Department of Psychology (UMKC)
The Department of Psychology is focused on behavioral science contributions to health and healthcare. Our faculty members are national and international leaders in research on areas such as HIV/AIDS, tobacco use, obesity and eating disorders, cancer, neuropsychological functioning, safety and violence and community factors in health. We have strong and active collaborations with important community partners such as Saint Luke’s Hospital, the Cancer Institute, Mid America Heart Institute, the Kansas City Free Health Clinic, University of Kansas Medical Center and Truman Medical Center
At the undergraduate level, the department offers a general program of study leading to the bachelor of arts degree in psychology. A psychology minor is available to students majoring in other disciplines. Graduate programs are also offered by the Department of Psychology.
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Determinants of Perceived Social Support in Individuals with Serious mental Illness: A Secondary Analysis
(2022)Social support appears to provide protective effects for those with serious mental illness (SMI), but these effects may be attenuated by factors that hinder positive perceptions of support. Improved understanding of social ... -
The relationships of discrimination and microaggressions with sleep quality in black Americans: the role of perseverative cognition
(2022)Disparities in health outcomes between Black and White Americans are well-documented, including sleep quality. Black Americans are more likely to report poor sleep quality sleep than their White counterparts. As sleep is ... -
Modeling shared decision-making: from factor analysis to mimic models
(2022)Shared decision-making (SDM) is a collaborative medical-decision making process that is presumed to be associated with numerous positive patient outcomes. This manuscript describes efforts to develop a brief assessment ... -
Physical activity in adolescents: an expanded theory of planned behavior approach with interaction effects
(2021)Obesity in adolescents in the United States has increased at an alarming rate over the past decade, with concerns related to the issue centered around a lifetime of greater prevalence of poor health outcomes for these ... -
Self-Controlled Food and Leisure Activity Decision-Making
(2021)The experiment aimed to examine the effects of stress, coping, weight status, age, and attribute weightiness on health decision-making in females and males. Participants completed an online experiment consisting of ... -
Effects of healthcare system distrust on cognition in African American older adults with type two diabetes mellitus
(2022)Healthcare system distrust has been linked to poorer Type two diabetes management (T2DM) management, but its impact on cognitive functioning in individuals with T2DM has not been assessed. This study aimed to analyze how ... -
How Discrimination Experiences Impact Prolonged Grief Disorder Symptoms in Bereaved Black and African Americans
(2021)Black and African American people experience bereavement more frequently and earlier in life than their White counterparts and thus may be more impacted by Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD). However, relatively little research ... -
Intolerance of Uncertainty and the Physiological Correlates of Anticipation and Appraisal of Affective Stimuli
(2021)Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is an important transdiagnostic construct found across many psychiatric conditions. This construct is thought to reflect a general tendency to interpret uncertainty as overly aversive, and ... -
Examination of self-determination theory constructs as mediators of the effect of motivational interviewing on tobacco cessation outcomes
(2021)Despite an abundance of evidence supporting the efficacy of motivational interviewing for health behavior change, little is known about how it works. This study conducted a secondary analysis of autonomous motivation as a ... -
Treatment Trajectories of Preschoolers with Severe Trauma Exposure
(2021)Children who have experienced severe trauma during early development are at increased risk for a variety of mental and behavioral health symptoms. Early intervention is commonly recommended to support healing, yet little ... -
Associations between Caregiver and Child Self-Regulation
(University of Missouri -- Kansas City, 2021)Self-regulation, the control of behavior through self-monitoring, self- evaluation, and self- reinforcement, enable a child to manage their behavior and emotions in adaptive ways. This skill is key for school eadiness, ... -
Modifying Diet and Exercise in Multiple Sclerosis: A Pilot Study
(2021)Background: Modest weight loss can have significant health benefits and reduce the risk of developing chronic health comorbidities (Van Gaal et al., 1997). It remains unclear whether weight loss in individuals with multiple ... -
An Examination of Motivational Characteristics and Academic Self-Efficacy Beliefs Conducive to Experiencing Flow
(2021)The present study examined the degree to which college students’ motivational characteristics and perceptions of their academic self-efficacy were related to trait flow. Participants consisted of students attending a large, ... -
Associations Between Benefit Finding, Disease Severity, Positive Affect, and Health Outcomes Among Patients in Cardiac Rehabilitation
(2020)Following a stressful event, individuals may attempt to create meaning or find benefit from the stressor. Benefit finding (BF) may act as a buffer to minimize the effects of stress on health outcomes. The literature is ... -
The development and validation of the appearance satisfaction questionnaire - the first culturally appropriate measure for body image in black women
(2020)Current theories in body image postulate that body dissatisfaction predicts eating disorder pathology. Previous research in body image with Black women claims that Black women do not experience body dissatisfaction and ... -
The Propel Program: A Exploratory Study of an Inclusive Higher Education Model
(2020)Higher education opportunities were previously scarce for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs), but are steadily becoming more common. The Propel Program, a two-year certificate program, ... -
Facilitators and Barriers to Cervical Cancer Screening Among African American Women
(2021)African American (AA) women are at greater risk for cervical cancer incidence and mortality compared to white women, primarily due to lack of screening and follow up. Up to 90% of cervical cancers are caused by persistent ... -
Healthy Eating Information and Food Choices
(2020)The obesity rate amongst American university students has become an item of concern for many colleges and universities across the country. College students are heavily exposed to many unhealthy dietary trends, being reliant ... -
Caregiver Level Predictors of Self-Regulation in Preschool-Aged Children
(2020)Self-regulation is regarded as a key developmental skill that underlies children’s success throughout their life. When children enter kindergarten with under-developed self-regulation skills, they are at a greater risk for ... -
Social Comparison of Body Image in Middle-Aged Women: Implications for Body Image Theory
(2020)Body image dissatisfaction persists into middle age for women. Despite this, most research addressing this area has focused on younger adult women. Therefore, this study sought to explore middle-aged women’s body image ...