Kathryn C. Adair Boulus | Scholars@Duke

Kathryn C. Adair Boulus
Program Manager

I am the Assistant Director of Well-being and Research at the Duke Center for Healthcare Safety and Quality . My research and talks examine the topic of healthcare worker well-being. Various lines of research examine the psychology of burnout and resilience, interpersonal relationships, self-compassion, mindfulness, tools to enhance well-being, and improving safety culture. For more info, see my CV .

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Program Manager, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Adult Psychiatry & Psychology, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences

Contact Information

University Tower, 3100 Tower Blvd, Suite 1510, Durham, NC 27707
kathryn.c.adair@duke.edu +1 919 681 4949

Research
Selected Grants
- Duke Well-being Essentials Program for the Current and Future Health Workforce awarded by Health Resources and Service Administration 2022 - 2024
- Latent Resilience and Burnout Profiles among Nurses awarded by Sigma Theta Tau International 2021 - 2023
- The WISER NICU Study awarded by Stanford University 2015 - 2020
External Relationships
- Southern Regional AHEC
Publications & Artistic Works
Selected Publications
- Academic Articles
  - Rehder, Kyle J., K Carrie Adair, Erin Eckert, Richard W. Lang, Allan S. Frankel, Joshua Proulx, and J Bryan Sexton. “Teamwork Before and During COVID-19: The Good, the Same, and the Ugly….” J Patient Saf 19, no. 1 (January 1, 2023): 36–41. https://doi.org/10.1097/PTS.0000000000001070.
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  - Adair, Kathryn C., Emily Levoy, Daniel S. Tawfik, Sofia Palassof, Jochen Profit, Allan Frankel, Michael Leonard, Joshua Proulx, and J Bryan Sexton. “Assessing Leadership Behavior in Health Care: Introducing the Local Leadership Scale of the SCORE Survey.” The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, December 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcjq.2022.12.007.
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  - Tawfik, Daniel S., Kathryn C. Adair, Sofia Palassof, J Bryan Sexton, Emily Levoy, Allan Frankel, Michael Leonard, Joshua Proulx, and Jochen Profit. “Leadership Behavior Associations with Domains of Safety Culture, Engagement, and Health Care Worker Well-Being.” The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, December 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcjq.2022.12.006.
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  - Adair, Kathryn C., Annemarie Heath, Maureen A. Frye, Allan Frankel, Joshua Proulx, Kyle J. Rehder, Erin Eckert, Caitlin Penny, Franz Belz, and J Bryan Sexton. “The Psychological Safety Scale of the Safety, Communication, Operational, Reliability, and Engagement (SCORE) Survey: A Brief, Diagnostic, and Actionable Metric for the Ability to Speak Up in Healthcare Settings.” J Patient Saf 18, no. 6 (September 1, 2022): 513–20. https://doi.org/10.1097/PTS.0000000000001048.
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  - Sexton, J Bryan, Kathryn C. Adair, Joshua Proulx, Jochen Profit, Xin Cui, Jon Bae, and Allan Frankel. “Emotional Exhaustion Among US Health Care Workers Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2019-2021.” Jama Netw Open 5, no. 9 (September 1, 2022): e2232748. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.32748.
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  - Rink, Lesley C., Susan G. Silva, Kathryn C. Adair, Tolu O. Oyesanya, Janice C. Humphreys, and J Bryan Sexton. “The Association between Well-being Behaviors and Resilience in Health Care Workers.” West J Nurs Res 44, no. 8 (August 2022): 743–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/01939459211017515.
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  - Belz, Franz F., Kathryn C. Adair, Joshua Proulx, Allan S. Frankel, and J Bryan Sexton. “The language of healthcare worker emotional exhaustion: A linguistic analysis of longitudinal survey.” Frontiers in Psychiatry 13 (January 2022): 1044378. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1044378.
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  - Sexton, J Bryan, Kathryn C. Adair, Xin Cui, Daniel S. Tawfik, and Jochen Profit. “Effectiveness of a bite-sized web-based intervention to improve healthcare worker wellbeing: A randomized clinical trial of WISER.” Frontiers in Public Health 10 (January 2022): 1016407. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.1016407.
