Department of Psychology

Biography:

Keywords: health psychology; HIV/AIDS; clinical trials, community-based research

I received my doctorate in clinical psychology from Temple University. After graduate school, I completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Emory University School of Medicine, through which I received training at the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. I then worked for four years as an Assistant Professor at York University before joining the Department of Psychology at Ryerson in 2007.

I currently have 4 CIHR grant-funded studies. The most recently funded is a pilot study combining social anxiety treatment and HIV prevention for HIV-negative gay and bisexual men. The second is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) examining the use of motivational interviewing to improve sexual health and HIV/sexually transmitted infection prevention among HIV-positive gay and bisexual men. This study will be conducted in two sites: the AIDS Committee of Toronto and Positive Living British Columbia, in Vancouver. Third, with Dr. Nathan Smith at McGill University in Montreal, I am also piloting a new cognitive-behaviourally based sexual health and HIV prevention intervention for 18-25 year old HIV-negative gay and bisexual men. Lastly, my colleagues and I are conducting a longitudinal study of protective factors and risk factors for unprotected anal intercourse among 400 HIV-negative gay and bisexual men. I am also conducting smaller studies with youth populations, including homeless youth, incarcerated youth, and youth in Sri Lanka. For more information on my research and teaching, please see www.ryerson.ca/thart . 

Recent Peer-Reviewed Publications (underlined names are students working in Ryerson University’s HIV Prevention Lab):

1. James, C. A., Schwartz, D. R., Roberts, K. E., Hart, T. A., Loutfy, M. R., Myers, T., & Calzavara, L. (in press). Childhood emotional abuse and psychological distress in gay and bisexual men. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma.

2. Day, D. M., Hart, T. A., Wanklyn, S. G., McCay, E., Macpherson A., & Burnier, N. (in press). Potential mediators between child abuse and both violence and victimization in juvenile offenders. Psychological Services.

3. Millett, G. A, Peterson, J. L., Flores, S. A., Hart, T. A., Jeffries, W. L., Wilson, P. A., . . . & Remis, R. R. (2012).  Disparities without borders: A meta-analysis of individual-, network-, and structural-level correlates of HIV transmission among Canadian, British and U.S. black men who have sex with men. Lancet, 380, 341-348. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60899-X

4. Hart, T. A. (2012). International collaborations and multidisciplinary approaches in high quality behavioral medicine research: A comment on O'Leary et al. Annals of Behavioral Medicine. doi: 10.1007/s12160-012-9391-4

5. Zhang, Y., Margolese, S., Yudin, M. H., Raboud, J., Diong, C., Hart, T. A., . . . & Loutfy, M.R. (2012). Desires, need, perceptions, and knowledge of assisted reproductive technologies of HIV-positive women of reproductive age in Ontario, Canada. ISRN Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2012, doi:10.5402/2012/853503

6. Hart, T. A., Moskowitz, D., Cox, C., Li, X., Ostrow, D. G., Stall, R. D., . . . & Plankey, M. (2012). The cumulative effects of medication use, drug use, and smoking on erectile dysfunction among men who have sex with men. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 9, 1106-1113. doi: 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2011.02648.x

7. Ivanova, E., Hart, T. A., Wagner, A. C., Aljassem, K., & Loutfy, M. R. (2012). Correlates of anxiety in women living with HIV of reproductive age. AIDS and Behavior. doi: 10.1007/s10461-011-0133-6

8. Loutfy, M. R., Raboud, J. M., Wong, J., Yudin, M. H., Diong, C., Blitz, S. L., Margolese, S. L., . . . including Hart, T. A., for the Ontario HIV Fertility Research Team (2012). High prevalence of unintended pregnancies in HIV-positive women of reproductive age in Ontario, Canada: A retrospective study. HIV Medicine, 13, 107-117. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-1293.2011.00946.x

9. Noh, M. S., Rueda, S., Bekele, T., Fenta, H., Gardner, S., Hamilton, H., . . . including Hart, T. A. (2012). Depressive symptoms, stress and resources among adult immigrants living with HIV. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 14, 405-412. doi: 10.1007/s10903-011-9515-0.

10. Gibson, K., Rueda, S., Rourke, S. B., Bekele, T., Gardner, S., Fenta, H., & Hart, T. A. (2011). Mastery and coping moderate the negative effect of acute and chronic stressors on mental health-related quality of life in HIV. AIDS Patient Care and STDs, 25, 371-381

11. Calzavara, L. M., Burchell, A. N., Lebovic, G., Myers, T., Remis, R. S., Raboud, J., . . . & Hart, T. A. (2011). The impact of stressful life events on unprotected anal sex among gay and bisexual men. AIDS and Behavior, 16, 633-643. doi: 10.1007/s10461-010-9879-5

12. Brennan, D., Crath, R., Hart, T. A., Gadalla, T., & Gillis, L. (2011). Body dissatisfaction and disordered eating among men who have sex with men in Canada. International Journal of Men’s Health, 10, 253-268. doi: 10.3149/jmh.1003.253

13. Zheng, L., Hart, T. A., Zheng, Y. (2011). The relationship between intercourse preference positions and personality traits among gay men in China. Archives of Sexual Behavior. doi: 10.1007/s10508-011-9819-0.

14. Roberts, K. E., Hart, T. A., Coroiu, A., & Heimberg, R. G. (2011). Gender role traits among individuals with social anxiety disorder. Personality and Individual Differences, 51, 952-957. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2011.07.030

15. Claes, L., Hart, T. A., Smits, D., Van den Eynde, F., Müller, A., & Mitchell, J. (2011). Validation of the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale in female eating disorder patients. European Eating Disorders Review. doi: 10.1002/erv.1147

16. James, C. A., Hart, T. A., Roberts, K. E., Ghai, A., Petrovic, B., & Lima, M. (2011). Religion versus ethnicity as predictors of unprotected vaginal intercourse among young adults. Sexual Health, 8, 363-371.

17. Moskowitz, D. A., & Hart, T. A. (2011). The influence of physical body traits and masculinity on anal sex roles in gay and bisexual men. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40, 835-841.

18. Hart, T. A. (2010). Improved access to HIV prevention services. Indian Journal of Medical Research, 132, 653-655.

Professional Affiliations:

• Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies
• Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) – also CPA’s Sections on Clinical Psychology, Health  
• Psychology, and Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
• Society for the Science of Clinical Psychology
• LaMarsh Centre for Research on Youth at York University
• International AIDS Society
• Canadian Association for HIV Research
• Ontario HIV Treatment Network
• International Association for Sex Research