Department of Psychology

Brief CV

I graduated from the University of Athens and since 2004 I am a professor of Clinical Health Psychology at the University of Crete, Department of Psychology. My research interests include adaptation to chronic illness; self- and dyadic regulation; stress, coping and health; individual differences in health. I have published over 110 papers and chapters in scientific journals and editions, as well as six edited books. I am a member of the Editorial Board in six international journals, and Associated Editor in two journals: Translational Behavioral Medicine, and Psychology, The Journal of the Hellenic Psychological Society. I am an Associate Researcher at the Institute of Computer Science, Computational Medicine Laboratory, ITE-FORTH, and President-Elect of the European Health Psychology Society.

Career Development

• University of Athens (2002-2004)
  
  • Adjunct Teaching Staff
• National Center for Psychological and Social Crises (2002 – 2004)
• University of Crete (2004 – )
  
  • Faculty member

Research Interests

My research interests are focusing on chronic patients’ self-regulation processes (e.g., illness representations, coping behaviors), adaptation to chronic illness, and quality of life. They also include the relation of stress to health, as well as the dyadic (patient – partner) regulation in illness. So far, my research focuses on patients with cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune disorders, and cancer.

Selected Research Grants

• Co-PI – ALGEA: An innovative programme of psychosocial intervention in chronic pain patients and their families. Cross-border Cooperation Programme “Greece-Cyprus 2012-2015”.
• PI – Direct and Indirect Effects of Positive and Negative Mood on Chronic Cardiac Patients’ and their Partners’ Well-being: A Prospective Dyadic Study. University of Crete Special Account for Research (2016-2017).
• Researcher – Predicting effective adaptation to breast cancer to help women BOUNCE back. European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme (2018-2021).
• -PI – Dyadic illness representations and coping: A prospective study of their relationship to quality of life in female cancer patients and their partners. Greek Research and Technology Network – NSRF (2020-2021).

Selected Publications

• Karademas, E.C., & Tsaousis, I. (2014). The personality bi-level effect on chronic cardiac patients’ health: Intra- and inter-personal relations. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 47, 79-91.
• Paschali, A., Hadjoulis, M., Papadimitriou, A., Karademas, E.C. (2015). Patient and Physician Reports of the Information Provided About Illness and Treatment: What Matters for Patients’ Adaptation to Cancer During Treatment? Psycho-Oncology, 24, 901-909.
• Karademas, E.C., Karekla, M., Flouri, M., Vasileiou, V., Kasinopoulos, O., & Papakostas, S. (2017). The impact of experiential avoidance on the relations between illness representations, pain catastrophizing, and pain interference in chronic pain. Psychology and Health, 32, 1469-1484.
• Karademas, E.C., Dimitraki, G., Papastefanakis, E., Ktistaki, G., Repa, A., Gergianaki, I., Bertsias, G., Sidiropoulos, P., & Simos, P. (2018). Adaptation to Inflammatory Rheumatic Disease: Do Illness Representations Predict Patients’ Physical Functioning Over Time? A Complex Relationship. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 41, 232-242.
• Karekla, M., Karademas, E.C., & Gloster, A. (2019). The Common Sense Model of self-Regulation and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Integrating strategies to guide interventions for chronic illness. Health Psychology Review, 13, 490-503.
• Karademas, E.C., Dimitraki, G., Thomadakis, C., & Giannousi, Z. (2019). The relation of spouse illness representations to patient representations and coping behavior: A study in couples dealing with a newly diagnosed cancer. Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 37, 145-159 [invited paper].
• Karademas, E.C., Barouxi, E., & Mavroeides, G. (2019). Positive and negative affect and well-being in cardiac patients and their spouses: The mediating role of illness representations. Psychology and Health, 34, 289-305.
• Benyamini, Y., & Karademas, E.C. (2019). Introduction to the Special Issue on the Common Sense Model of Self-regulation. Health Psychology Review, 13, 373-377.
• Karademas, E.C., & Thomadakis, C. (2019, in press). The interpersonal impact of partner emotion regulation on chronic cardiac patients’ functioning through affect. Journal of Behavioral Medicine. DOI: 10.1007/s10865-019-00105-5

Courses offered at the Undergraduate Level

• Introduction to Health Psychology (Ψ-3601)
• Health Psychology: Clinical applications (Ψ-3604)
• Natural disasters and psychosocial interventions (Seminar: Ψ-3613)
• Research and intervention topics in Health Psychology (Workshop: Ψ-4602)

Courses offered at the Postgraduate Level

• Prevention and health promotion