Associate Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy

(PhD, Purdue University)

Research Interests

Families and health, healthcare, couple and family interventions in health, patient-centered care in medical settings, couples and cancer, interventions for couples returning from military deployment

Contact Information

Fowler House, Room 101
Purdue University
1200 W. State Street
West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2055
Phone: (765) 496-8372
Fax: (765) 494-0503
E-mail: cgshield@purdue.edu
Web site: www.clevelandshields.com

• Biography
• Recent Publications
• Education
• Courses Recently Taught
• Honors
• External Grants
• Professional Service

Biography

• Coping with Medical Illnesses
  This research examines how couple and family functioning affect outcomes of patients diagnosed with chronic illnesses. Most of Dr. Shields' recent research has been with breast cancer patients and their partners.
• Interventions for Couples Coping with Military Deployment
  Dr. Shields is working with colleagues at Purdue's Military Family Research Institute (MFRI) and at UCLA to develop interventions for couples reunited after a deployment.
• Healthcare-provider Communication
  Dr. Shields studies physician-patient communication. These studies have found that eliciting and validating the patient's concerns is associated with greater patient satisfaction, trust, and lower diagnostic and testing costs. One study found that the use of emotion words by physicians is viewed positively by patients. Dr. Shields' most recent study, supported by a grant from the National Cancer Institute, found that the depth of pain assessment and prognosis communication with advanced cancer patients is associated with patient-centered communication (eliciting and validating patient concerns, positive voice tone, and emotion words). He and his colleagues also found that female physicians use more emotion words than men when talking to cancer patients. Interestingly, the more negative emotion words a physician uses the more they assess pain. The more positive emotion words they use, the less they discuss prognosis.
  

Recent Publications

• Shields, C. G., Coker, C. J., Poulsen, S. S., Doyle, J. M., Fiscella, K., Epstein, R. M., & Griggs, J. J. (in press). Patient-centered communication and prognosis discussions with cancer patients. Patient Education and Counseling.
• Rosenberg, Tziporah, & Shields, C.G. (in press). The role of parent-adolescent attachment in the glycemic control of adolescents with Type 1 diabetes: A pilot study. Family Systems and Health.
• Epstein, R. M., Hadee, T., Carroll, J., Meldrum, S. C., Lardner, J., & Shields, C. G. (2007). "Could this be something serious?" Reassurance, uncertainty and empathy in response to patients’ expressions of worry. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 22, 1731-1739.
• Griggs, J. J., Sorbero, M. E. S., Mallinger, J. B., Quinn, M., Waterman, M., Brooks, B., & Shields, C. G. (2007). Vitality, mental health, and satisfaction with information after breast cancer. Patient Education and Counseling, 66, 58-66.
• Epstein, R. M., Shields, C. G., Franks, P., Meldrum, S. C., Feldman, M., & Kravitz, R. L. (2007). Exploring and validating patient concerns: Relation to prescribing for depression. Annals of Family Medicine, 5, 21-28.
• Duberstein, P., Meldrum, S., Fiscella, K., Shields, C. G., & Epstein, R. M. (2007). Influences on patients' ratings of physicians: Physicians' demographics and personality. Patient Education and Counseling, 65, 270-274.
• Burwell, S. R., Brucker, P., & Shields, C. G. (2006). Attachment behaviors and proximity-seeking in cancer patients and their partners. Journal of Couple and Relationship Therapy, 5, 1-16.
• Mallinger, J. B., Shields, C. G., Griggs, J. J., Roscoe, J. A., Morrow, G. R., & Rosenbluth, R. J. (2006). Stability of decisional role preference over the course of cancer therapy. Psycho-Oncology, 15, 297-305.
• Mallinger, J. B., Griggs, J. J., & Shields, C. G. (2006). Family communication and mental health after breast cancer. European Journal of Cancer Care, 15, 355-361.
• Franks, P., Jerant, A. F., Fiscella, K., Shields, C. G., Tancredi, D. J., & Epstein, R. M. (2006). Studying physician effects on patient outcomes: Physician interactional style and performance on quality of care indicators. Social Science & Medicine, 62, 422-432.
• Epstein, R. M., Shields, C. G., Meldrum, S. C., Fiscella, K., Carroll, J., & Carney, P. A. (2006). Physicians' responses to patients' medically unexplained symptoms. Psychosomatic Medicine, 68, 269-276.
• Bayer, W., Mallinger, J. B., Krishnan, A., Shields, C. G. (2006). Attitudes toward life-sustaining interventions among ambulatory black and white patients. Ethnicity and Disease, 16, 915-920.

Education

• Post Doctoral Training, 1987-90, Family Therapy Training Program, Division of Family Programs, Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester
• PhD, 1987, Marriage and Family Therapy Program, Purdue University
• MDiv, 1980, Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC
• BS, 1976, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA

Courses Recently Taught

• CDFS 688: Internship in Marriage and Family Therapy
• CDFS 678: Externship in Marriage and Family Therapy
• CDFS 685E: Interventions in Families and Health
• CDFS 685F: Families and Health
• CDFS 430: Human Sexuality and Family Life

Honors

• 2005, 2006: Susan H. McDaniel Graduate Teaching Award, Awarded by Graduate Students in the Marriage & Family Therapy Masters Degree Program, Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester.

External Grants

• 2007-2009, Principal Investigator, National Cancer Institute, "Responses of Physicians to Patients’ Inquiries." $330,434.

Professional Service

American Psycho-Oncology Society

• Member of the Disparities Special Interest Group (SIG)

New York Association for Marriage and Family Therapy

• 1992-1993 Member-at-Large, Board of Directors
• 1993-2003 Member, Legislative Task Force
• 1994-1995 President-Elect, Board of Directors
• 1996-1997 President, Board of Directors
• 1997-1998 Past President, Board of Directors