Dr. Adina Aldea
Dr. Aldea is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of South Florida. Dr. Aldea specializes in the cognitive behavioral treatment of adult and childhood obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). Dr. Aldea earned her master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Appalachian State University, followed by her Ph.D. degree from the University of Florida.
Over her training years, Dr. Aldea worked extensively with adolescents and adults suffering from anxiety and depressive disorders. She worked in a variety of settings ranging from psychiatric hospitals to counseling centers and in different modalities, including individual and group therapy. Dr. Aldea joined the Faculty of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of South Florida recently, after completing a postdoctoral fellowship focusing on the treatment of OCD and BDD in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Florida. Dr. Aldea is currently conducting research in the areas of cognitive behavioral treatment for adult and childhood BDD and OCD and factors that affect treatment response.
Research and Scholarly Interests
Dr. Aldea believes that efficient work in any field requires precise standards that serve to focus the work, and involves ongoing outcome assessments in order to decipher whether the work is making the desired impact. Thus, her current research focus is on the treatment of adult and childhood OCD and BDD. She is particularly interested in treatment augmentation for adolescents with BDD as well as patient- and therapist-related factors that influence treatment outcome. In addition, her research centers on understanding the moderational and mediational mechanisms by which perfectionism affects the distress level associated with BDD and OCD. Perfectionism has been an area of interest for Dr. Aldea in the past few years in which she aimed to develop brief therapeutic interventions for a population at risk, i.e. maladaptive perfectionists.
Educational Interests
Dr. Aldea has taught a variety of undergraduate courses in psychology including Personality, Abnormal, and Social Psychology. She also provided outreach programs in university campuses promoting mental health awareness and psychoeducation on mental disorders and associated coping mechanisms and treatment avenues. Additionally, Dr. Aldea mentored and supervised graduate students in different practica settings.
Publications & Articles in Preparation
Aldea, M. A., Geffken, G. R., Jacob, M. L., Goodman, W. K., & Storch, E. A. (in press). Further psychometric analysis of the Florida Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory. Journal of Anxiety Disorders.
Aldea, M. A. & Rice, K. G. (2006). The role of emotional dysregulation in perfectionism and psychological distress. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53, 498-510.
Rice, K.G. & Aldea, M. A. (2006). State dependence and trait stability of perfectionism: A short-term longitudinal study. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53, 205-213.
Rice, K.G., Vergara, D., & Aldea, M. A. (2006). Cognitive-affective mediators of perfectionism and college student adjustment. Personality and Individual Differences, 40, 463-473.
Potoczniak, D.J., Aldea, M.A., & DeBlaere, C. (2007). Sexual orientation and ego identity status: A domain-specific consideration. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 54, 447-457.
Harris, R.S. & Aldea, M. A., Kirkley, D. E. (2006). A motivational interviewing and common factors approach to change in working with alcohol use/abuse in college students. Professional Psychology Research and Practice, 37, 614-621.
Aldea, M. A. & Storch, E. A. (in preparation). Cognitive-behavioral therapy for children with body dysmorphic disorder. A case study.
Aldea, M. A., Storch, E. A., & Rahman, O. (in preparation). Reliability and validity of the Florida Obsessive Compulsive Inventory in college students.
Pence, S., Aldea, M.A., & Rice, K. G. (in preparation). Perfectionism and obsessive-compulsive symptoms: Moderating effect of gender.
Storch, E. A., Aldea, M. A., Pence, S., Kaufman, D., Geffken, G. R., Lehmkuhl, H. D., Murphy, T. K., & Goodman, W. K. (in preparation). The impact of comorbidity on cognitive-behavioral therapy response in pediatric obsessive compulsive disorder.
Aldea, M. A. (in preparation). An integrative approach to working with perfectionistic college students.