Julia Buckner, Professor 

BucknerOffice: 215 Audubon Hall
Department of Psychology
236 Audubon Hall
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
Office Phone: (225)-578-4096
Email: [email protected]
View my lab webpage.

Dr. Buckner is accepting new students in Fall 2025.

Julia Buckner is a Professor and the Director of LSU's Anxiety and Addictive Behaviors Laboratory & Clinic. She is also a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at LSU Health Sciences Center and a licensed clinical psychologist who supervises clinical services conducted by trainees at LSU’s Psychological Services Center and several units at Our Lady of the Lake Hospital. Dr. Buckner has published over 200 scholarly works primarily concerning psychological, sociocultural, and contextual factors related to negative affect and/or substance misuse, as well as testing novel methods to decrease substance misuse and negative affect and increase treatment-seeking among individuals suffering from these conditions. She has utilized a variety of methodological procedures in her research, including ecological momentary assessment; affect and, craving, induction paradigms; alcohol administration; attentional processing paradigms; technology-based interventions; longitudinal data collection; and randomized clinical trials. She has been involved in several NIH grants as PI, co-PI, consultant, and sponsor and PI on a graduate education training grant from the US Department of Health & Human Services' HRSA. She has also received awards from organizations such as the American Psychological Association, College on Problems of Drug Dependence, Anxiety Disorders Association of America, and Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) Addictive Behaviors & Anxiety Disorders Special Interest Groups.

Research Interests

Primary focus concerns understanding the nature and treatment of substance use disorders, with a particular interest in the study of historically underrepresented groups. This line of research focuses on three related domains: (1) identification of psychosocial, contextual, sociocultural, and biological factors related to negative affect and other transdiagnostic vulnerability factors and substance use behaviors, and (2) development and evaluation of empirically-informed treatment and prevention protocols for substance use disorders in and of themselves as well as when they co-occur with anxiety and related disorders.

Education

Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, Florida State University, 2008
Predoctoral Clinical Internship, Yale University School of Medicine, 2007-2008
M.S., Clinical Psychology, Florida State University, 2005
M.A., Clinical Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2002
B.A., Psychology, Kenyon College, 1997

Dr. Buckner teaches/has taught the following courses:

  • Behavior Therapy (PSYC 7185)
  • Practicum in Clinical Psychology (PSYC 7688/89)
  • Clinical Psychology Internship (PSYC 7997)
  • Professional Considerations in Psychology (PSYC 7999)
  • Introduction to Psychological Disorders (PSYC 3082)
  • Undergraduate Practicum and Research (PSYC 2999/4999)

Representative Publications

* indicates LSU graduate student author, ** indicates undergraduate student author

Theoretical models of substance misuse:

Rogers, A. H., Zvolensky, M. J., Ditre, J. W., Buckner, J. D., & Asmundson, G. J. G. (2021). Association of opioid misuse with anxiety and depression: A systematic review of the literature. Clinical Psychology Review, 84. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2021.101978

Buckner, J.D., *Morris, P.E., *Abarno, C.N., *Glover, N.I., & *Lewis, E.M. (2021). A biopsychosocial model social anxiety and substance use revised. Current Psychiatry Reports, 23(6), doi: 10.1007/s11920-021-01249-5

Buckner, J. D., Heimberg, R. G., *Ecker, A. H., & *Vinci, C. (2013). A biopsychosocial model of social anxiety and substance use. Depression and Anxiety, 30, 276-284. doi: 10.1002/da.22032

Psychological vulnerability factors related to substance use:

Schepis, T. S., Buckner, J. D., Klare, D. L., Wade, L. R., & Benedetto, N. (2021). Predicting college student prescription stimulant misuse: An analysis from ecological momentary assessment. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 29(6), 580-586. doi: 10.1037/pha0000386

Buckner, J.D., *Walukevich, K.A., & Zvolensky, M.J. (2019). Distress tolerance and cannabis craving: The impact of laboratory-induced distress. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 27(1):38-44. doi: 10.1037/pha0000231. PMCID: PMC6355373

Buckner, J.D., Zvolensky, M.J., Crosby, R.D., Wonderlich, S.A., *Ecker, A.H., & Richter, A. (2015). Antecedents and consequences of cannabis use among racially diverse cannabis users: An analysis from ecological momentary assessment. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 147, 20-25. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.12.022. PMCID: PMC4304386

Treatments and interventions:

Buckner, J. D., *Morris, P. E., & Zvolensky, M. J. (2021). Integrated cognitive-behavioral therapy for comorbid cannabis use and anxiety disorders: The impact of severity of cannabis use. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 29(3), 272–278. https://doi.org/10.1037/pha0000456

Buckner, J.D., Zvolensky, M.J., & *Lewis, E.M. (2020). On-line personalized feedback intervention for negative affect and cannabis: A pilot randomized controlled trial. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 28(2):143-149. doi: 10.1037/pha0000304

Buckner, J.D., Neighbors, C., *Walukevich-Dienst, K., & Young, C.M. (2019). Online personalized normative feedback intervention to reduce event-specific drinking during Mardi Gras. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 27(5), 466-473. doi: 10.1037/pha0000259. PMCID: PMC6746610

Psychological distress and/or substance misuse among underrepresented groups:

**Threeton, E.M., *Morris, P.E., & Buckner, J.D. (2024). Sexual orientation-based microaggressions and cannabis use outcomes among sexual minority individuals: The impact of negative affect and coping-motivated cannabis use. Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment, 160. doi: 10.1016/j.josat.2024.209293 

Buckner, J.D., *Morris, P.E., *Ferrie, M.L., & *Scherzer, C.R. (2023). Social anxiety and alcohol use and related problems among Black adults: Differential roles of motives by sex. Substance Use and Misuse, 58(1), 36-43. doi: 10.1080/10826084.2022.2137813

Buckner, J.D., *Morris, P.E., Shepherd, J.M., & Zvolensky, M.J. (2022). Cannabis use among Black young adults: The interactive effects of ethnic-racial identity, anxiety, and sex. Cognitive Therapy and Research. doi: 10.1007/s10608-022-10296-y

 

LSU