For a description of this research focus, examples of courses, and research projects, please contact Pat Aloise-Young, PhD

The CSU Department of Psychology offers training in Occupational Health Psychology (OHP). OHP is the application of psychological theories and research methods to protect and promote worker safety, health and well-being. Occupational Health Psychology takes a comprehensive view of the work environment, including the way work is organized (e.g., shift work) as well as the culture of the organization. Students from any program in the psychology department are eligible to focus on OHP, and many ASHP students have done so. Occupational Health Trainees involved with the OHP program have been involved in a wide range of research activities working with mentors from a variety of disciplines.  Examples of research includes: health and safety among dairy farm workers; a survey of attitudes and behaviors of parents and young workers; a randomized waitlist trial of a mindfulness intervention among health care workers; social network analysis of suicide prevention organizations; and  a pilot study testing a peer education intervention in collaboration with a non-governmental organization (NGO) to empower and promote the psychosocial and occupational health of women in the entertainment sector in Kathmandu, Nepal.

For more details about the OHP program, you can visit the program website.

Examples of courses

The OHP has a set of required and recommended courses. Below are examples of elective courses that graduate students with this research focus take during their doctoral training.

Publications and grant funding

Below are a few examples of publications and grant funding that have been received by faculty and students (in bold) associated with this research focus.

Stallones, L. High Plains Intermountain Center for Agricultural Health and Safety (HICAHS), National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (9/15/2016-9/14/2021)

Stallones, L. Feasibility of a Brief Mindfulness Intervention on Hospice Care Worker Safety and Well-being, Oregon Health Sciences Workforce Center (12/1/2016-11/30/2017)

Stallones, L., Doegnes, T., Dik, B., & Valley, M. (2013). Occupation and suicide: Colorado 2004-2006. American Journal Industrial Medicine, 56, 1290-1295.

Menger, L., Stallones, L., Cross, J., Henry, K., & Chen, P. (2015). Strengthening suicide prevention networks: Interorganizational collaboration and tie strength. Psychosocial Intervention. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psi.2015.07.005

Menger, L., Pezzutti, F., Tellechea, T., Stallones, L., Rosecrance, J., Roman-Muniz, I.M.  (2016). Perceptions of health and safety among immigrant Latino/a dairy workers in the US.  Frontiers in Public Health, 4, 106. Doi:10.3389/fpubh.2016.00106.

Valley, M., & Stallones, L. (2017). Effect of mindfulness-based stress reduction training on health care worker safety: A randomized waitlist controlled trial. Journal of Occupational Environmental Medicine, 59(10), 935-941.

For a description of this research focus, examples of courses and research projects, please contact Kimberly Henry, PhD

Publications and grant funding

Below are a few examples of publications and grant funding that have been received by faculty and students (in bold) associated with this research focus.

Buller & Pogato (Joint PIs), Henry (PI of subcontract to CSU). National Cancer Institute. Likes Pins and Views: Engaging Moms on Teen Indoor Tanning Thru Social Media. The purpose of this study is to conduct a randomized-control trial of a social media intervention to prevent indoor tanning by teens in Tennessee.

Henry & Haddock (Joint PIs). William T. Grant Foundation. Mentor Families: A Setting-level Component to Improve Mentoring Outcomes for At-risk Youth. The purpose of this study is to develop, integrate, and empirically test the impact and process of the establishment of Mentor Families within Campus Connections (CC – a mentoring program at Colorado State University that matches trained undergraduates with adolescents who are at risk for delinquency). The establishment of Mentor Families involves nesting 4 mentor-mentee pairs in a “family” group during CC sessions to experience the mentoring program together.

Kaufman, M. R., Harman, J. J., Smelyanskaya, M., Orkis, J., & Ainslie, R. (in press). “Love me, Parents!” Impact evaluation of a national and behavioral change communication campaign on maternal health outcomes in Tanzania. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth.

Fitch-Martin, A., Menger, L., Loomis, A., Hartsough, L. & Henry, K.L. (in press). We don’t really do anything unless it’s really bad: Understanding adolescent sun protective knowledge, attitudes and behaviors in the U.S. Journal of Primary Prevention.

Ospina, J. H., Langford, T. A., Henry, K. L., & Nelson, T. Q., (in press). Using job analysis techniques to understand training needs for Promotores de Salud. Health Promotion Practice. Advance online publication.

