Collaborators/Students
Current Graduate Students
Chris Fradkin, MA
Research Interests:
Health psychology focused on children and adolescents. Childhood obesity. Quality of life. Health disparities across race, ethnicity and social class. Written self-disclosure.
Fradkin's current research is examining correlates of healthy weight among children of lower social class. "It's well documented," he says, "that children of lower social class have higher rates of obesity than their peers of higher means. Nonetheless, there are children among this group that maintain healthy weight. Why is this? My research is looking at factors that might explain this unexpected healthy weight among a group that's at risk for excess weight."
Brief Biography:
Chris is a third year doctoral student in psychological sciences at the University of California, Merced, where he hearned the M.A. in 2009. He has a background in tertiary health care, is active in community health, and is currently performing research under the auspices of UC Merced's Center of Excellence on Health Disparities in Rural and Ethnic Underserved Populations.
Sarah Scott, BA
Research Interests:
I am interested in the development of positive psychology interventions to promote happiness and overall resilience to adverse events in children. My current research examines the effect of low socioeconomic status on quality of life and how this may be moderated by positive characteristics of the child and family. The protective factors of particular interest are: prosocial behavior, family cohesiveness, social support, empathy, and positive affect.
Brief Biography:
I received my B.A. in psychology from the University of Virginia in 2008 and developed an interest in positive psychology and psychosocial influences on physical and mental health