Recent News
Education
Ph.D., Psychology & Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine (2010)
M.A., Social Ecology, University of California, Irvine (2006)
B.A., Psychology, University of Pennsylvania (2002)
Research
Research Areas
- Experimental Health
Research Lab
Psychosocial Processes and Health Laboratory
Dr. Zoccola is not currently accepting new graduate students.
Research Interests
Dr. Zoccola’s research interests lie in understanding whether and how cognitive and emotional factors may prolong physiological and psychological stress responses and the potential health consequences of this persistent activation. To date, her program of research has focused on how repetitive thought processes such as rumination and worry may influence cortisol stress responses and related health outcomes. A few of questions that Dr. Zoccola addresses in her work include: Do individuals who ruminate, or mentally rehearse past stressors, have greater increases in stress hormones (cortisol) or inflammatory markers (C-reactive protein) in response to a stressful event. If so, for how long do these stress-related changes persist after the stressor ends? What are the consequences of rumination and prolonged stress-related physiological activation? Her work also aims to identify individual- and situation-level factors that may promote or prevent rumination and physiological activation. For example, are some individuals at greater risk for rumination? Are certain types of stressors or environmental contexts more likely to elicit ruminative thought and increases in cortisol? Dr. Zoccola’s research program also addresses key methodological issues and questions: How do operational definitions of rumination impact associations with physiology? How can we best measure or manipulate ruminative thought? In ongoing and recently completed studies with her colleagues and students at Ohio University, Dr. Zoccola is also exploring potential stress-buffering factors, such as trait reflection, mindfulness and mindfulness-based stress reduction, dispositional hardiness, positive post-stressor messages, and comprehensive lifestyle interventions.
Publications
Lang, J. C., Peters, B. J., Tudder, A. T., Gresham, A. B., Zoccola, P. M., & Allan, N. (2024). Conflicting patterns of cardiovascular reactivity, self-report, and behavior associated with social anxiety during a conversation with a close friend. Psychophysiology. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.14629
Strickland, M. G., Myszkowski, N., Hooker, E. D., Zoccola, P. M., & Dickerson, S. S. (2024). Depressive and anxious symptoms, experimentally manipulated acute social-evaluative threat, and cortisol reactivity. Psychosomatic Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000001336
Weeks., J. W., Beltzer, M., Schmidt, K., Olino, T., Goldin, P., Gross, J., Heimberg, R. G., Zoccola, P. M.(2024). Re-Assessing the assessment of fears of positive and negative evaluation: Scale development and psychometric evaluation of the Bivalent Fear of Evaluation Scale (BFOES). Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 105, 102879. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2024.102879
Zoccola, P. M., Manigault, A., Decastro, G., Taylor, C., & Dickerson, S. S. (2024). The role of social-evaluative threat for cortisol profiles in response to psychosocial stress: A person-centered approach. American Psychologist. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0001335
Zoccola, P. M., & Bryan, Angela D. (2023). [Editorial] Sexual orientation and gender identity minority health in behavioral medicine: An introduction to the continuing series. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, kaad064, 1-3. https://doi.org/10.1093/abm/kaad064
Saab, P., Revenson, T., Zoccola, P. M.,& Marchetti, D. (in press). Reimagining health psychology training in the 21 st century. To appear in T. W. Smith & N. Anderson (Eds.), APA Handbook of Health Psychology, Volume 1.
