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Photo of Peter Giancola Peter Giancola, PhD
Professor
Department of Psychology
207-K Kastle Hall
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY 40506-0044

Office Phone: 859.263.7580
E-mail: giancola.uky@gmail.com

Dr. Giancola’s research program has three main foci:

Alcohol and Aggression
This project has two overarching goals: 1) Identify neuropsychological and personality traits that place an individual at risk for behaving aggressively when intoxicated and 2) Determine exactly how alcohol intoxication leads to aggression by examining its effects on cognitive and emotional factors.

Giancola, P. R., & Corman, M. D. (2007). Alcohol and aggression: A test of the attention-allocation model. Psychological Science, 18, 649-655.
Parrott, D.J., & Giancola, P.R. (2006). The effect of past-year heavy drinking on alcohol-related aggression. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67, 122-130.
Giancola, P.R., Godlaski, A.J., & Parrott, D.J. (2005). "So I can't blame the booze?" Disposition aggressivity negates the moderating effects of expectancies on alcohol-related aggression. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 66, 815-824.
Giancola, P.R. (2003). The moderating effects of dispositional empathy on alcohol-related aggression in men and women. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 112, 275-281.

Nature and Correlates of Executive Functioning
Executive functioning (EF) is a higher-order cognitive construct involved in the planning, initiation, and self-regulation of goal-directed behavior. Deficits in EF manifest themselves in a number of clinical disorders such as Antisocial Personality Disorder, Conduct Disorder, ADHD, and others. Our research is directed at better understanding the nature and structure of EF as well as how it relates to a number of key psychological traits (e.g., impulsivity, aggression, empathy, difficult temperament, sensation seeking, stress-coping, etc.) that are possible risk factors for a number of clinical disorders.

Giancola, P.R. (2004). Executive functioning and alcohol-related aggression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 113, 541-555.
Giancola, P.R. (2000). Executive functioning: A conceptual framework for alcohol-related aggression. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 8, 576-597.
Giancola, P.R., & Tarter, R.E. (1999). Executive cognitive functioning and risk for substance abuse. Psychological Science, 10, 203-205.
Giancola, P.R., Mezzich, A.C., & Tarter, R.E. (1998). Executive functioning, temperament, and antisocial behavior in conduct-disordered adolescent females. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 107, 629-641.

Risk for Substance Abuse
Dr. Giancola has strong collaborative ties with the Center for Education and Drug Abuse Research (CEDAR) and the Female Adolescent Study (FAS) at the University of Pittsburgh. CEDAR is an ongoing 20-year longitudinal study (beginning at 10-12 years of age), aimed at elucidating the etiology of drug abuse. Families are extensively characterized on a large array of risk factors that are pertinent to a diagnosis of a Substance Use Disorder. These variables fit into the very broad categories of neurocognitive functioning, behavioral characteristics, social factors, family dynamics, and physical health. The FAS project is a longitudinal study of adolescent females with a Substance Use Disorder diagnosis. Subjects have been characterized from adolescence into early adulthood on a wide assortment of behavioral, affective, and cognitive variables in addition to personal relationships and family functioning.

Shoal, G.D., & Giancola, P.R. (2003). Negative affectivity and drug use in adolescent boys: Moderating and mediating mechanisms. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 221-233.
Giancola, P.R.& Parker, A.M. (2001). A six-year prospective analysis of pathways toward drug use in preadolescent boys with and without a family history of a substance use disorder. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 62, 166-178.
Giancola, P.R., & Mezzich. A.C. (2000). Neuropsychological deficits in female adolescents with a substance use disorder: Better accounted for by conduct disorder? Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 61, 809-817.
Mezzich, A.C., Giancola, P.R., Lu, S.Y., Parks, S.M., Ratica, G., & Dunn, M. (1999). Adolescent females with a substance use disorder: Affiliations with adult male sexual partners. American Journal on the Addictions, 8, 190-200.

Curriculum Vitae

Last updated: February 20, 2007