Dawn M. Johnson, Ph.D.

Dawn M. Johnson, Ph.D.

Title: Professor
Dept/Program: Counseling Psychology
Office: CAS 356
Phone: 330-972-2505
Email: johnsod@uakron.edu
Curriculum Vitae: Download in PDF format

Biography

Dr. Johnson received her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Kentucky in 2001. Afterwards, she completed a 2-year NIMH funded postdoctoral research fellowship focusing on clinical trials for PTSD at the Brown University School of Medicine in 2003. She then served as Clinic Coordinator and core faculty at the Summa-Kent State Center for the Treatment and Study of Traumatic Stress for five years. She joined the department of psychology at the University of Akron in 2008. Her research interests include intimate partner violence, PTSD, trauma and abuse, and treatment outcome research. Her research has focused on developing and evaluating HOPE, a CBT and empowerment-based treatment program targeting PTSD in residents of domestic violence shelters. Dr. Johnson has completed several NIH funded research projects with residents of domestic violence shelters. Other research interests include IPV prevention in college students, HIV prevention in transgender women with IPV, and mindfulness-based interventions including yoga.

Website: https://blogs.uakron.edu/empower/

Research

Co-PI, Trauma Informed Care Planning from Summit County

  • The purpose of this project is to complete a county wide environmental scan of trauma informed care initiatives in Summit County and to develop a strategic plan to assure that all county-funded services that may work with individuals with opioid use disorders are sustainably trauma-informed.

Co-PI, HIV risk reduction intervention for transwomen with intimate partner victimization

  • The primary aim of this study is to develop and evaluate the acceptability, feasibility and initial efficacy of a brief HIV prevention intervention for transgender women with recent intimate partner violence.

Co-I, Computerized Intervention for Reducing Intimate Partner Violence for Perinatal Women Seeking Mental Health Treatment.

  • The purpose of this study is to test whether an online intervention compared to an attention, time, and information matched control condition will be associated with lower frequency of IPV among perinatal women seeking mental health treatment within a 12 month follow-up period.

Publications

Holmes, S. C., King, K. C., Gonzalez, A., Norton, M. K., Silver, K. E., Sullivan, T. P., & Johnson, D.M. (2023). Associations among intimate partner violence, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, and disordered eating among women intimate partner violence survivors residing in shelter. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 38(1-2), 2135-2158. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/08862605221098968 

Silver, K. E., Norton, M., King, K. Gonzalez, A., Holmes, S. C., & Johnson, D.M. (2023).  Survival sex among a diverse sample of women victims of intimate partner violence: Results from a domestic violence shelter. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. https://doi-org.ezproxy.uakron.edu:2443/10.1037/tra0001431 

Holmes, S. C., Johnson, N. L., & Johnson, D. M. (2022). Understanding the relationship between interpersonal trauma and disordered eating: An extension of the Model of Psychological Adaptation. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 14(7), 1175-1183. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000533 

Akande, M., Del Farnno, A., Adrian, H., Fogwell, N., Johnson, D. M., Zlotnick, C., Operario, D. (2022). “Sometimes, we don’t know if we’re getting abused”: Discussions of Intimate Partner Violence and HIV Risk among Transgender Women. Culture, Health, & Sexuality. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2022.2134929 

Johnson, E., Jenssen, S., Zlotnick, C., Tzilos, G., Tweel, T., Johnson, D.M., & Zlotnick, C. (2022). Web-based intervention to reduce intimate partner violence during perinatal period: A modified protocol in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Psychiatry Research, 317, 114895. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2022.114895 

Anderson, R. E., Holmes, S. C., Johnson, N. L., & Johnson, D. M. (2021). Analysis of a modification to the Sexual Experiences Survey to assess intimate partner sexual violence. Journal of Sex Research, 58(9), 1140-1150. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2020.1766404 

Johnson, D. M., Zlotnick, C., Hoffman, L., Palmieri, P. A., Johnson, N. L., Holmes, S. C., & Ceroni, T. L. (2020). A randomized controlled trial of HOPE Treatment verses Present Centered Therapy in Women Residing in Shelter with PTSD from Intimate Partner Violence. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 44(4), 539-553. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684320953120 

Johnson, D.M., Wernette, G. T., Miller, T. R., Muzik. M., Raker, C. A., & Zlotnick, C. (2020). Computerized intervention for reducing intimate partner violence for perinatal women seeking mental health treatment: A Multisite randomized clinical trial protocol. Contemporary Clinical Trials, 93, 106011. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cct.2020.106011 

Johnson, D. M., Johnson, N. L., Beckwith, C.G., Palmieri, P.A., & Zlotnick, C. (2017). Rapid human immunodeficiency virus testing and risk prevention in residents of battered women’s shelters. Women’s Health Issues, 27, 36-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.whi.2016.10.007 

Johnson, D. M., Zlotnick, C., Perez, S, P. Johnson, N. L., & Palmieri, P. (2016). Comparison of adding treatment of PTSD during and after shelter stay to standard care in residents of battered women’s shelters: Results of a randomized clinical trial. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 29, 365-373. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22117