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  - Profit, Jochen, Kathryn C. Adair, Xin Cui, Briana Mitchell, Debra Brandon, Daniel S. Tawfik, Joseph Rigdon, et al. “Randomized controlled trial of the "WISER" intervention to reduce healthcare worker burnout.” J Perinatol 41, no. 9 (September 2021): 2225–34. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-021-01100-y.
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  - Rehder, Kyle, Kathryn C. Adair, and J Bryan Sexton. “The Science of Health Care Worker Burnout: Assessing and Improving Health Care Worker Well-Being.” Arch Pathol Lab Med 145, no. 9 (September 1, 2021): 1095–1109. https://doi.org/10.5858/arpa.2020-0557-RA.
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  - Tawfik, Daniel S., Amrita Sinha, Mohsen Bayati, Kathryn C. Adair, Tait D. Shanafelt, J Bryan Sexton, and Jochen Profit. “Frustration With Technology and its Relation to Emotional Exhaustion Among Health Care Workers: Cross-sectional Observational Study.” J Med Internet Res 23, no. 7 (July 6, 2021): e26817. https://doi.org/10.2196/26817.
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  - Sexton, J Bryan, Kathryn C. Adair, Jochen Profit, Jonathan Bae, Kyle J. Rehder, Tracy Gosselin, Judy Milne, Michael Leonard, and Allan Frankel. “Safety Culture and Workforce Well-Being Associations with Positive Leadership WalkRounds.” Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf 47, no. 7 (July 2021): 403–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcjq.2021.04.001.
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  - Tawfik, Daniel S., Tait D. Shanafelt, Liselotte N. Dyrbye, Christine A. Sinsky, Colin P. West, Alexis S. Davis, Felice Su, et al. “Personal and Professional Factors Associated With Work-Life Integration Among US Physicians.” Jama Netw Open 4, no. 5 (May 3, 2021): e2111575. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.11575.
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  - Haidari, Eman, Elliott K. Main, Xin Cui, Valerie Cape, Daniel S. Tawfik, Kathryn C. Adair, Bryan J. Sexton, and Jochen Profit. “Maternal and neonatal health care worker well-being and patient safety climate amid the COVID-19 pandemic.” Journal of Perinatology : Official Journal of the California Perinatal Association 41, no. 5 (May 2021): 961–69. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-021-01014-9.
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  - Sexton, J Bryan, Kathryn C. Adair, Jochen Profit, Judy Milne, Marie McCulloh, Sue Scott, and Allan Frankel. “Perceptions of Institutional Support for "Second Victims" Are Associated with Safety Culture and Workforce Well-Being.” Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf 47, no. 5 (May 2021): 306–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcjq.2020.12.001.
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  - McPeek-Hinz, Eugenia, Mina Boazak, J Bryan Sexton, Kathryn C. Adair, Vivian West, Benjamin A. Goldstein, Robert S. Alphin, et al. “Clinician Burnout Associated With Sex, Clinician Type, Work Culture, and Use of Electronic Health Records.” Jama Netw Open 4, no. 4 (April 1, 2021): e215686. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.5686.
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  - Wolpaw, Jed T., and Kathryn C. Adair. “Shoe Covers but Not Burnout? Making Burnout Reduction a Criteria for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Funding Would Protect Patients.” Journal of Patient Safety 17, no. 1 (January 2021): 68–70. https://doi.org/10.1097/pts.0000000000000681.
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  - Tawfik, Daniel S., Amrita Sinha, Mohsen Bayati, Kathryn C. Adair, Tait D. Shanafelt, J Bryan Sexton, and Jochen Profit. “Frustration With Technology and its Relation to Emotional Exhaustion Among Health Care Workers: Cross-sectional Observational Study (Preprint),” December 28, 2020. https://doi.org/10.2196/preprints.26817.
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  - Rice, Elise L., Kathryn C. Adair, Stephanie J. Tepper, and Barbara L. Fredrickson. “Perceived social integration predicts future physical activity through positive affect and spontaneous thoughts.” Emotion (Washington, D.C.) 20, no. 6 (September 2020): 1074–83. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000616.
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  - Adair, Kathryn C., Larissa G. Rodriguez-Homs, Sabran Masoud, Paul J. Mosca, and J Bryan Sexton. “Gratitude at Work: Prospective Cohort Study of a Web-Based, Single-Exposure Well-Being Intervention for Health Care Workers.” J Med Internet Res 22, no. 5 (May 14, 2020): e15562. https://doi.org/10.2196/15562.
