Department of Psychology

College of Arts & Sciences

Stress and Mood Laboratory

University of Wyoming
Department of Psychology, Dept. 3415
1000 E. University Ave.
Laramie, WY 82071

Phone: (307) 766-2951
E-mail: cpepper@uwyo.edu

Our research group studies self-injurious behaviors, including non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicidality. We investigate the nature and functions of NSSI using a range of paradigms including experience sampling, experimental paradigms, questionnaire studies, and virtual reality simulations. As Wyoming has one of the highest suicide rates in the country, we are also interested in furthering our understanding of the high rates of suicide in the Mountain West region.

Accepting graduate students for Fall 2020

Current and Recent Lab Research Activities

• Suicide in the Mountain West
• Functions of non-suicidal Self-injury (NSSI)
• Interpersonal Theory of Suicide

Graduate Students

Recent Publications

*Lear, M. K., Wildowski, B. M. & Pepper, C. M. (in press). The Defective Self Model of self-injury: A daily diary investigation in self-injuring college students. Behavior Therapy.

*Lear, M. K., *Kozina, R. M., *Stacy, S. E., Clapp, J. D., & Pepper, C. M. (In press). Interpersonal needs and suicide risk: The moderating roles of sex and brooding, Journal of Clinical Psychology. Refereed.

*Stacy, S. E., ** Bandel, S. M., * Lear, M. K., & Pepper, C. M. (2018). Before, during, and after self-injury: The practice patterns of NSSI, Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 206, 522-527. doi: 10.1097/NMD.0000000000000846.

Pepper, C. M. (2017). Suicide in the Mountain West region of the United States, Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention

*Stacy, S. E., *Lear, M. K. & Pepper, C. M. (2017). The importance of origin: Differences in interpretation of self-inflicted versus environmentally-inflicted scars. Personality and Individual Differences, 116, 92-95.

*Lear, M. K., Pepper, C. M. (2016). Family-based outpatient treatments: A viable alternative to hospitalization for adolescent suicidality, Journal of Family Therapy, 30, 813–827.

*Lear, M. K. & Pepper, C. M. (2016). Self-concept clarity and emotion dysregulation in non-suicidal self-injury. Journal of Personality Disorders, 30, 813-827.

*Bachtelle, S. E. & Pepper, C. M. (2015). The physical results of self-injury: The meaning behind the scars. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 203, 927–933.

*Saraff, P. D., **Trujillo, N., & Pepper, C. M. (2015). Functions, consequences, and frequency of non-suicidal self-injury, Psychiatric Quarterly, 219, 298-304.

*Saraff, P. D. & Pepper, C. M. (2014). Functions, lifetime frequency, and variety of methods of non-suicidal self-injury among college students, Psychiatry Research, 219, 298-304.

* denotes graduate student co-author
** denotes undergraduate student co-author