Revenson, T. A., & Zoccola, P. M.(2022). [Editorial] New instructions to authors emphasize open science, transparency, full reporting of sociodemographic characteristics of the sample, and avoidance of piecemeal publication. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 56 (5) , 415-417. https://doi.org/10.1093/abm/kaac013
Zoccola, P. M., Appelmann, H., & Decastro, G., (2022). Stress and reactions. In R. Gurung & R. LaCaille (Eds.). Routledge Encyclopedia of Psychology in the Real World. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367198459-REPRW13-1
Manigault, A., & Zoccola, P. M.(2021). Psychoneuroimmunology: How chronic stress makes us sick. In H. Hazlett-Stevens (Ed.), Biopsychosocial Factors of Stress, and Mindfulness for Stress Reduction (pp. 83-103). Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81245-4
Manigault, A. W., Shorey, R. C., Appelmann, H., Hamilton, K., Scanlin, M. C., Juster, R.-P., & Zoccola, P. M. (2021). Gender roles are related to cortisol habituation to repeated social evaluative stressors in adults: Secondary analyses from a randomized controlled trial. Stress, 24 (6), 723-733 . https://doi.org/10.1080/10253890.2021.1892069
Manigault, A. W., Shorey, R. C., Decastro, G., Appelmann, H. W., Hamilton, K., Scanlin, M. C., France, C. R., & Zoccola, P. M. (2021). Standardized stress reduction interventions and blood pressure habituation: Secondary results from a randomized controlled trial. Health Psychology. 40 (3), 196–206. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000954
Geist, K., Zoccola, P.,Andary, N., Geist, E., Dogbey, D., Tuttle, B., Williams, L. A. (2021). A randomized pilot study of rhythm-based music with movement strategies on stress and interaction behaviors of infant caregivers. Music and Medicine, 13 (1), 7-19. https://doi.org/10.47513/mmd.v13i1.763
Figueroa, W. S., Zoccola, P. M.,Manigault, A. W., Hamilton, K. R., Scanlin, M. C., & Johnson, R. C. (2021). Daily stressors and diurnal cortisol among sexual and gender minority young adults. Health Psychology, 40 (2), 145-154 . https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0001054
Appelmann, H., Manigault, A. W., Shorey, R. C., Zoccola, P. M.(2021). Childhood adversity and cortisol habituation to repeated acute stress in adulthood. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 125, 105118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2020.105118
Manigault, A., Peters, B. J., & Zoccola, P. M.(2021). When enhanced awareness threatens: Interactive effects of domain-specific awareness and acceptance manipulations on cardiovascular indices of challenge and threat. Psychophysiology, 58 (1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.13697
Manigault, A., & Zoccola, P. M.(2020). Rumination. In K. Sweeny & M. L. Robbins (Eds.), The Wiley Encyclopedia of Health Psychology: Volume II, The Social Bases of Health Behavior (pp. 557-567) . Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119057840.ch106
Manigault, A., & Zoccola, P. M.,Wüst, S., & Yim, I. S. (2020). Corroborative evidence for an association between initial hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis reactivity and subsequent habituation in humans. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 121 , 104798. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2020.104798
Hooker, E., Campos, B., Hoffman, L., Zoccola, P. M.,& Dickerson, S. S. (2020). Is receiving social support costly for those higher in subjective socioeconomic status? An examination of stressor appraisals and salivary cortisol in a study of daily life. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 27, 325-336. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-019-09836-w
Manigault, A. W., Shorey, R. C., Hamilton, K., Scanlin, M. C., Woody, A., Figueroa, W., France, C. R., & Zoccola, P. M. (2019). Cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, and cortisol habituation: A randomized controlled trial. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 104, 276-285. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.03.009
Manigault, A. W., Zoccola, P. M.,Hamilton, K., & Wymbs, B. T. (2019). Testosterone to cortisol ratio and aggression toward one’s partner: Evidence for moderation by provocation. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 103 , 130-136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.01.018
Revenson, T. A., Saab, P. G., Zoccola, P. M.,& Traeger, L. N. (2019). Becoming a Health Psychologist . New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.