Dziak J.J. & Henry K.L. (2017). Two-Part Predictors in Regression Models. Multivariate Behavioral Research, Sep-Oct; 52(5), 551-561.

Harman, J. J., Leder-Elder, S. & Biringen, Z. (2016). Prevalence of parental alienation drawn from a representative poll. Children & Youth Services Review, 66, 62-66. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2016.04.021

This area of research has focused on intimate relationships, family dynamics, and processes in relation to psychological and physical health. Through the study of topics such as power, interpersonal perception, social influence, attitudes and persuasion, and social norms, faculty and students have addressed social issues such as HIV risk prevention, domestic violence, parental alienation, substance abuse, and maternal health promotion. Faculty and students often collaborate with professionals from sociology, social work, communications, human development and family studies, and family law.

Examples of courses

Below are examples of elective courses that graduate students with this research focus take during their doctoral training.

Publications and grant funding

Below are a few examples of publications and grant funding that have been received by faculty and students (in bold) associated with this research focus.

Henry (PI). National Institute on Drug Abuse. Intergenerational Transmission of Risk for Drug Use. This three-generation prospective panel study examines intergenerational continuity/discontinuity in drug use and other antisocial behaviors, including assessment of mediators that explain continuity, and moderators that disrupt the cycle of problem outcomes.

Henry (PI).Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The Protective Role of Safe, Stable and Nurturing Relationships for Victims of Child Maltreatment. The purpose of this project is to use existing longitudinal, multigenerational data from the Rochester Youth Development Study and the Rochester Intergenerational Study to assess the protective role of relationships for victims of child abuse.

Harman, J. J., Stewart, A. L., Keneski, E., & Agnew, C. R. (2018). The impact of multilevel sources of power on intimate relationship functioning. In C. R. Agnew & J. J. Harman (Eds.). Power in Close Relationships. Cambridge University Press.

Henry, K.L., Fulco, C.J., Agbeke, D.V. & Ratcliff, A.M. (2018). Intergenerational continuity in substance use: Does offspring’s friendship network make a difference? Journal of Adolescent Health, 63, 205-212.

Henry, K.L., Fulco, C.J. & Merrick, M.T. (2018). The harmful effect of maltreatment on economic outcomes in adulthood. American Journal of Public Health, 108(9), 1134-1141.

Augustyn, M. B., Fulco, C. J., & Henry, K. L. (2018). Intergenerational continuity in depression: The importance of time-varying effects, maternal co-morbid health risk behaviors and child’s gender. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 1-26.

Kaufman, M. R., Harman, J. J., & Menger, L. (2016). Understanding sexual risk among female commercial sex workers in Nepal: A formative study. Health Care for Women International, 37, 872-888.

We only accept applications for the Fall semester.

Application due date is January 15th.

The Applied Social and Health Psychology program has suspended use of the GRE in admissions decisions.

Faculty accepting graduate students for Fall 2025 – Niccole Nelson and Mike Steger

Application instructions and links are located here.

Our faculty list for this program is located here.

Carl F. Hummel (Ph.D., 1977), Associate Professor, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, AR

Ray W. Cooksey (Ph.D., 1981), Professor, Human Resource Management, University of New England, Australia

William A. Barnard (Ph.D., 1981), Professor Emeritus, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO

Thomas C. Greene (Ph.D., 1983), Professor, Department of Psychology, St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY

Linda Mannik Kline (Ph.D., 1984), Professor, Department of Psychology, California State University, Chico, CA

Christopher R. Grace (Ph.D., 1988), Professor and Associate Provost, Biola University, La Mirada, CA

Jeffrey M. Smith (Ph.D., 1988), Associate Professor, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, KY

Nancy Krizek Karlin (Ph.D., 1989), Associate Professor, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO

Ruth W. Edwards (Ph.D., 1990), Research Scientist and Co-Director, Tri-Ethnic Center for Prevention Research, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO

Marc E. Fusco (Ph.D., 1990), Usability Engineer, Bank of America, Charlotte, NC

Diane K. Martichuski (Ph.D., 1992), Instructor, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

Carol Lynne Baird (Ph.D., 1994), Degree Awarded Posthumously

Deborah Nava Watson Acosta (Ph.D., 1994), Research Associate, Omni Institute, Denver, CO and Research Scientist, Institute for Research on Social Problems, Boulder, CO

