: Clinical Psychology 
E-mail: mjohnson@binghamton.edu
Phone: 607-777-6315
Office: Clearview Hall, Room 64


Professional Activities: Director of the Marriage and Family Studies Laboratory; Ad hoc Reviewer: Family Relations, Journal of Family Psychology, Journal of Marriage and Family, Psychological Assessment. Professional Societies: American Psychological Association, American Psychological Society, Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy, International Association of Relationship Researchers, National Council on Family Relations. Licensed psychologist: New York (#014850).

Research Interests: Changes in marriages and family functioning.

Research Description: I investigate the developmental course of marital distress and family dysfunction. As a science, psychology knows far more about the impact of divorce than its etiology. To better understand the antecedents of marital discord I have examined the dyadic interactions of young couples including the behaviors, cognitions, and emotions surrounding problem-solving discussions. My research to date focuses on the patterns of behavior during discussions of marital problems. This has led to questions about how couples perceive their own behaviors, and I am also studying the impact of spouses' cognitions about their interactions on their marital quality. Based on these findings and the broader marital research literature, I am part of a collaborative project comparing two prevention programs with different points of the intervention.

Philosophy of Graduate Training: Graduate students in my lab are expected to collaborate on large longitudinal studies of marriage. The lab is operated as a team with each graduate student answering specific questions as part of a larger project. Graduate students will be involved in interviewing couples, data management, data analysis, undergraduate supervision, and writing. It is expected that students publish their Masters Thesis and Dissertation. Students should be comfortable in a team setting and a scientist-practitioner training model.

Selected Publications:

Mattson, R. E., Paldino, D., & Johnson, M. D. (2007). The increased construct validity and clinical utility of assessing relationship quality using separate positive and negative dimensions. Psychological Assessment, 19, 146-151 .

Rogge, R. D., Cobb, R. M., Story, L. B., Johnson, M. D., Lawrence, E., Rothman, A. D., et al. (2006). Recruitment and selection of couples for intervention research: Achieving developmental homogeneity at the cost of demographic diversity. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 74, 777-784.

Johnson, M. D., Cohan, C. L., Davila, J., Lawrence, E., Rogge, R. D., Karney, B. R., et al. (2005). Problem-solving skills and affective expressions as predictors of change in marital satisfaction. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 73, 15-27.

Lenzenweger, M. F., Johnson, M. D., & Willett, J. B.  (2004). Individual growth curve analysis illustrates stability and change in personality disorder features: The Longitudinal Study of Personality Disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry, 61, 1015-1024 .

Johnson, M. D. (2002). The observation of specific affect in marital interactions: Psychometric properties of a coding system and a rating system. Psychological Assessment, 14, 423-438.
 
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