Psychologist

Research

Current Research Projects

Dr. Williams is currently involved in several research projects at the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety, directed by Dr. Edna Foa. Her most recent study is an examination of barriers to treatment among African Americans with OCD. This line of research is funded by awards from the OC Foundation and the Lindback Foundation.
Dr. Williams is also involved in two NIH treatment outcome studies, including a randomized trial of exposure and response prevention (EX/RP) or Risperdal for people with OCD who are having only a partial response to SRIs (Maximizing Treatment Outcome in OCD) and a treatment study for people with PTSD and alcohol dependence. More information about these studies is available at the CTSA website.

Research Interests

Adult Psychopathology (Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder)
African-American Mental Health (Phenomenological Differences in Anxiety, Health Disparities)
Psychometrics (Assessment Tools, Group Differences)
Health Psychology (Sexual Risk-Taking, Sex Education, Nutrition)
The Internet as a Research Tool and Intervention

Graduate Work

Dr. Williams' dissertation work was a project investigating psychological assessment procedures used to study obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Of particular interest was the validity of OCD questionnaires, such as the Maudsley Obsessional-Compulsive Inventory (MOCI) and Padua Inventory, when employed with US ethnic minority groups. Prior work had indicated the MOCI lacks predictive validity for African-Americans (Thomas, Turkheimer, & Oltmanns, 2000). Her masters research documented similar issues with the Padua Inventory (Williams, Turkheimer, Schmidt, & Oltmanns, 2005).
Dr. Williams' doctoral work explained the reasons for Black-White differences in mean scores from the Padua Inventory contamination scale and the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (OCI-R) washing scale. Her dissertation was a compilation of four studies — a psychometric study, a laboratory study, an Internet study, and a qualitative study. The Internet study was recently published in a research journal; data was collected through an NSF project called Time-Sharing for the Social Sciences (TESS).

Grants & Awards

OC Foundation Research Award, 2009
Lindback Career Enhancement Junior Faculty Grant, 2009
APA Culturally-Informed Evidence Based Practices Conference Grant, 2008
Southern Regional Education Board Fellowship/ UVA Dean's Fellowship, 2000-2003, 2006-2007
Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation Scholarship, 2005
Anxiety Disorders Association of America, Predoctoral Trainee Travel Grant, 2005
NRSA National Institute of Health Predoctoral Training Grant, 2004-2006
Time-Sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences, Special Competition, NSF Funded Project, 2004

Honors

Marquis Who's Who in America, 60th ed, 2006
UCLA Staff Incentive Award, 1997, 1999
NRC Ford Foundation Doctoral Fellowship for Minorities, Honorable Mention, 2000
National Achievement Scholarship, 1989
M.I.T. William L. Stewart Jr. Award for Outstanding Contributions in Extracurriculars, 1991

Professional Memberships

American Psychological Association
Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation
Association for Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies
Anxiety Disorders Association of America
Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society
International Society for Mental Health Online
National Alliance for Mentally Ill, PA Main Line
Delaware Valley Association of Black Psychologists

Peer Reviewed Publications

M. T. Williams, E. Turkheimer, E. Magee, T. Guterbock, The Effects of Race and Racial Priming on Self-Report of Contamination Anxiety, Personality and Individual Differences, 44(3): 744-755, 2008.
M. T. Williams, E. Turkheimer, Identification and Explanation of Racial Differences in Contamination Anxiety, Behavior Research and Therapy, 45:3041-3050, 2007.
M. T. Williams and L. Bonner, Sex Education Attitudes and Outcomes Among North American Women, Adolescence, 41(161):1-14, Spring 2006.
M. T. Williams, E. Turkheimer, K. Schmidt, T. Oltmanns, Ethnic Identification Biases Responses to the Padua Inventory for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Assessment, 12(2):174-185, 2005.

Additional Selected Scholarly Works

M. Williams, Homosexuality Anxiety: A Misunderstood Form of OCD, In L. V. Sebeki (ed), Leading-Edge Health Education Issues, Nova Publishers, 2008.
M. Williams, E. Turkheimer, The Effects of Interviewer Race on Anxiety in African Americans, In L. V. Sebeki (ed), Leading-Edge Health Education Issues, Nova Publishers, 2008.
M. Williams, G.B. Saathoff, T. Guterbock, A. MacIntosh. R. Bebel, "Community Shielding in the National Capital Region: A Survey of Citizen Response to Potential Critical Incidents," Prepared for the Department of Homeland Security, at the Center for Survey Research, University of Virginia, June 2005.
M. Terwilliger, "Abstinence Information," section in HIV/AIDS Educational CD-ROM for Africa, Washington File for Africa, US Department of State, 2002.
M. Terwilliger, "Some Reasons to Decide," textbook chapter, In Pregnancy: Teen Decisions, ed. W. Dudley, Greenhaven Press, Spring 2001.

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