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  - Adair, Kathryn C., Lindsay A. Kennedy, and J Bryan Sexton. “Three Good Tools: Positively reflecting backwards and forwards is associated with robust improvements in well-being across three distinct interventions.” J Posit Psychol 15, no. 5 (2020): 613–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2020.1789707.
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  - Rehder, Kyle J., Kathryn C. Adair, Allison Hadley, Katie McKittrick, Allan Frankel, Michael Leonard, Terri Christensen Frankel, and J Bryan Sexton. “Associations Between a New Disruptive Behaviors Scale and Teamwork, Patient Safety, Work-Life Balance, Burnout, and Depression.” Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf 46, no. 1 (January 2020): 18–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcjq.2019.09.004.
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  - Tawfik, Daniel S., Annette Scheid, Jochen Profit, Tait Shanafelt, Mickey Trockel, Kathryn C. Adair, J Bryan Sexton, and John P. A. Ioannidis. “Evidence Relating Health Care Provider Burnout and Quality of Care: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.” Ann Intern Med 171, no. 8 (October 15, 2019): 555–67. https://doi.org/10.7326/M19-1152.
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  - Adair, Kathryn C., Larissa G. Rodriguez-Homs, Sabran Masoud, Paul J. Mosca, and J Bryan Sexton. “Gratitude at Work: Prospective Cohort Study of a Web-Based, Single-Exposure Well-Being Intervention for Health Care Workers (Preprint),” July 19, 2019. https://doi.org/10.2196/preprints.15562.
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  - Sexton, J Bryan, and Kathryn C. Adair. “Forty-five good things: a prospective pilot study of the Three Good Things well-being intervention in the USA for healthcare worker emotional exhaustion, depression, work-life balance and happiness.” Bmj Open 9, no. 3 (March 20, 2019): e022695. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-022695.
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  - Schwartz, Stephanie P., Kathryn C. Adair, Jonathan Bae, Kyle J. Rehder, Tait D. Shanafelt, Jochen Profit, and J Bryan Sexton. “Work-life balance behaviours cluster in work settings and relate to burnout and safety culture: a cross-sectional survey analysis.” Bmj Qual Saf 28, no. 2 (February 2019): 142–50. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2018-007933.
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  - Adair, Kathryn C., Krystina Quow, Allan Frankel, Paul J. Mosca, Jochen Profit, Allison Hadley, Michael Leonard, and J. Bryan Sexton. “The Improvement Readiness scale of the SCORE survey: a metric to assess capacity for quality improvement in healthcare.” Bmc Health Serv Res 18, no. 1 (December 17, 2018): 975. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-018-3743-0.
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  - Adair, K. C., B. L. Fredrickson, L. Castro-Schilo, S. Kim, and S. Sidberry. “Present with You: Does Cultivated Mindfulness Predict Greater Social Connection Through Gains in Decentering and Reductions in Negative Emotions?” Mindfulness 9, no. 3 (June 1, 2018): 737–49. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0811-1.
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  - Adair, K. C., A. J. Boulton, and S. B. Algoe. “The Effect of Mindfulness on Relationship Satisfaction via Perceived Responsiveness: Findings from a Dyadic Study of Heterosexual Romantic Partners.” Mindfulness 9, no. 2 (April 1, 2018): 597–609. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0801-3.
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  - Sexton, J Bryan, Kathryn C. Adair, Michael W. Leonard, Terri Christensen Frankel, Joshua Proulx, Sam R. Watson, Brooke Magnus, et al. “Providing feedback following Leadership WalkRounds is associated with better patient safety culture, higher employee engagement and lower burnout.” Bmj Qual Saf 27, no. 4 (April 2018): 261–70. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2016-006399.
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  - Tawfik, Daniel S., John Bryan Sexton, Kathryn C. Adair, Heather C. Kaplan, and Jochen Profit. “Context in Quality of Care: Improving Teamwork and Resilience.” Clin Perinatol 44, no. 3 (September 2017): 541–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clp.2017.04.004.
