The Department of Psychology and Social Behavior offers doctoral training in Health Psychology. Faculty research focuses on understanding the psychosocial, physiological and behavioral factors that influence health and disease, and the effectiveness of health promotion programs and medical treatments. Training will allow students to develop a strong foundation in the theoretical perspectives, research methods, physiological assessments, intervention strategies, ethical issues, and current controversies in the field of health psychology.


Faculty

Cahill, Lawrence F., Ph.D. University of California, Irvine
Neural Mechanisms of Emotionally Influenced Memory.

Charles, Susan T., Ph.D., University of Southern California
Adult life-span development; age-related changes in emotional experience and cognitive appraisal of affective events; how emotional experience relates to physical health and behavior; and how this relation varies as a function of age.

Dickerson, Sally S., Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
Stress physiology. Psychoneuroimmunology. Effects of social evaluation or rejection on emotional and physiological outcomes. Self-conscious emotions. Health psychology.

Federenko, Ilona S., Ph.D., University of Trier, Germany
psychobiology of stress, stress in pregnancy, women's health, developmental psychobiology, behavioral genetics, assessment of stress.

Ditto, Peter H., Ph.D., Princeton University
Judgment and decision-making in emotionally-charged or motivationally-involving situations. Current interests include biases in how people respond to threatening medical information and information that challenges firmly-held attitudes and prejudices, and psychological issues involved in end-of-life medical decision-making.

Frattaroli, Joanne, Ph.D. University of California, Riverside
Expressive writing, meta-analysis, positive psychology, health psychology, preventive medicine, educational psychology.

Jamner, Larry D., Ph.D., State University of New York, Stony Brook
Clinical human psychophysiology, especially focused on individual differences in coping styles and their effects on the relationship between emotional experiences and concomitant cardiovascular, neuroendocrine, and immune-related activity.

Kemp, Bryan J., Ph.D. University of Southern California
Caregiving, Geriatrics, Disability.

Maddi, Salvatore, Ph.D., Harvard University
Stress management, health, and personality, especially personal "hardiness;" naturalistic research designs involving adult participants.

Rook, Karen, Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
Effects of family relationships and friendships on psychological and physical health, particularly in later life; the processes of substitution and compensation following the loss of a major close relationship; the role of close relationships in fostering or hindering older adults' self-care practices and health behaviors; the antecedents and consequences of loneliness in young adults and older adults.

Rugg, Michael D., Ph.D. University of Leicester
Cognitive and neural bases of human memory.

Silver, Roxane Cohen, Ph.D., Northwestern University
Coping with stressful life experiences and traumatic life events, and changes in responses over time; predictors of effective coping; long-term sequelae of acute and chronic stress; how beliefs and expectations of the social network impact on the coping process.

Stokols, Daniel, Ph.D., University of North Carolina
Effects of physical and social conditions within work environments on employees' health, performance, and morale; health and behavioral impacts of environmental stressors such as traffic congestion, overcrowding, aircraft noise, and residential relocation; application of behavioral research to facilities planning and urban design; design and evaluation of community health promotion programs.

Vaughan, Elaine, Ph.D., Stanford University
How individuals with specific cognitive and affective characteristics, and larger communities, adapt and respond to health, environmental and technological risks; interpretation of and response to scientific risk information by diverse social and cultural groups; the role of science and values in shaping public health and environmental policies; the measurement and statistical issues that arise when studying psychosocial phenomena across diverse populations and communities.

Wadhwa, Pathik, Ph.D. University of California, Irvine, M.D. University of Poona
Influence of psychosocial factors on early development and health, and the biological mechanisms (neuroendocrine, immune, vascular) that mediate these associations; the role of stress in premature birth, maternal health, neurodevelopmental disorders, and the long-term risk of chronic degenerative disease.

Whalen, Carol K., Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
Stress and health in children and adolescents, including the development of health-promoting versus health-risking behavior patterns; parent-child health communications; and how young people think, worry, and make decisions about their own health; contextual, dispositional, and behavioral contributions to tobacco use and dependence in adolescents and young adults; psychopathology and pharmacotherapies, with a focus on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) in children, adolescents, and adults.