Hooker, E. D., Campos, B., Zoccola, P. M., & Dickerson, S. S. (2018). Cortisol stress buffering when social status is low and social support is high. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 9, 981-989 . https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550617732387
Borchardt, A. R., & Zoccola, P. M. (2018). Recovery from stress: An experimental examination of focused attention meditation in novices. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 41, 836-849. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-018-9932-9
Hooker, E. D., Zoccola, P. M., & Dickerson, S. S. (2018). Toward a biology of social support. In C. R. Snyder, S. J. Lopez, L. M. Edwards, & S. C. Marques (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology (3rd ed.) (pp. 1-21) . New York, NY: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199396511.013.41
Manigault, A. W., Woody, A., Zoccola, P. M.,& Dickerson, S. S. (2018). Education is associated with the magnitude of cortisol responses to psychosocial stress in college students. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 25 (5), 532-539 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-018-9727-y
Manigault, A. W., Figueroa, W., Hollenbeck, C., Mendlein, A., Woody, A., Hamilton, K., Scanlin, M., Johnson, R., & Zoccola, P. M. (2018). When family matters most: Sexual minority identity disclosure to family members uniquely predicts diurnal cortisol exposure in sexual minority young adults. Psychosomatic Medicine, 80, 717-723. https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000000625
Woody, A., Hooker, E. D., Zoccola, P. M., & Dickerson, S. S. (2018). Social evaluative threat, cognitive load, and the cortisol and cardiovascular stress response. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 97, 149-155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.07.009
Manigault, A. W., Figueroa, W., Hollenbeck, C., Mendlein, A., Woody, A., Sinegar, S., Hamilton, K., Scanlin, M., Johnson, R., & Zoccola, P. M. (2018). A test of the association between mindfulness subcomponents and diurnal cortisol patterns. Mindfulness, 9, 897-904. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0829-4
Manigault, A. W., Woody, A., Zoccola, P. M.,& Dickerson, S. S. (2018). Trait mindfulness predicts the presence but not the magnitude of acute cortisol responses to social-evaluative stress. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 90, 29-34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.01.022
Zoccola, P. M.(2018). Psychobiological Measurement. In H. Blanton, J. M. LaCroix, & G. D. Webster (Eds.), Measurement in Social Psychology (pp. 75-101) . New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.
Zoccola, P. M., Woody, A., & Bryant, A. (2018). Health Neuroscience. In T. A. Revenson & R. A. R. Gurung (Eds.), Handbook of Health Psychology (pp. 465-473) . New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.
Zoccola, P. M., Manigault, A. W., Figueroa, W. S., Hollenbeck, C., Mendlein, A., Woody, A., Hamilton, K., Scanlin, M., & Johnson, R. (2017). Trait rumination predicts elevated evening cortisol in sexual and gender minority young adults. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14 , 1365. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14111365
Bunford, N., Evans, S. W., Zoccola, P. M., Owens, J. S., Flory, K. & Spiel, C. (2017). Correspondence between heart rate variability and emotion dysregulation in children, including children with ADHD. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 45, 1325-1337. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-016-0257-2
Woody, A., Hamilton, K., Livitz, I. E., Figueroa, W. S., & Zoccola, P. M.(2017). Buccal telomere length and its associations with cortisol, heart rate variability, heart rate, and blood pressure responses to an acute social evaluative stressor in college students. Stress, 20, 249-257. https://doi.org/10.1080/10253890.2017.1328494
Woody, A., Figueroa, W., Benencia, F., & Zoccola, P. M.(2017). Stress-induced parasympathetic control and its association with inflammatory reactivity. Psychosomatic Medicine, 79, 306-310. https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000000426
