Madi Edwards

Madi Edwards (she/her) is a fifth-year graduate student in the Clinical Psychology Training Program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Madi is interested in researching sexual violence prevention and how to better center sexual violence survivors’ experiences and recovery. She is interested in utilizing norms-based approaches and bystander intervention programming with a focus on addressing alcohol use among potential perpetrators and bystanders in addition to potential victims. She approaches her research from a socio-ecological framework with the goal of removing the onus of prevention being placed solely on potential victims. Madi is also particularly interested in understanding how gender socialization, intersecting identities, and alcohol use may influence responses to sexual assault disclosure and labeling of sexual experiences. In her free time, Madi enjoys reading, listening to podcasts, and spending time outdoors, especially with her dog, Winston.

Madi graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2019 with a BA in Psychology and minors in Sociology and Child, Youth & Family Studies. As an undergraduate, she worked as a research assistant in the Violence Intervention for Survivors of Trauma and Abuse (VISTA) Lab on various projects. This led her to complete an undergraduate thesis examining the barriers to bystander intervention among sober and intoxicated men. Madi also worked as an intern at Williamsburg Behavioral Psychology Clinic and as Vice President of Psi Chi. She also enjoyed serving as a member of PREVENT, a club focused on preventing sexual assault.

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SELECTED PUBLICATIONS/PRESENTATIONS

Jaffe, A. E., Blayney, J. A., Schallert, M. R., Edwards, M. E., & Dworkin, E. R. (2022). Social network changes and disclosure responses after sexual assault. Psychology of Women Quarterly. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/03616843221085213

Kumar, S. A., Edwards, M. E., Grandgenett, H. M., Scherer, L. L., DiLillo, D., & Jaffe, A. E. (2022). Does gratitude promote resilience during a pandemic? An examination of mental health and positivity at the onset of COVID-19. Journal of Happiness Studies.

Edwards, M. E., Howard, R. L., & Jaffe, A. E. (2021, November). “Because I didn’t have the words for it”: Survivors’ Reasons for Label Change Over Time. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Child Maltreatment & Interpersonal Violence SIG, New Orleans, LA.

Edwards, M. E., Jaffe, A. E., Kumar, S. A., & DiLillo, D. (2021, June). Alcohol-related rape myth acceptance: The role of problematic drinking and gender. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, San Antonio, TX.

Edwards, M. E., Grandgenett, H. M, Haikalis, M, Gervais, S. J., & DiLillo, D. (2020, November). To intervene or not: A thematic analysis of bystander decision making in response to sexual risk. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Philadelphia, PA.

Kumar, S. A., Edwards, M. E., Jaffe, A. E., Brock, R. L., & DiLillo, D. (2019, November). Childhood maltreatment and adulthood depression: Examining a model of risk and resilience. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Child Maltreatment & Interpersonal Violence SIG, Atlanta, GA.

Haikalis, M., Edwards, M.E., Mulla, M.M., & DiLillo, D. (2019, March). Bystander behavior to prevent sexual aggression: A qualitative analysis of men’s reported pros and cons of intervening. Paper presented at the Association for Women in Psychology, Newport, RI.