Mark L. Harvey (Ph.D., 1995), Associate Professor, University of North Carolina at Asheville

Nora L. Bensko (Ph.D., 1995), Strategic Crime Analyst, Crime Analysis Unit, Arvada Police Department, Arvada, CO

Andrea Clarke (Ph.D., 1996), Agricultural Economist/Psychologist, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Annapolis, MD

Andrej A. Birjulin (Ph.D., 1997 ), Research Director & Educational Consultant, Self-Employed

Patricia A. Ellison-Potter (Ph.D., 1997), Management Analyst Department of Transportation, Washington DC

Cheryl L. Asmus (Ph.D., 1998), Founder and Owner e-Training for Dogs (see E-TrainingforDogs.com)

Amy L. Cota-McKinley (Ph.D., 1999), Associate Professor Worcester State University

William D. Woody (Ph.D., 1999), Professor University of Northern Colorado

Britt L. Mace (Ph.D., 1999), Professor and Chair Department of Psychology, Southern Utah University, Cedar City, UT

Steven M. Elias (Ph.D., 2001), Dean of the School of Business Administration, Fort Lewis College

Steven Yalowitz (Ph.D., 2001), Principal Audience Viewpoints Consulting

Scott C. Bates (Ph.D., 2001), Associate Vice President for Research & Associate Dean Utah State University

Jacob Eisenberg (Ph.D., 2001), Academic Director UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School

Jennifer B. Yaffee (Ph.D., 2002), Lecturer California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Dawn K. Nannini (Ph.D., 2003), Research and Evaluation Specialist TEAM Fort Collins

Sarah Tragesser (Ph.D., 2005), Associate Professor Washington State University

Marc Broderson (Ph.D., 2005), Senior Researcher Marzano Research Laboratory

Nick Perrine (Ph.D., 2005), Director, Knowledge Management and Implementation Support Kaiser Permanente Colorado

Nazanin Mohajeri-Nelson (Ph.D., 2006), Director of Data Program Evaluation and Reporting, Colorado Department of Education

Patricia Gonzales (Ph.D., 2006), Research Assistant Professor San Diego State University

Sara Anne Tompkins (Ph.D., 2006), Owner/Consultant Madipen Group, LLC

Patricia Romano (Ph.D., 2008), Assistant Professor St. Edward’s University

Shannon Altenhofen (Ph.D., 2008), Psychologist Namaqua Elementary  School

Itsumi Kakefuda (Ph.D., 2008), Director at Center for Child Daycare Nursery Safety Research and Training, Tokyo, Japan

Monica Rosales, (Ph.D., 2008), Research Analyst Los Angeles Department of Public Health

Megan O’Grady (Ph.D., 2009), Research Scientist, Associate Director of Health Services Research The Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University

Gretchen Nurse (Ph.D., 2009), Adjunct Professor California State Sacramento

Julie Taylor-Massey (Ph.D., 2009), Assistant Professor Colorado State University

Kristina Wilson (Ph.D., 2010), Director Office of Performance Improvement, Florida Department of Health in Duval County

Jake Benfield (Ph.D., 2010), Assistant Professor Penn State-Abington

Laurie Chapin (Ph.D., 2010), Lecturer Victoria University

Helena Chui (Ph.D., 2010), Post Doctoral Research Fellow Flinders University

Julie Maertens (Ph.D., 2011), Lead Evaluator Colorado State University STEM Center

J. Taylor Moore (Ph.D., 2011), Program Evaluation Manager Mental Health Center of Denver

Rob Jakubowski (Ph.D., 2011), Program Effectiveness Manager  Denver Public Schools

Lindsey (Harkabus) Fast (Ph.D., 2012), Assistant Professor Western State Colorado University

Janet Craighead (Ph.D., 2012), Healthcare/Measurement/Research Psychologist/Research Nurse Scientist Clinical Education and Innovation Center, University of Colorado Health

Danielle Dickens (Ph.D., 2014), Assistant Professor Spelman College

Annette Shtivelband (Ph.D., 2014), Founder/Principal Consultant Research Evaluation Consulting, LLC

Adam Zaleski (Ph.D., 2015), Instructor Kauai Community College

Our Program Brochure is located here in PDF format.

Our Department Graduate Student manual is located here in PDF format.