Graduate

Amy Weisman de Mamani

Amy Weisman de Mamani

Associate Professor, Adult Division
University of Southern California, 1994

Family factors related to the onset and course of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and medical illness; Attribution theory; Minority mental health issues; Cross-cultural psychology.

• Research Interests
• Selected Publications

Research Interests

My primary research area focuses on cultural and family factors that influence the course of chronic mental illness.  I am particularly interested in attributions of control, religious beliefs and values, and other socio-cultural factors (e.g., self construal and acculturation), which may be associated with relatives emotional reactions to family members suffering from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

During the past several years I have also been conducting research aimed at evaluating therapist competency and adherence to a semi-structured family focused treatment for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.  I recently developed a 15-session culturally informed treatment for schizophrenia (CIT-S) which expands earlier interventions in an attempt to better serve minority families coping with the illness.  In particular, several spiritual and existential components were developed and combined with already established cognitive behavioral techniques to make treatment more relevant for Hispanics and other minorities prevalent in Miami.  We have now pilot tested the program on several families and are open for enrollment.  Treatment is available for both English and Spanish speaking families.

I can be contacted at aweisman@miami.edu.

Selected Peer Reviewed Publications

Llerena, K., Dunham, R., & Weisman de Mamani, A. (In press). Therapist competence and adherence to a culturally informed therapy for schizophrenia. University of Miami Undergraduate Research Journal.

Koneru, V., Weisman de Mamani, A. (In Press). Acculturation, ethnicity, and symptoms of schizophrenia Interamerican Journal of Psychology.

Kymalainen, J. Weisman, A., Rosales, G. & Armesto, J. (2006). Ethnicity, Expressed emotion and communication deviance in familiy members of patients with schizophrenia Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 194, 391-396.

Weisman, A.G., Duarte, E., Koneru, V. & Wasserman, S. (2006). The development of a culturally informed, family focused, intervention for schizophrenia. Family Process, 45, 171-186 [invited paper].

Weisman, A. G. , Rosales, G. , Kymalainen, J. & Armesto, J. (2006). Ethnicity, expressed emotion, and schizophrenia patient's perceptions of their family member's criticism. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 194, 644-649

Weisman, A. (2005). Integrating Culturally-Based Approaches with Existing Interventions for Hispanic/Latino families coping with Schizophrenia. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 42, 178-197.

Weisman, A. G., Feldman, G., Gruman, C., Rosenberg, R., Chamorro, R. & Belozersky, I. (2005). Improving Mental Health Services for Latino and Asian Immigrant Elders. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 36, 1-7.

Weisman, A. G. Rosales, G. Kymalainen, J. & Armesto, J. (2005). Ethnicity, Family Cohesion, Religiosity and General Emotional Distress in Patients with Schizophrenia and their Relatives. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 193, 359-368.

Kymalainen, J. & Weisman, A. (2004). Reactions towards mental, physical and substance abuse disorders. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 34, 1883-1899.

Lopez, S. R., & Weisman, A. (2004). Integrating a cultural perspective in psychological test Development. In R. Velasquez, L. Arellano, & B. McNeill (Eds.), Handbook of Chicano/a Psychology and Mental Health (129-151). New Jersey. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Weisman, A. G., Gomes, L., López, S. R. (2003). Shifting blame away from ill relatives: Latino families' reactions to schizophrenia. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 191, 574-581.

Tompson, M. C., & Weisman, A. (2002). Understanding patients' perceptions of their relatives' expressed emotion. In New Family Interventions and Associated Research in Psychosis, (pp. 77-90). New York. Springer.

Armesto, J. & Weisman, A. G. (2001). Parents' reactions to the identity disclosure of a homosexual child. Family Process, 40, 145-161.

Weisman, A. G. (2000). Religion: A mediator of Anglo-American and Mexican attributional differences towards symptoms of schizophrenia? The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 188, 616-621.

Tompson, M. C., Rea, M. M., Goldstein, M. J., Miklowitz, D. J., & Weisman, A. G. (2000). Difficulty in implementing a family intervention for bipolar disorder: The predictive role of patient and family attributes. Family Process, 39, 105-120.

Weisman, A. G., Nuechterlein, K. H., Goldstein, M. J., & Snyder, K. (2000). Controllability perceptions and reactions to symptoms of schizophrenia: A within family comparison of high-EE and low-EE relatives. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 109, 167-171.

Weisman, A. G., Lopez, S. R., Ventura, J., Nuechterlein, K. H., Goldstein, M. J., & Hwang, S. (2000). A comparison of psychiatric symptoms between Anglo-Americans and Mexican-Americans with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 26, 817-824.

Weisman, A. G., Okazaki, S., Gregory, J., Goldstein, M. J., Tompson, M. C., Rea, M. M., & Miklowitz, D. J. (1998). Evaluation of therapist competence and adherence to Behavior Family Management with bipolar patients. Family Process, 37, 107-121.

Weisman, A. G., Lopez, S. R. (1997). An attributional analysis of emotional reactions to schizophrenia in Mexican and Anglo cultures. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 27, 224-245.

Weisman, A. G. (1997). Understanding cross-cultural prognostic variability for schizophrenia. Cultural Diversity and Mental Health, 3, 2-13.

Weisman, A. G., & Lopez, S. R. (1996). Family values, religiosity, and emotional reactions to schizophrenia in Mexican and Anglo-American Cultures. Family Process, 35, 227-237.

Weisman, A. G., Lopez, S. R., Karno, M., & Jenkins, J. (1993). An attributional analysis of expressed emotion in Mexican-American families with schizophrenia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 102, 601-606.