Brandon J Griffin

Biographic Data

ID1202879
NAMEBrandon J Griffin
GIVEN NAMESBrandon J
FAMILY NAMEGriffin
SIGNATUREGRIFFIN B J
AFFILIATIONSVirginia Commonwealth University
ORCID0000-0002-9358-6180
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS24
TOTAL CITATIONS4
AUTHOR COUNT24
EDITOR COUNT0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR2014
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2026
H-INDEX1

  • Toward a strengths-based approach to evidence-based psychotherapy for PTSD

    Brittany N Hampton, Marcela C Weber et al.ARTICLEPsychological Trauma Theory…2026

    Veterans bring many strengths to posttraumatic stress disorder therapy, yet these are often underused. There is a need to develop resources and adjunctive interventions for integrating strengths into TF-EBP delivery and to implement family involvement in care. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)

  • The role of measurement in moral injury care

    Open AccessBrandon J Griffin, Elise A Warner et al.ARTICLEFrontiers in Psychiatry2026

    These findings support the use of the MIDS in measurement-based care to identify distinct clinical presentations of moral injury, including those with moderate to severe presentations that warrant further evaluation and potentially treatment

  • Risk for Mental Health Distress Among PreK‐12 Teachers During the Covid‐19 Pandemic

    Open AccessAndrew J Smith, Alicia L Johnson et al.ARTICLEPsychology in the Schools2025

    Throughout the COVID‐19 pandemic, teachers risked their physical and mental health to continue providing educational services to students. This study examined the prevalence of mental health distress and risk factors among a sample of teachers from the mid‐Atlantic United States. PreK‐12 educators ( N = 1295) completed online cross‐sectional quantitative surveys between October 2020 and January 2021. After obtaining descriptive statistics on rate…

  • A Scoping Review of Protective Factors That Contribute to Posttraumatic Wellbeing for Trauma-Exposed Military Service Members and Veterans

    Open AccessMarcela C Weber, Sheila Hanson et al.ARTICLETrauma Violence & Abuse2025

    Military service members experience higher levels of cumulative trauma than the general population, increasing their risk of mental health problems. This scoping review synthesizes evidence on protective factors that contribute to posttraumatic wellbeing among military service members and veterans. PubMed and PsycINFO databases were searched using keywords for military/veterans, traumatic event exposure, posttraumatic stress, and wellbeing outcom…

  • Factors contributing to Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy in Veterans later in the pandemic

    Open AccessJeffrey M Pyne, Karen H Seal et al.ARTICLEBMC Public Health2025

    Vaccine hesitancy remains a significant public health concern despite the widespread availability of vaccines. Little is known about factors influencing hesitancy among U.S. military Veterans later in the pandemic. The goal of this study was to identify factors contributing to COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy among U.S. military Veterans more than one year after vaccine availability. This study was part of the COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance…

  • Associations of self‐forgiveness processes with distress and well‐being outcomes

    Open AccessKaye V Cook, Ni Made Taganing Kurniati et al.ARTICLEInternational Journal of Psychology2024

    To date, few empirical studies have examined the benefits of the processes involved in self‐forgiveness—value reorientation and esteem restoration—for individual well‐being using longitudinal data from non‐Western samples. In this study, we take a step toward addressing this gap by analysing three waves of data collected among 595 Indonesians ( M age = 21.95, SD = 4.39). Applying the analytic templates for lagged exposure‐wide and outcome‐wide lo…

  • The Moral Injury and Distress Scale

    Sonya B Norman, Brandon J Griffin et al.ARTICLEPsychological Trauma Theory…2023

    The MIDS is the first scale to assess moral injury symptoms indexed to a specific PMIE that is validated across several high-risk populations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)

  • Exposure to potentially morally injurious events and mental health outcomes among frontline workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic

    Anandi C Ehman, Andrew J Smith et al.ARTICLEPsychological Trauma Theory…2022

    Efforts to facilitate and maintain the well-being of the public health workforce should specifically address critical incidents encountered by frontline workers that have embedded moral and ethical challenges. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

  • Research Gaps and Recommendations to Guide Research on Assessment, Prevention, and Treatment of Moral Injury Among Healthcare Workers

    Open AccessShira Maguen, Brandon J GriffinARTICLEFrontiers in Psychiatry2022

    Healthcare workers face numerous occupational stressors, including some that may challenge personal and shared morals and values. This is particularly true during disasters and crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which require critical decisions to be made with little time and information often under personal distress and situational constraints. Consequently, healthcare workers are at risk for moral injuries characterized by stress-related and…

  • Mental Health Clinician Community Clergy Collaboration to Address Moral Injury Symptoms

    Open AccessJeffrey M Pyne, Steve Sullivan et al.ARTICLEJournal of Religion and Health2021

  • Promoting Forgiveness at a Christian College

    Open AccessLoren L Toussaint, Brandon J Griffin et al.ARTICLEJournal of Psychology and Theology2020

    The present study is the first randomized, controlled trial comparing REACH Forgiveness and Forgive for Good, two of the most commonly used approaches to promote forgiveness. Additionally, the combined effects of psychoeducation and a community forgiveness intervention were examined. Psychoeducation participants were 99 Luther College students randomly assigned to six hours of one of two types of forgiveness training led by undergraduate facilita…

  • Profiles of moral distress and associated outcomes among student veterans

    Brandon J Griffin, Christian L Williams et al.ARTICLEPsychological Trauma Theory…2020

    Objective Military veterans who interpret their own or others' actions as moral transgressions are theorized to experience moral distress. The purpose of this study was to explore patterns of moral distress and associated psychological, social, and religious or spiritual problems among student veterans. Method Student veterans (N = 498) retrospectively reported experiences of moral distress associated with deployment-related events in which they …