Woody, A., & Zoccola, P. M.(2017). Stress and physiological indicators. In S. G. Rogelberg (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Volume 4 (2 nd ed., Vol. 4., pp. 1537-1540). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Zoccola, P. M., & Woody, A. (2017). Cortisol. In A. E. Wenzel (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Abnormal and Clinical Psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 894-899) . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Weeks, J., & Zoccola, P. M.(2016). Fears of positive versus negative evaluation: Distinct and conjoint neuroendocrine, emotional, and cardiovascular responses to social threat. Journal of Experimental Psychopathology, 7 , 632-654. https://doi.org/doi:10.5127/jep.056016
Chadwick, A. E., Zoccola, P. M.,Figueroa, W. S., & Rabideau, E. M. (2016). Communication and stress: Effects of hope evocation and rumination messages on heart rate, anxiety, and emotions after a stressor. Health Communication, 31 , 1447-1459. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2015.1079759
Figueroa, W. S., & Zoccola, P. M.(2016). Sources of discrimination and their associations with health in sexual minority adults. Journal of Homosexuality, 63, 743-763. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2015.1112193
Woody, A., Figueroa, W. F., & Benencia, F., Zoccola, P. M.(2016). Trait reflection predicts interleukin-6 response to a social-evaluative stressor. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 52, 27-31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2015.10.011
Weeks, J., & Zoccola, P. M.(2015). "Having the heart to be evaluated": The differential effects of fears of positive and negative evaluation on emotional and cardiovascular responses to social threat. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 36, 115-126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2015.08.004
Woody, A., Smolak, E., Rabideau, E. M., Figueroa, W., & Zoccola, P. M.(2015). Trait rumination moderates the effect of mentation type on heart rate responses to stressor recall. Stress , 18, 554-560. https://doi.org/10.3109/10253890.2015.1055726
Figueroa, W. S., & Zoccola, P. M.(2015). Individual differences of risk and resiliency in sexual minority health: The roles of stigma consciousness and psychological hardiness. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 2, 329-338. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000114
Zoccola, P. M., & Dickerson, S. S. (2015). Extending the recovery window: Effects of trait rumination on subsequent evening cortisol following a laboratory performance stressor. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 58, 67-78 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.04.014
Juth, V., Dickerson, S. S., Zoccola, P. M.,& Lam, S. (2015). Understanding the utility of emotional approach coping: Evidence from a laboratory stressor and daily life. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 28, 50-70. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2014.921912
Gianferante, D., Thoma, M. V., Hanlin, L., Chen, X., Breines, J., Zoccola, P.,& Rohleder, N. (2014). Post-stress rumination predicts HPA axis responses to repeated acute stress. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 49, 244-252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2014.07.021
Zoccola, P. M.,Figueroa, W. S., Rabideau, E. M., Woody, A., & Benencia, F. (2014). Differential effects of post-stressor rumination and distraction on cortisol and C-reactive protein. Health Psychology, 33, 1606-1609. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000019
Zoccola, P. M.,Rabideau, E. M., Figueroa, W. S., & Woody, A. (2014). Cardiovascular and affective consequences of ruminating on a performance stressor depend on mode of thought. Stress & Health , 30, 188-197. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.2588
Dickerson, S. S., & Zoccola, P. M.(2013). Cortisol responses to social exclusion. In C. N. DeWall (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Social Exclusion (pp. 143-151). New York: Oxford University Press.
