NISSSC
Trauma, Health & Hazards Center
(THHC)
- Mission is to reduce the impact of extreme human events.
- A multi-disciplinary team of social scientists focused on the human behavioral dimension of preventing, mitigating, and recovering from extreme events.
- Significant applications to homeland security as researchers apply leading edge research to practice in areas such as trauma psychology, emergency responder mental health, environmental factors in the spread of infectious disease, and the effectiveness of disaster warning and response systems.
For more information contact Charles Benight, 719-255-3843, benight@uccs.edu, or click here to visit the website.
Dr. Charles C. Benight
Director of the CU-Trauma, Health and Hazards Center
University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
Dr. Charles C. Benight joined University of Colorado at Colorado Springs from University of Miami where he completed his postdoctoral training in behavioral medicine. Dr. Benight earned his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Stanford University with an emphasis in Health Psychology/Behavioral Medicine in June 1992. He earned her Masters Degree in Counseling in 1986 and his Bachelors in Business Management from the Arizona State University in 1983. Dr. Benight is a Professor of Psychology at UCCS and teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Clinical Psychology, Health Psychology, Trauma Psychology. He was the Director of Clinical Training for the Clinical Masters Program from 1996-2004. In 1999, Dr. Benight founded and is the director of the CU-Trauma, Health and Hazards Center.
Dr. Benight's primary area of research interest is in the human adaptation from trauma. Over the past 14 years he has focused research on recovery from natural disasters, man-made disasters, motor vehicle accident trauma, sexual abuse, domestic violence, and bereavement. He has been funded through the National Institute for Mental Health and the National Science Foundation. He is a reviewer for several primary journals in health and trauma psychology including: Health Psychology, Psychosomatic Medicine, Annals of Behavioral Medicine, Journal of Traumatic Stress, Journal of Applied Personality and Social Psychology, Psychological Reviews, Brain Behavior and Immunity, International Journal of Behavioral Medicine. He is currently an Associate Editor of the Journal of Traumatic Stress and on the Editorial Board for Anxiety, Stress, and Coping an International Journal. He is also a grant reviewer for the National Science Foundation and the National Institute for Mental Health. He is a senior mentor for the Research on Disaster Mental Health Program funded through NIMH. He was recently chosen for an advanced mentoring program to learn advanced statistical modeling.
Representative Publications
Benight, C. C., Cieslak, R., Molton, I., & Johnson, L. (in press). Self-evaluative appraisals of coping capability and posttraumatic distress following motor vehicle accidents. Jounral of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.
Cieslak, R., Benight, C. C., & Lehman, V. (in press). Coping Self-Efficacy Mediates the Effects of Negative Cognitions on Posttraumatic Distress. Behaviour Research and Therapy.
Benight, C. C. (2005). Clinical implications of coping self-efficacy in early interventions for trauma. Guidance and Counselling, 21, 6 – 12.
Benight, C. C., Harding-Taylor, A., Midboe, & Durham, R. (2005). Psychometric Validation of a Domestic Violence Coping Self-Efficacy Measure. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 17, 505-508.
Benight, C. C. (2004). Collective efficacy following a series of natural disasters. Anxiety Stress and Coping, 17, 401-420.
Benight, C. C. & Bandura, A. (2004). Social cognitive theory of posttraumatic recovery: The role of perceived self-efficacy. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 42, 1129-1148