  • Trait tendencies to forgive, punish, and exonerate oneself

    Open AccessRichard G Cowden, Everett L Worthington et al.ARTICLEJournal of Research in Personality2020References: 41

  • Psychospiritual Developmental Risk Factors for Moral Injury

    Open AccessTimothy J Usset, Erika Gray et al.ARTICLEReligions2020Cited by: 1References: 41

    There is increasing theoretical, clinical, and empirical support for the hypothesis that psychospiritual development, and more specifically, postconventional religious reasoning, may be related to moral injury. In this study, we assessed the contributions of exposure to potentially morally injurious events, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and psychospiritual development to moral injury symptoms in a sample of military veterans (N = 212). Psychospi…

  • Moral Injury

    Open AccessBrandon J Griffin, Natalie Purcell et al.ARTICLEJournal of Traumatic Stress2019

    Individuals who are exposed to traumatic events that violate their moral values may experience severe distress and functional impairments known as “moral injuries.” Over the last decade, moral injury has captured the attention of mental health care providers, spiritual and faith communities, media outlets, and the general public. Research about moral injury, especially among military personnel and veterans, has also proliferated. For this article…

  • Psychological and behavioral effects of obesity prevention campaigns

    Open AccessCourtney C Simpson, Brandon J Griffin et al.ARTICLEJournal of Health Psychology2019Cited by: 3References: 39

    Public health campaigns are often used to prevent or reduce obesity. However, social psychological theory suggests these efforts might not be universally helpful and could potentially have detrimental consequences. This investigation explored the effects of obesity prevention campaigns. Participants were randomized to view either weight-focused or weight-neutral campaigns. Assessments at three time points (pre, post, and follow-up) examined the d…

  • Opening a Door to a New Life”

    Open AccessNatalie Purcell, Brandon J Griffin et al.ARTICLEFrontiers in Psychiatry2018

    For military veterans struggling with moral injury, forgiveness can become both an animating concern and a potential path to healing. In this perspective piece, we draw on our clinical work and research findings to examine why forgiveness matters to veterans who feel guilt and shame about their actions in war, what type of forgiveness is attainable and meaningful, and what role clinicians can play in facilitating forgiveness. We conclude by refle…

  • Still Waters Run Deep

    Open AccessCaroline R Lavelock, Everett L Worthington et al.ARTICLEJournal of Psychology and Theology2017

    We present two intervention studies designed to promote humility and other virtues. In Study 1, we compared the PROVE Humility workbook (Lavelock, Worthington, & Davis, 2012/2013) to alternative workbooks, each designed to promote a particular virtue (e.g., forgiveness, patience, self-control) or mood state (positivity). Participants who completed the PROVE Humility workbook reported greater increases in humility and other virtues when compared t…

  • Thankful for the little things

    Don E Davis, Elise Choe et al.ARTICLEJournal of Counseling Psychology2016

  • Forgiveness as a Catalyst for Psychological, Physical, and Spiritual Resilience in Disasters and Crises

    Open AccessEverett L Worthington, Brandon J Griffin et al.ARTICLEJournal of Psychology and Theology2016

    In this conceptual article, we argue that some people are resilient in the face of disasters while others are not. Resilience may necessitate forgiveness—of perpetrators of interpersonal harms (e.g., Rwandan Genocide in 1994); of inadequate responder assistance (e.g., Hurricane Katrina); or in situations where community members perceive themselves as victims of offense by virtue of their group affiliation, although they themselves were not actual…

  • A Qualitative Review and Integrative Model of Gratitude and Physical Health

    Open AccessCaroline R Lavelock, Brandon J Griffin et al.ARTICLEJournal of Psychology and Theology2016

    Gratitude is seen as a central component of Christian theology, and the extant literature suggests that there is an important relation between gratitude and physical health and well-being. In the current review, we summarize 42 studies published since 2009 that inform this relationship. Based on the theoretical framework by Hill, Allemand, and Roberts (2013), we organize our review in three sections that focus on how gratitude influences physical…

  • Perpetrators’ reactions to perceived interpersonal wrongdoing

    Brandon J Griffin, Jaclyn M Moloney et al.ARTICLESelf and Identity2016

    We describe a model in which guilt and shame associate with reactions to wrongdoing among perpetrators of interpersonal harm. Individuals who reported wronging another person (N = 410) completed measures of perceived transgression severity, guilt and shame, and possible reactions to perpetration of wrongdoing (i.e., forgiving, punishing, and excusing oneself). Guilt positively predicted forgiving and punishing oneself, and negatively predicted ex…

  • On Earth as it is in Heaven

    Open AccessBrandon J Griffin, Caroline R Lavelock et al.ARTICLEJournal of Psychology and Theology2014

    In this article, we hypothesize that health outcomes associated with forgiveness, if it is received from God, others, or oneself or if it is granted to others, foreshadow the eschatological regeneration of Christians. Over a decade of scientific inquiry supports a working model that integrates forgiveness, health, and Christian (primarily Reformed) theology. To support this model, we examined studies, reviews of scientific literature, and theolog…

  • The Quiet Virtue Speaks

    Open AccessCaroline R Lavelock, Everett L Worthington et al.ARTICLEJournal of Psychology and Theology2014

    Empirical interest in virtues and their benefits has increased in recent years. In the present study, we test the efficacy of a workbook intervention to promote humility. Participants (N = 59) were randomly assigned to a humility condition (n = 26; 7.5-hour workbook) or a control condition (n = 33; non-action). Participants in the humility condition reported greater increases in humility across time than did participants in the control condition,…