Zoccola, P. M., Dickerson, S. S., & Lam, S. (2012). Eliciting and maintaining ruminative thought: The role of social-evaluative threat . Emotion, 12 , 673-677 . https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027349
Zoccola, P. M., & Dickerson, S. S. (2012). Assessing the relationship between rumination and cortisol: A review. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 73 , 1-9 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2012.03.007
Schlotz, W., Yim, I. S., Zoccola, P. M., Jansen, L., & Schulz, P. (2011). The Perceived Stress Reactivity Scale: Measurement invariance, stability and validity in three countries. Psychological Assessment, 23 , 80-94. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021148
Zoccola, P. M.,Dickerson, S. S., & Yim, I. S. (2011). Trait and state perseverative cognition and the cortisol awakening response. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 36 , 592-595. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2010.10.004
Zoccola, P. M., Green, M. C., Karoutsos, E., Katona, S. M., & Sabini. J. (2011). The embarrassed bystander: Embarrassability and the inhibition of helping. Personality and Individual Differences, 51 , 925-929. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.07.026
Zoccola, P. M., Quas, J. A., & Yim, I. S. (2010). Salivary cortisol responses to a psychosocial laboratory stressor and later verbal recall of the stressor: The role of trait and state rumination. Stress, 13 , 435-443 . https://doi.org/10.3109/10253891003713765
Dickerson, S. S., & Zoccola, P. M.(2009). Toward a biology of social support. In C. R. Snyder & S. J. Lopez (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology (2 nd ed., pp. 519-526). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Lam, S., Dickerson, S. S., Zoccola, P. M.,& Zaldivar, F. P. (2009). Emotion regulation and cortisol reactivity to a social-evaluative speech task. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 34 , 1355-1362. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.04.006
Zoccola, P. M.,Dickerson, S. S., & Lam, S. (2009). Rumination predicts longer sleep onset latency after an acute psychosocial stressor. Psychosomatic Medicine, 71 , 771-775. https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0b013e3181ae58e8
Dickerson, S. S., Mycek (Zoccola), P. J.,& Zaldivar, F. P. (2008). Negative social evaluation, but not mere social presence, elicits cortisol responses to a laboratory stressor task. Health Psychology, 27, 116-121. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-6133.27.1.116
Zoccola, P. M., Dickerson, S. S., & Zaldivar, F. P. (2008). Rumination and cortisol responses to laboratory stressors. Psychosomatic Medicine, 70 , 661-667. https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0b013e31817bbc77
Dickerson, S. S., & Mycek (Zoccola), P. J.(2007). Health psychology. In R. F. Baumeister & K. D. Vohs (Eds.), The Encyclopedia of Social Psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 415-419). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Courses Taught
Graduate
- First-Year Seminar in Experimental Psychology
- Advanced Research Methods in Psychology
- Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)
- Social Endocrinology
- Stress Science
Undergraduate
- Human Stress
- Psychology of Health & Illness
- Research Methods in Psychology
Recent Grants
“Examining emotion regulation processes in social anxiety from an interpersonal and observational perspective,” National Institute of Mental Health (3-year Federal Research Grant). MPI: Peters & Zoccola. $453,000, 2022-2025.
“Profiles of Stress and Resilience in a Racially Diverse Sample of Queer Adults in Franklin County, Ohio,” The Ohio State University College of Public Health (1-year Internal Research Grant). Co-I (PI: Figueroa). $75,000. 2021-2022.
“The Impact of Music-Based Interactive Strategies on Caregiver Stress Levels and Caregiver/Infant Attachment Behaviors: Demonstrating Feasibility Among At-Risk Families,” National Endowment for the Arts (2-year Federal Research Grant, plus 1-year no cost extension). Co-I (PI: Geist). $29,000, 2020-2023.
“The Impact of Music-Based Interactive Strategies on Caregiver Stress Levels and Caregiver/Infant Attachment Behaviors: Demonstrating Feasibility Among At-Risk Families”, Ohio University Research Committee Grant, Ohio University. Co-I (PI: Geist). $7,950, 2019-2020.
“Biopsychosocial Outcomes of a Lifestyle Intervention for Individuals with Chronic Pain Post-intervention and at 1-year Follow-up,” PI. Baker Fund Award, $10,129, 2018-2020.
“Alcohol intoxication as a risk factor for intimate partner aggression among adults with ADHD,” Sponsored by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Co-I (PI: Wymbs). $262,500, 2017-2021.
Graduate Students
Current Graduate Students
- Gabby Decastro
- Taylor Hall
- Elizabeth Haudrich
- Kris Kumfer
- Endia Reid
- Nate Stuart
- Courtney Taylor
Former Graduate Students
- Wilson Figueroa
- Katrina Hamilton
- Andrew Manigault
- Erin Rabideau
- Matt Scanlin
- Stanley Singer
- Mohsin Sultan
- Alex Woody