Nicholas C. Borgogna, Ph.D

Current and Previous Funding

Current Funding
Title: Dying to be Masculine: Investigating the Longitudinal Relationships between Traditional Masculinity and Men's COVID-19 Vaccine Attitudes and Behavior
Funding Agency: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Psychological Association
Role: Co-Investigator
Co-Principal Investigators: Ryon C. McDermott & Ronald F. Levant 

Previous Funding
American Psychological Foundation
American Psychological Association Division D51
University of South Alabama

Research Interests

My research falls under two primary domains. The first is understanding the intersection between psychological distress and human sexuality. Much of this work involves understanding the nature, intervention, and prevention of psychological disorders that have a sexual component. My work in this area includes examinations of LGBTQ mental health disparities, sexual traumas, and compulsive sexual behavior disorder (e.g., problematic pornography use). The second domain involves examining the nature of distressing psychological experiences (e.g., depression, anxiety, trauma) and better ways to treat/prevent them. This is a burgeoning area of interest, and one that I hope to grow in the coming years. Questions I have under this domain include: What makes therapy work? Why does therapy work for some people, but not others? How can we improve our psychological interventions? From a clinical perspective, I orient from a third wave-behavior perspective (ACT), but also draw heavily from emotion-focused and process-based therapies. I am a strong proponent of the scientist-practitioner model and believe research and clinical work should be closely intertwined. I am a licensed psychologist, and my practice regularly informs my research. 

Selected Research

Borgogna, N. C., *Meyer, C., *Trussell, M., Garos, S. & Kraus, S.W. (In Press). Further Understanding the Correlations Between Sexting and Mental Health: Considerations for Sex and Sexual Identity. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.  

Borgogna, N. C., & Aita, S.L. (In Press). It's Not Just Neuroticism: Testing Minority Stress Processes Against Five Factor Personality Dimensions in Prediction of Depression. Psychology of Gender and Sexual Orientation Diversity.   

Borgogna, N. C., Lathan, E.C., & Aita, S.L. (In Press). Sexual and Gender Minority Victimization: Base Rates of Assault in College Students Across Sexual and Gender Identities. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. doi: 10.1177/08862605221124253. 

Borgogna, N. C., & Aita, S.L. (In Press). Is the Serotonin Hypothesis Dead? If So, How Will Clinical Psychology Respond? Frontiers in Psychology. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1027375/full 

Borgogna, N. C., & Aita, S.L. (2022). Another Failure of the Latent Disease Model? The Case of Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 3, 615-619. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2022.00069 

Borgogna, N. C., Garos, S., *Meyer, C.L., *Trussell, M.R. & Kraus, S.W. (2022). A Review of Behavioral Interventions for Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder. Current Addiction Reports, 9, 99-108. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-022-00422-x 

Borgogna, N. C., Lathan, E.C., & McDermott, R.C. (2022). She Asked For It: Hardcore Porn, Sexism, and Rape Myth Acceptance. Violence Against Women, 28, 510-531. doi: 10.1177/10778012211037378  

Borgogna, N. C., Brenner, R.E., & McDermott, R.C. (2021). Sexuality and Gender Invariance of the PHQ – 9 and GAD – 7: Implications for 16 Identity Groups. Journal of Affective Disorders, 278, 122-130.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.09.069  

Borgogna, N.C., McDermott, R.C., Aita, S.L., & Kridel, M.M. (2019). Anxiety and Depression Across Gender and Sexual Minorities: Implications for Transgender, Gender Nonconforming, Pansexual, Demisexual, Asexual, Queer and Questioning Individuals. Psychology of Gender and Sexual Orientation Diversity, 6, 54-63.https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000306 

Borgogna, N.C. & McDermott, R.C. (2018). The Role of Gender, Experiential Avoidance, and Scrupulosity in Problematic Pornography Viewing: A Moderated-Mediation Model. Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity, 25, 319-344.https://doi/10.1080/10720162.2018.1503123 

Honors and Awards