Department of psychology

Graduate Program
Experimental Health Psychology

About the Experimental Health Psychology Program

The Experimental Health Psychology area is part of a broad Health Psychology program within the Department of Psychology at Kent State. The Experimental Health Psychology program is designed for graduate students interested in conducting basic and applied research in health psychology, but do not desire clinical training. Our Health Psychology program is unusual in that health psychology faculty across areas work together and graduate students often choose mentors outside their own training program. So, some Experimental students have Clinical faculty mentors and some Clinical students have mentors from the Experimental faculty.  Many graduate students have secondary mentors that cross sub-disciplinary lines.

The health-related research of Experimental and Clinical faculty includes topics such as psychological stress as both a precursor and a consequence of health problems, family and social relationships in the context of health and illness, strategies for preventing the development of serious illness, health behaviors such as alcohol use, and health communication. Faculty research focuses on health-related problems across the life span, ranging from children to older adults.

Faculty and students work in collaboration with one another and with researchers at the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine and major medical centers in Cleveland and Akron. The health psychology specialty seeks to prepare students for research careers in both academic and applied settings.

Experimental students who choose health psychology as a major area of study have the option of selecting one of the other three areas in the Experimental training program as a minor area of study (Biopsychology, Cognitive or Social). Students choosing Cognitive, Biopsychology or Social as major areas of study have the option of selecting Health as a minor area of study.

Social Psychology

Many students interested in the social processes underlying physical health apply to the Social Psychology area. The Social Psychology area is an active and vibrant group of faculty and students who use social psychological theory and state-of-the-art research methods to understand real-world issues, especially those with implications for physical health.  Each faculty member has a distinctive research program, but they share a common interest in understanding how people’s personality and social environments shape their adjustment to stress and influence their mental and physical health.  The research labs in the social program have particular strengths in topics such as social support and stress, coping with chronic illness, socioeconomic status, gender attitudes, emotions, well-being, health persuasion and health behavior change

Biopsychology

The Biopsychology area offers health psychology students a variety of training opportunities in biopsychosocial models of health research. Through active collaborations with local hospitals, social service agencies, and the Center for the Treatment and Study of Traumatic Stress, students gain invaluable experience working with a variety of patient samples. Faculty in the Biopsychology division of Health Psychology typically incorporate physiological and endocrine measures into study designs to examine biological mechanisms of health and recovery.

Coursework in Health Psychology

Faculty in Experimental Health Psychology offer courses on health-related topics, including the following core classes:

• Biological Bases of Health Psychology
• Psychosocial Aspects of Health Psychology
• Clinical Aspects of Health Psychology
• Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine
• Gender and Social Class
• Psychology of Alcohol Abuse
• Psychoneuroimmunology
  

Experimental Health Graduate Students

• Jessica Boarts (Delahanty lab)
• Crystal Gabert (Delahanty lab)
• Leah Irish (Delahanty lab)
• Maria Pacella (Delahanty lab)

Recent Experimental Health Ph.D.'s

• Julie Cremeans-Smith, Ph.D., Kent State University - Stark Campus
• Faith Luyster, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pittsburgh
• Eve Skedjeski, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Wesleyan University