Paakhi Srivastava, Ph.D.

BIOGRAPHY:

Dr. Paakhi Srivastava received her doctoral degree from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the Drexel University Center for Weight, Eating, and Lifestyle Sciences (WELL Center). She has extensive experience in conducting high-impact patient-oriented research in the mental health field. Dr. Srivastava’s research is focused on improving treatment outcomes for various mental health problems, with a primary focus on 1) developing novel treatment approaches for mental health problems, and 2) the use of technology to a) increase dissemination of evidence-based treatments to individuals with mental health problems who may otherwise never receive treatment, and b) enhance existing evidence based-treatments for mental health conditions to increase the efficacy of these approaches. In India, she developed and tested India’s first web-based cognitive behavioral therapy program for major depression in adolescents.

In the United States, Dr. Srivastava’s focus of research has been binge spectrum eating disorders (B-EDs), body image dissatisfaction associated with B-EDs, and the application of digital health technology for the assessment and treatment of these disorders. Specifically, her research has two key objectives including 1) the use of digital technology to enhance outcomes for eating disorders from extant cognitive behavior therapies, and 2) the use of digital health technologies to improve access to treatment for those who otherwise do not receive evidence-based care for B-EDs. The digital technology tools Dr. Srivastava and her collaborators have co-developed and tested include 1) ecological momentary assessment to understand proximal factors that precipitate ED behaviors, 2) artificial intelligence-based smartphone applications (including just-in-time, adaptive interventions or JITAIs) to target identified proximal factors to prevent these problematic behaviors, and 3) user-friendly interfaces (e.g., chatbots) to deliver evidence-based treatment content. In addition, Dr. Srivastava has co-developed and tested mindfulness and acceptance-based behavioral interventions to treat B-EDs.

Dr. Srivastava has published close to 50 articles in prestigious scientific journals including International Journal of Eating Disorders and British Journal of Psychiatry and has co-authored book chapters focused on treatments for major depression and eating disorders.

She is a licensed psychologist both in India and Pennsylvania, with expertise in several evidence-based treatments, including Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Values-based Behavioral Activation, Mindfulness-based Therapy, and Emotion Regulation Therapy.

Courses Taught:

• 710 Cognitive Behavior Theories and Therapies
• 721 Human Diversity
• 728 Clinical Cognitive Assessment
• 790 Dissertation Seminar

Research Interests:

Body Image Disturbances, Eating Disorders, Self-regulation, Ecological Momentary Assessment Approach, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Mindfulness and Acceptance-based Therapies, Experimental Therapeutics.

Selected Publications and Presentations:

1. Srivastava, P., *Giannone, A., Lampe, E. W., *Clancy, O. M., Fitzpatrick, B., Juarascio, A. S., & Manasse, S. M. (2024). A naturalistic examination of feeling fat: Characteristics, predictors, and relationship with eating disorder behaviors. International Journal of Eating Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.24232

2. ***Lampe, E. W., ***Srivastava, P., Presseller, E. K., Wilkinson, M. L., Trainor, C., Manasse, S. M., & Juarascio, A. S. (2024). Latent Change Trajectories in Mood During Focused CBT Enhanced for Eating Disorders Are Associated with Global Eating Pathology at Post-Treatment & Follow-up Among Individuals with Bulimia Nervosa-spectrum Disorders: A Preliminary Examination. Behavior Therapy. 10.1016/j.beth.2024.01.005

3. Srivastava, P., *Felonis, C. R., *Piers, A. D., *Nunez, N., *Fitzpatrick, B., Juarascio, A.S., & Manasse, S. (2023). Reward mediates the association between engagement in noneating activities and state body dissatisfaction: An ecological momentary assessment study. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 56(3), 562-573. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23862

4. Srivastava, P., *Felonis, C., *Lin, M., *Clarke, K., & Juarascio, A.S. (2023). Reciprocal association between session-by-session change in overvaluation of shape and weight and session-by-session change in bulimia nervosa symptoms during cognitive behavior therapies. Eating Disorders, 31(3), 242-257 10.1080/10640266.2022.2114584

5. *Clancy, O. M., Juarascio, A. S., Manasse, S. M., & **Srivastava, P. (2023). Predicting cognitive-behavioral therapy outcomes for bulimia nervosa patients based on skill use during treatment. Journal of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy, 33(1), 50-56. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2023-59528-007

6. Juarascio, A. S., Srivastava, P., Manasse, S. M., *Wilkinson, M. L., *Felonis, C. R., & *Drexler, S. A. (2023). Reward retraining: A pilot randomized controlled trial of a novel treatment approach for transdiagnostic binge eating. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 56(3), 662-670. 10.1002/eat.23905

7. Srivastava, P., *Presseller, E. K., *Chen, J. Y., *Clark, K. E., *Hunt, R. A., *Clancy, O. M., & Juarascio, A. S. (2022). Weight status is associated with clinical characteristics among individuals with bulimia nervosa. Eating Disorders, 1-25. 10.1080/10640266.2022.2145258

8. Srivastava, P., *Lampe, E. W., *Wons, O.B., Juarascio, A. S. & Manasse, S. (2022). Understanding the Relationship Between Body Dissatisfaction and Exercise in Binge-spectrum eating disorders. Eating and Weight Disorders-Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity. 10.1007/s40519-022-01371-0

9. Srivastava, P., *Parker, M., *Presseler, E., Wons, O., Clark, K., & Juarascio, A. (2021). A closer look at homework compliance in cognitive behavior therapy for bulimia nervosa: Does homework compliance in between-session period prospectively predicts a decline in symptoms? Eating Disorders Journal of Treatment and Prevention. 10.1080/10640266.2021.2014666

10. Srivastava, P., *Felonis, C. R., *Clancy, O. M., *Wons, O. B., *Abber, S. R., & Juarascio, A. S. (2021). Real-time predictors of body dissatisfaction in females with binge eating: an ecological momentary assessment study. Eating and Weight Disorders-Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity, 1-7. 10.1007/s40519-021-01296-0

*** Denotes co-first authors
** Denotes mentor
* Denotes mentees