Ph.D., Social/Health Psychology

Rutgers University, New Jersey, 2011

M.A., Social Psychology
Rutgers University, New Jersey, 2008

B.A., Psychology & Mathematics
Grinnell College, Iowa, 2003

I study the processes by which individuals develop and maintain health-related habits, particularly medication adherence and regular physical activity. These processes include belief/attitude formation, experience that a behavior has expected results, intrinsic motivation and self-identitification with the behavior, and stable context cues for the behavior.

I study mainly populations with chronic illness but also young adults, for whom prevention of chronic illness is key. I also study provider communication strategies for promoting optimal adherence to medical advice, primarily focusing on eliciting and addressing patients' beliefs about their treatment(s) and their treatment-related habits.

In the future, I will develop "mobile health" technology applications to promote effective patient-provider communication and habit development

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