Jillian Scheer

Biography

NOTE: Dr. Scheer will be accepting new graduate students for the 2025-2026 academic year.

Jillian R. Scheer, PhD, is a licensed counseling psychologist, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Rhode Island, and Director of the Minority Stress and Trauma (MST) Lab. Dr. Scheer is also a research affiliate at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS at the Yale School of Public Health and at the VA Center for Integrated Healthcare Research Affiliate at the Syracuse VA Medical Center.

Dr. Scheer earned a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Boston College and completed a predoctoral clinical internship at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s/West Hospital in New York City. Dr. Scheer also completed an NIMH T32 postdoctoral fellowship in psychiatric epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health. Dr. Scheer is the author of over 65 peer-reviewed publications and their research is currently supported by grants from NIAAA, NIMHD, the William T. Grant Foundation, and the American Psychological Foundation. Dr. Scheer’s work has been recognized through several awards (e.g., NIMHD Research Institute Scholar, NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health).

Research

Dr. Scheer’s research program focuses on identifying biopsychosocial determinants, such as sexual and relationship violence, traumatic stress symptoms, and physiological stress reactivity, of alcohol and other drug use among sexual minority women (SMW) and transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) people. Additionally, Dr. Scheer’s program of research seeks to understand multilevel factors that influence help-seeking and linkage-to-care efforts and to develop scalable and innovative in-person, telehealth, and digital health interventions tailored to these populations.

Dr. Scheer’s lab employs diverse and rigorous methodological approaches, including randomized controlled trials, laboratory experiments, intensive longitudinal methods, observational studies, and qualitative methods with racially and ethnically diverse SMW and TGD people from local communities and across the U.S. Dr. Scheer also uses community-based participatory approaches with SMW and TGD survivors, community advisory board members, and staff/providers to enhance sustainable partnerships, support community needs, and reduce treatment-access inequities.

Dr. Scheer’s data collection methods encompass self-report assessments, focus groups and interviews, computational text analysis, behavioral observation coding, chart review, and clinician-administered tools. Dr. Scheer also uses objective measures to assess stress reactivity (e.g., salivary cortisol, heart rate, skin conductance) to trauma cues and stigma-related stressors, such as cissexism, racism, and sexism.

Undergraduate and graduate students interested in learning more about this work or joining my research team are encouraged to contact me at jillian.scheer@uri.edu.

Education

  • Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS, Yale School of Public Health, National Institute of Mental Health T32 Postdoctoral Fellowship in Psychiatric Epidemiology, 2020
  • Mount Sinai St. Luke’s/West Hospital, Clinical Residency, 2018
  • Boston College, Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology, 2018
  • Boston College, M.A. in Mental Health Counseling, 2012
  • Rutgers University, B.A. in Psychology and Sociology, 2009

Selected Publications

Please see my full and up-to-date publication lists via my profiles on Google Scholar, NCBI, and ResearchGate.

* denotes mentored trainee at the time of publication

*Zabelski, S. A., *Cascalheira, C. J., *Shaw, T. J., Helminen, E. C., Messenger, A., Edwards, K. M., & Scheer, J. R. (in press). Community-based participatory research with sexual and gender minority trauma survivors: Challenges, solutions, and recommendations for future research. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.

Scheer, J. R., *Behari, K., Schwarz, A. A., *Cascalheira, C. J., Helminen, E. C., *Pirog, S. A., Jaipuriyar, V., Sullivan, T. P., Batchelder, A. W., & Jackson, S. D. (2023). Expressive writing treatments to reduce PTSD symptom severity and negative alcohol-related outcomes among trauma-exposed sexual minority women and transgender/nonbinary people: Study protocol for a mixed-method pilot trial. Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications, 35, 101197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conctc.2023.101197.

Scheer, J. R., Helminen, E. C., *Cascalheira, C. J., Jaipuriyar, V., *Shaw, T. J., *Zabelski, A. S., *Behari, K., *Pirog, S. A., Batchelder, A. W., Possemato, K., Hughes, T. L. & Sullivan, T. P. (2023). Probable PTSD, PTSD symptom severity, and comorbid PTSD and hazardous drinking among sexual minority women compared to heterosexual women: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 102, 102283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2023.102283

Helminen, E. C., & Scheer, J. R. (2023). Cardiovascular, self-report, and behavioral stress reactivity to the group-based Trier Social Stress Test with pandemic-related protocol adaptations. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 188, 17-23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2023.03.005.

Scheer, J. R., *Cascalheira, C. J., Helminen, E. C., *Shaw, T. J., *Behari, K., Schwarz, A. A., Jaipuriyar, V., Brisbin, C. D., Batchelder, A. W., Sullivan, T. P. & Jackson, S. D. (2023). “I know myself again, which makes me motivated for life”: Feasibility and acceptability of using experience sampling methods with trauma-exposed sexual minority women: Corrigendum. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 38(13-14), 8692-8720. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605231153888

Scheer, J. R., Batchelder, A. W., Wang, K., & Pachankis, J. E. (2022). Mental health, alcohol use, and substance use correlates of sexism in a sample of gender-diverse sexual minority women. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 9(2), 222-235. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000477

Scheer, J. R., Pachankis, J. E., & Bränström, R. (2022). Gender-based structural stigma and intimate partner violence across 28 countries: A population-based study of women across sexual orientation, immigration status, and socioeconomic status. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(11-12), NP8941-NP8964. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260520976212

Scheer, J. R., Clark, K. A., McConocha, E., Wang, K., & Pachankis, J. E. (2022). Toward cognitive-behavioral therapy for sexual minority women: Voices from stakeholders and community members. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 30(3), 471-494. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpra.2022.02.019

Scheer, J. R., Batchelder, A. W., Bochicchio, L. A., Kidd, J. D., & Hughes, T. L. (2022). Alcohol use, behavioral and mental health help-seeking, and treatment satisfaction among sexual minority women. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 46(4), 641-656. https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.14789

Scheer, J. R., Clark, K. A., Talan, A., Cabral, C., Pachankis, J. E., & Rendina, H.J. (2021). Longitudinal associations between childhood sexual abuse-related PTSD symptoms and suicidal ideation among sexual minority men. Child Abuse & Neglect, 122, 105353. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105353

Scheer, J. R., Edwards, K. M., **Helminen, E. C., & Watson, R. J. (2021). Victimization typologies among a large national sample of sexual and gender minority adolescents. LGBT Health, 8(8), 507-518. https://doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2021.0024

Selected Honors and Awards

  • 2022 National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Loan Repayment Program Renewal Application, L60AA028666
  • 2022 NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health Science Policy Scholar Travel Award for the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences (OSSD) 2022 Annual Meeting
  • 2022 First-authored manuscript chosen to be an Article of Public Interest in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research
  • 2021 Cobb-Jones Professor of Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychology, Syracuse University
  • 2020 Membership Award, APA Division 56
  • 2019 The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Institute Scholar
  • 2019 Laura Bassi Scholarship

Selected Student Honors and Awards

  • American Psychological Association LGBTQ+ Outstanding Graduate Student Award, Cory Cascalheira (2023)
  • Outstanding Service Award, Department of Psychology, Syracuse University – Uchechi Onyenkpa (2023)
  • Syracuse University Scholar, Arts & Sciences Scholar, Newhouse Scholar, Floyd Allport Research Awards – TJ Shaw (2022)

More Information

Download Curriculum Vitae