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  - Sexton, J Bryan, Stephanie P. Schwartz, Whitney A. Chadwick, Kyle J. Rehder, Jonathan Bae, Joanna Bokovoy, Keith Doram, Wayne Sotile, Kathryn C. Adair, and Jochen Profit. “The associations between work-life balance behaviours, teamwork climate and safety climate: cross-sectional survey introducing the work-life climate scale, psychometric properties, benchmarking data and future directions.” Bmj Qual Saf 26, no. 8 (August 2017): 632–40. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2016-006032.
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  - Price, Jennifer L., Helen Z. MacDonald, Kathryn C. Adair, Naomi Koerner, and Candice M. Monson. “Changing Beliefs about Trauma: A Qualitative Study of Cognitive Processing Therapy.” Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy 44, no. 2 (March 2016): 156–67. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1352465814000526.
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  - Adair, K. C., and B. L. Fredrickson. “Be open: Mindfulness predicts reduced motivated perception.” Personality and Individual Differences 83 (September 1, 2015): 198–201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.04.008.
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  - Iverson, Katherine M., Katie A. McLaughlin, Kathryn C. Adair, and Candice M. Monson. “Anger-related dysregulation as a factor linking childhood physical abuse and interparental violence to intimate partner violence experiences.” Violence and Victims 29, no. 4 (January 2014): 564–78. https://doi.org/10.1891/0886-6708.vv-d-12-00125.
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  - Brown-Iannuzzi, Jazmin L., Kathryn C. Adair, B Keith Payne, Laura Smart Richman, and Barbara L. Fredrickson. “Discrimination hurts, but mindfulness may help: Trait mindfulness moderates the relationship between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms.” Personality and Individual Differences 56 (January 2014). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2013.09.015.
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  - Fredman, S. J., C. M. Monson, and K. C. Adair. “Implementing Cognitive-Behavioral Conjoint Therapy for PTSD With the Newest Generation of Veterans and Their Partners.” Cognitive and Behavioral Practice 18, no. 1 (February 1, 2011): 120–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpra.2009.06.007.
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  - Monson, C. M., S. J. Fredman, K. C. Adair, S. P. Stevens, P. A. Resick, P. P. Schnurr, H. Z. Macdonald, and A. Macdonald. “Cognitive-behavioral conjoint therapy for PTSD: Pilot results from a community sample.” J Trauma Stress, January 10, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.20604.
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  - Hodgins, Holley S., and Kathryn C. Adair. “Attentional processes and meditation.” Consciousness and Cognition 19, no. 4 (December 2010): 872–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2010.04.002.
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  - Hodgins, Holley S., Kristin S. Weibust, Netta Weinstein, Sara Shiffman, Anita Miller, Garth Coombs, and Kathryn C. Adair. “The cost of self-protection: threat response and performance as a function of autonomous and controlled motivations.” Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin 36, no. 8 (August 2010): 1101–14. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167210375618.
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  - Fredman, Steffany J., Candice M. Monson, Jeremiah A. Schumm, Kathryn C. Adair, Casey T. Taft, and Patricia A. Resick. “Associations among disaster exposure, intimate relationship adjustment, and PTSD symptoms: can disaster exposure enhance a relationship?” J Trauma Stress 23, no. 4 (August 2010): 446–51. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.20555.
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  - Monson, Candice M., Steffany J. Fredman, and Kathryn C. Adair. “Cognitive-behavioral conjoint therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder: application to operation enduring and Iraqi Freedom veterans.” Journal of Clinical Psychology 64, no. 8 (August 2008): 958–71. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.20511.
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Teaching & Mentoring
Advising & Mentoring
- I advise and mentor medical students and fellows on various research projects related to healthcare worker well-being, safety culture, improvement readiness, leadership, teamwork, and disruptive behaviors.

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Selected Grants

External Relationships

Selected Publications

Academic Articles

Advising & Mentoring