Diana Rancourt

Associate Professor, 
Area Director, Clinical Psychology Program, and Director of Clinical Training

CONTACT

Office: PCD 4124
Phone: 813/974-0375
Email

LINKS

EDUCATION

  • Postdoctoral Fellow, NIMH T32 in Child Mental Health, Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University (2012-2014)
  • Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2012)
  • Clinical Internship, University of California, San Diego/San Diego VA (2011-2012)
  • M.A., Clinical Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2007)
  • B.A., Amherst College (2002)

RESEARCH

Research Interests

  1. Interoceptive awareness of hunger and satiety cues (e.g., food craving, self-reported hunger/satiety, blood glucose fluctuations) as a transdiagnostic mechanism of eating disorders and obesity.
  2. The intersection of individual factors and the social context on health risk behaviors, with particular focus on weight-related behaviors.
  3. Understanding the risk factors for and consequence of food and alcohol disturbance (FAD).

Research Summary

I have a longstanding interest in adolescents鈥� and young adults鈥� health behaviors, with a particular focus on weight-related behaviors (e.g., dieting, uncontrolled eating, muscle-gaining behaviors). My research spans the eating disorder and obesity literature and investigates psychosocial influences on adolescents' and young adults' weight-related behaviors across healthy and pediatric populations (e.g., type 1 diabetes, eating disorder, bariatric surgery). In particular, I am interested in investigating how interoceptive awareness of hunger and satiety cues and food craving may predict disordered eating behaviors, how peers and the social context may be helpful or harmful in terms of health risk behaviors, and understanding more about the risk factors for and consequences of food and alcohol disturbance (FAD). My methodological and statistical approaches are multi-faceted, theoretically-based, and dependent on the particular question being asked. I use cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys, ecological momentary assessment, observational and mixed-methods approaches, as well as experimental designs to investigate research questions of interest.

SPECIALTY AREA

Clinical

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

*Denotes graduate student author.
Smith, L. B., *Ahlich, E., *Lang, B. Bollepalli, S., Prioleau, T., Bartolome, A., Lansing, A. H., & Rancourt, D. (2025). Glycemic variability and weight-focused eating behaviors among adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 50, 326-334. doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsaf009.
*Berry, K., Choquette, E. M., Looby, A., & Rancourt, D. (2024). Unification of the food and alcohol disturbance literature: A systematic review. Clinical Psychology Review. https://doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2024.
McCullough, M.B., *Cunning, A., Klam, R., Weiss, A., & Rancourt, D. (2024). Perceived responsibility for bariatric surgery, eating, and exercise behaviors among adolescent bariatric surgery candidates. Childhood Obesity, 20(8), 634-642. https://doi: 10.1089/chi.2024.0228.
*Ahlich, E., Poovey, K., & Rancourt, D. (2023). Examination of the two-step Water Load Test as a measure of gastric interoception and associations with eating and weight/shape concerns in a non-clinical sample. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 56(7), 1432-1443. https://doi: 10.1002/eat.23964.
*Poovey, K., *Ahlich, E., *Attaway, S., & Rancourt, D. (2022). General versus hunger/satiety-specific interoceptive sensibility in predicting disordered eating. Appetite. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2022.105930. 
*Verzijl, C. L., *Gius, B., Schlauch, R. C., & Rancourt, D. (2021). The transdiagnostic role of food craving: An application of alcohol use models. Appetite. Advance online publication. https://doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2021.105867. 
*Ahlich, E., *Simon, J., *Verzijl, C. L., Schlauch, R. C., & Rancourt, D. (2020). Support for a two-dimensional model of food craving using self-report questionnaire and cue reactivity methodologies. International Journal of Eating Disorders. doi: 10.1002/eat.23290. 
Rancourt, D., Foster, N., Bollepalli, S., *Fitterman-Harris, H. F., Powers, M. A., Clements, M., & Smith, L. B. (2019). Test of the modified dual pathway model of eating disorders in individuals with type 1 diabetes. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 52(6), 630-642. 10.1002/eat.23054. 
Rancourt, D., *Schaefer, L. M., Bosson, J. K., & Thompson, J. K. (2016). Differential impact of upward and downward comparisons on diverse women鈥檚 disordered eating behaviors and body image. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 49, 519-523. doi: 10.1002/eat.22470. 
Rancourt, D., & McCullough, M. B. (2015). Overlap in eating disorders and obesity in adolescence. Current Diabetes Reports, 15, 645-654. doi: 10.1007/s11892-015-0645-y.