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Laura Miller-Graff

Associate Professor of Psychology and Peace Studies; Director of Undergraduate Studies

Laura Miller-Graff

352 Corbett Family Hall
Notre Dame, IN 46556

Phone: (574) 631-3245
Fax: (574) 631-6973
Laura.E.Miller.389@nd.edu

Areas of expertise: Childhood exposure to violence; intimate partner violence; psychosocial care; treatment evaluation; post-traumatic stress; resilience

Laura Miller-Graff earned a Ph.D. in clinical science from the University of Michigan in 2013.

Working within an ecological framework, Miller-Graff’s research seeks to understand how various systems (i.e. individual, family, and community) interact to promote or inhibit healthful development following violence exposure. With a focus on children who have multiple traumatic exposures, she investigates resulting patterns of resilience and psychopathology, including the development of post-traumatic stress symptoms.

In addition to conducting basic research on the effects of violence on development, Miller-Graff also seeks to identify effective intervention practices for children and families affected by violence. This line of work considers the status of psychosocial interventions currently available in international conflict settings and seeks to identify evidence-based intervention practices that facilitate resilience in families and communities. Specific aims of this work include identifying culturally appropriate assessment and treatment practices and developing efficacious and cost-effective psychosocial interventions that can be readily disseminated in conflict settings.

Detailed information about ongoing studies can be found at her research lab website, but Miller-Graff’s current projects focus on the intergenerational effects of violence against women, psychological care of pregnant, violence-exposed women and their young families, and individual and family-based psychosocial support programs for adolescents and young adults exposed to chronic sociopolitical conflict.

Miller-Graff’s recent work can be found in Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, the Journal of Traumatic Stress, Developmental Review, Psychology of Violence, and the Journal of Clinical Psychology. She also recently co-edited a special issue of the American Psychological Association journal Psychology of Violence, titled “Interventions for Violence” (2016), which drew together a collection of work focused on psychological treatments for violence-involved populations.

Recent Work

  • Journal Article: Laura Miller-Graff. (2020), PTSD Coach Online–Arabic: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial to Examine Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Effectiveness. JOURNAL OF TRAUMATIC STRESS. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22621 (Co-authored with  Ellis, K. and Hosny, N)
  • Journal Article: “I Did It to Save My Children”: Parenting Strengths and Fears of Women Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. November 2020. doi:10.1177/0886260520969231. (Co-authored with Scrafford, Katie, Umunyana AG, Schwartz LE, and Howell KH)
  • Journal Article: (2020). Factors related to parenting confidence among pregnant women experiencing intimate partner violence. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000985. (Co-authored with Howell, K. H., Gilliam, H. C., & Carney, J. R.)
  • Journal Article: The Multidimensional Taxonomy of Individual Resilience. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. November 2020. http://doi:10.1177/1524838020967329
  • Journal Article: Childhood and Adolescence. J Abnorm Child Psychol (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-020-00701-z. (Co-authored with Yoon, S., Paulson, J.L. et al.)
  • Journal Article: (2020). Parenting practices and intergenerational cycle of victimization in Peru. Development and Psychopathology, 1-11. doi:10.1017/S0954579420000425 (Co-authored with Scheid, C., and Guzmán, D.)
  • Journal Article: (2020). Factors related to parenting confidence among pregnant women experiencing intimate partner violence. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000985 (Co-authored with Howell, K. H., Gilliam, H. C., & Carney, J. R.)
  • Journal Article: The Multidimensional Taxonomy of Individual Resilience. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. November 2020. doi:10.1177/1524838020967329
  • Journal Article: “I Did It to Save My Children”: Parenting Strengths and Fears of Women Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. November 2020. doi:10.1177/0886260520969231 (Co-authored with Scrafford KE, Umunyana AG, Schwartz LE, Howell KH.)
  • Journal Article: (2020), PTSD Coach Online–Arabic: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial to Examine Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Effectiveness. JOURNAL OF TRAUMATIC STRESS. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22621 (Co-authored with Ellis, K. and Hosny, N.)
  • News: A Remedy for Battered Hearts (Notre Dame Magazine)
     
  • Journal Article: "The Road to Resilience: Strength and Coping Among Pregnant Women Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence." Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 26 May 2019
     
  • Journal Article: “Violence is Everywhere”: Childhood Polyvictimization, Perceptions of the Prevalence of Victimization, and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms," Violence and Victims, Vol. 34, Issue 2 (April 2019)
     
  • Research: Prenatal exposure to violence leads to increased toddler aggression toward mothers, study finds
     
  • Journal Article: (2020) COVID-19 Effect on Access to Maternal Health Services in Kenya. Front. Glob. Womens Health 1:599267. doi: 10.3389/fgwh.2020.599267
     
  • Journal Article: Lessons learned in adapting an online intervention program for posttraumatic stress for use in Egypt. Transcultural Psychiatry. December 2020. doi:10.1177/1363461520970748 (Co-authored with K. Ellis)
     
  • Journal Article: Miller-Graff, Laura et al. Exploring women’s childbirth experiences and perceptions of delivery care in peri-urban settings in Nairobi, Kenya. Reprod Health 18, 83 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12978-021-01129-4
     
  • Journal Article: Laura E. Miller-Graff, Kathryn H. Howell, Julia L. Paulson, Lacy E. Jamison, “I'll catch you when you fall: Social safety nets and housing instability in IPV-exposed pregnant women,” Journal of Affective Disorders, Volume 291, 2021, Pages 352-358, ISSN 0165-0327, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.05.023.
     
  • Book Chapter: Miller-Graff, Laura. 2021. “Supporting mental health in conflict-affected settings” In Public Health, Mental Health, And Mass Atrocity Prevention, edited by Kestenbaum, J.G., Mahoney, C.O., Meade, A.E., & Fuller, A.F. Routledge.
     
  • Ellis, K., Hosny, N., & Miller-Graff, L. (2022). User experiences of a culturally adapted web-based intervention for posttraumatic stress disorder in Egypt: A qualitative study. Psychotherapy. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/pst0000429
     
  • Miller-Graff, L., Donato, S., Barni, D., Ferraris, A. et al. Adolescents’ Victimization and Internalizing Problems: The Protective Role of Parental Sense of Coherence. J Child Fam Stud (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-022-02264-7
     
  • Miller-Graff, L. E., Paulson, J., Hosny, N., & Ellis, K. (2022). Trauma, resilience, and distress in post-revolution Egypt. Psychological trauma: theory, research, practice and policy, 10.1037/tra0001239. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0001239

  • Maloney, Catherine A., Laura E. Miller-Graff, Bethany Wentz, and Edward Mark Cummings. 2022. "Evaluating the Role of Maternal and Paternal Trauma Exposure, Emotional Security, and Mental Health in Predicting Psychological Adjustment among Palestinian Adolescents" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no. 15: 9288. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19159288

  • Gilliam, H. C., Howell, K. H., Paulson, J. L., Napier, T. R., & Miller-Graff, L. E. (2022). Pregnancy complications and intimate partner violence: The moderating role of prenatal posttraumatic stress symptoms. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 1 -13.  https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22855

Access more resources, including Miller-Graff's latest publications and scholarly activities.

Curriculum Vitae