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Kristen Riley

Dr. Kristen Riley
kris
Assistant Professor, Clinical Psychology Department
University of Connecticut
Office: Psychology, A237
Phone: 848-445-1268

Kristen E. Riley is an Assistant Professor at GSAPP. She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology with a certificate in health psychology is from the University of Connecticut, and completed a health psychology internship at the Miami VA Medical Center and postdoctoral fellowship in cancer prevention at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). Her program of research decreases unhealthy behaviors and increases access to care, with a focus on health disparities. Specifically, she studies stigma, rumination, superstition, mindfulness, tobacco, and sleep, and she uses dissemination and implementation science to integrate behavioral medicine into medical settings to improve access to care and get interventions to those who need them most.

Dr. Riley is the chief of the Health Policy Council at the Society for Health Psychology at the American Psychological Association. She promotes integrated care teamwork as a member of the Interprofessional Education Faculty Advisory Council. She is an affiliate member of the Department of Psychology, Center for Alcohol & Substance Use Studies, and the Center for Tobacco Studies at the School of Public Health, is a member of Women’s Health and Psychiatry at RWJBarnabas Health, and is an associate member of the Cancer Institute of New Jersey in Cancer Prevention and Control. She is fluent in Spanish.

Dr. Riley is currently working on several lines of research GSAPP, including:

  • LGBTQ+ smoking cessation
  • Lung cancer stigma and anti-tobacco public health campaigns
  • Integrating psychology into primary care and medical settings
  • Spanish speaking insomnia treatment
  • Ultra-brief mindfulness interventions
  • Maternal mortality and morbidity in black women
Books & Articles: 

Riley, K. E., Park, C. L., Tigershtrom, A., Laurenceau, J-P. (2020). Predictors of health behaviors during a college national championship sports event: A daily diary study. Journal of American College Health.

Williamson, T. J., Kwon, D. M., Riley, K. E., Shen, M. J., Hamann, H. A., & Ostroff, J. S. (2019). Lung cancer stigma: Does smoking history matter? Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

Riley, K. E., Park, C. L., Cruess, D. G., Tigershtrom, A., Laurenceau, J-P. (In press). Anxiety and depression predict the paths through which rumination acts on behavior: A daily diary study. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology.

Riley, K. E. (2019). So where do I start? How to get involved in Health Policy. Health Policy Corner. The Health Psychologist.

Riley, K. E., & Hay, J. L., Waters, E. A., Biddle, C., Schofield, E., Li, Y., Orom, H., & