Adjunct Faculty
Adjunct faculty typically have an academic or research appointment at another institution and contribute or collaborate with one or more School of Medicine faculty members or programs.
Adjunct rank detailsReuma Gadassi Polack
Assistant Professor Adjunct in the Child Study CenterAbout
Research
Publications
2026
Neural correlates linked to developmental and affective disorder–related self-referential processing: an ALE meta-analysis
Sawada Y, Edgar E, Ibrahim K, Reid L, Gadassi-Polack R, Bloch M, Crowley M. Neural correlates linked to developmental and affective disorder–related self-referential processing: an ALE meta-analysis. Cerebral Cortex 2026, 36: bhag031. PMID: 41860307, PMCID: PMC13017888, DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhag031.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsFunctional magnetic resonance imagingCortex activityBrain networksActivation Likelihood Estimation Meta-AnalysisAnterior cingulate cortex activationDorsolateral prefrontal cortex activitySocial anxiety disorderSelf-referential processingCingulate cortex activationPrefrontal cortex activityALE meta-analysisDefault mode networkTask design factorsModerating effectDevelopmental maturationSelf-representation processesDepressed sampleNonclinical childrenAnxiety disordersStimulus valenceAtypical developmentCommunity sampleMode networkCore hubsCognitive processesAssociations over time between wartime deployment, parental burnout and child adjustment
Keleynikov M, Lassri D, Benatov J, Cohen N, Gadassi-Polack R. Associations over time between wartime deployment, parental burnout and child adjustment. Psychiatry Research 2026, 358: 116943. PMID: 41576490, DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2026.116943.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsParental burnoutChild adjustmentMeasurement of parental burnoutLevels of parental burnoutChild mental healthChildren's difficultiesEmotional Well-BeingBehavior problemsParental emotional well-beingEmotional difficultiesIsraeli mothersAssociations with child difficultiesChild outcomesMental healthWartime deploymentLongitudinal studyChildren Aged 5Deployed groupCentral targetWell-beingAged 5BurnoutReserve dutyChildrenSupport strategiesChanges in emotional granularity under a population‐level stressor predict social anxiety and depressive symptoms
Liu S, Zabag R, Xu J, Wang Y, Deng W, Joormann J, Gadassi‐Polack R. Changes in emotional granularity under a population‐level stressor predict social anxiety and depressive symptoms. Journal Of Research On Adolescence 2026, 36: e70131. PMID: 41490794, PMCID: PMC12768735, DOI: 10.1111/jora.70131.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsAdolescent social anxietySocial anxietyEmotional granularityDepressive symptomsPredictors of social anxietyAdaptive emotional processingHigh social anxietyStress-related changesPopulation-level stressorsEmotional processingEmotional Well-BeingDaily emotionsNegative emotionsInternalizing problemsEmotional experienceAnxietyAdolescentsWell-beingEmotionsAcute phaseSymptomsDepressionChronic phaseStressorsSmall increasesAssociations between attentional disengagement from distressed infant faces and cortisol reactivity are moderated by depressive symptoms in pregnant women: an eye-tracking study
Dworschak C, Paganini G, Beech A, Gunther K, Rutherford H, Joormann J, Gadassi-Polack R. Associations between attentional disengagement from distressed infant faces and cortisol reactivity are moderated by depressive symptoms in pregnant women: an eye-tracking study. Archives Of Women's Mental Health 2026, 29: 3. PMID: 41484360, PMCID: PMC12764579, DOI: 10.1007/s00737-025-01638-2.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsLevels of depressive symptomsDistressed infant facesCortisol reactivityDepressive symptomsAttentional disengagementCue processingInfant facesInfant stimuliCortisol stress reactivityEye-tracking taskCollection of salivary cortisolEye-tracking studyResponse to stressPotential intervention targetsStress reactivityBDI-IIInfant distressInfant cuesMaternal distressSalivary cortisolIntervention targetsPregnant womenDepressionDisengagementPsychological conditions
2025
Parental PTSD and Children’s Well-Being During Wartime: The Role of Interpersonal Emotion Regulation
Keleynikov M, Cohen N, Gadassi-Polack R, Lassri D, Benatov J. Parental PTSD and Children’s Well-Being During Wartime: The Role of Interpersonal Emotion Regulation. International Journal On Child Maltreatment: Research, Policy And Practice 2025, 1-16. DOI: 10.1007/s42448-025-00238-y.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchParental posttraumatic stress disorderParental PTSD symptomsPTSD symptomsChild Well-BeingEmotional difficultiesMental healthInterpersonal emotion regulationPosttraumatic stress disorderWell-beingImpact of parental mental healthModerating RoleHeightened psychological distressWar-related stressProtective factorsParental mental healthEmotion regulationStress disorderCaregiver mental healthChronic stressPsychological distressExposure to severe violenceFamily stressSevere violencePsychosocial outcomesParenting programsWhen emotions persist: Emotional inertia predicts adolescent depression amid COVID-19 stress
Liu S, Xu J, Deng W, Feng A, Joormann J, Gadassi-Polack R. When emotions persist: Emotional inertia predicts adolescent depression amid COVID-19 stress. Behaviour Research And Therapy 2025, 194: 104885. PMID: 41075419, PMCID: PMC12745362, DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2025.104885.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsNegative emotional inertiaEmotional inertiaDepressive symptomsMarkers of stress reactivityLatent change score modelsChange score modelsEcological momentary assessmentFewer depressive symptomsCOVID-19 stressEarly intervention targetsPersistent negative emotionsStress reactivityNaturalistic stressorYouth mental healthAdolescent depressionMomentary assessmentChronic stressNegative emotionsPositive emotionsDepression riskIntervention targetsLongitudinal evidenceEmotional statesMental healthEmotionsBiased and Inflexible Interpretations of Social Situations Predict Affect Intensity and Variability in Children and Adolescents
Hohensee N, Bronstein M, Everaert J, Zabag R, Joormann J, Gadassi-Polack R. Biased and Inflexible Interpretations of Social Situations Predict Affect Intensity and Variability in Children and Adolescents. Research On Child And Adolescent Psychopathology 2025, 53: 1567-1579. PMID: 40906292, PMCID: PMC12521329, DOI: 10.1007/s10802-025-01371-5.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchInterpretation biasNegative affectAdolescents' daily livesSocial situationsInterpretations of social situationsIntensity of negative affectPositive interpretation biasNegative interpretation biasDaily affective experiencesPositive affectNegative interpretationsAffective experiencePredictive utilityAffective intensityHeightened emotionsAffective dynamicsAffectDevelopmental periodInflexibilityAdolescentsDaily lifeChildrenSocial interpretationBiasEmotionsSocial Reorientation of Emotion Regulation: Changing Roles of Family and Peers During Adolescence
Ho E, Joormann J, Kober H, Gadassi-Polack R. Social Reorientation of Emotion Regulation: Changing Roles of Family and Peers During Adolescence. Emotion 2025, 25: 1447-1459. PMID: 39992789, PMCID: PMC12353143, DOI: 10.1037/emo0001500.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchER strategiesAssociated with greater useInterpersonal eventsEmotion regulationRegulation of negative affectDevelopment of emotion regulationPositive interpersonal eventsNegative interpersonal eventsEffective ER strategiesSocial interactionGreater useNegative affectLongitudinal designDaily diariesEffective ERER developmentEmotional climateOlder youthAged 8Younger youthAdolescentsFamily eventsPeer groupYouthPeerAre biased and inflexible updating of interpretations broad or narrow transdiagnostic risk markers for psychopathology? A Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) lens
Vos L, Lodder P, Bronstein M, Gadassi-Polack R, Smeets T, Joormann J, Everaert J. Are biased and inflexible updating of interpretations broad or narrow transdiagnostic risk markers for psychopathology? A Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) lens. Behaviour Research And Therapy 2025, 193: 104845. PMID: 40886453, DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2025.104845.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsPositive interpretation biasHierarchical Taxonomy of PsychopathologyTaxonomy of PsychopathologyInterpretation biasHierarchical taxonomyInterpretation of ambiguous informationDimensions of psychopathologyNegative interpretation biasSelf-report batteryMental health conditionsTransdiagnostic associationsHiTOP spectraPsychopathological symptomsSocial disinterestDiagnostic boundariesCommunity sampleSymptom overlapPsychopathologyTask measuresNegative interpretationsHiTOPLatent regression modelEmotional detachmentDiagnostic categoriesInterpretation processBiased and inflexible interpretations of social situations predict depressive symptoms and relational outcomes in parent-adolescent dyads
Gadassi-Polack R, Zabag R, Bronstein M, Joormann J, Everaert J. Biased and inflexible interpretations of social situations predict depressive symptoms and relational outcomes in parent-adolescent dyads. Behaviour Research And Therapy 2025, 193: 104840. PMID: 40845759, DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2025.104840.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsInterpretations of social situationsDepressive symptomsInterpretation biasSocial situationsLevels of depressive symptomsAdaptive social functioningNegative biasParent-adolescent relationshipParent-adolescent dyadsSocial-emotional developmentCognitive inflexibilityPartner responsivenessPositive biasRelationship qualityRelated perceptionsPsychopathologySocial functioningPositive interpretationInflexibilityAdolescentsPerceived ResponsibilityRelated outcomesDaily interactionsSymptomsGeneral population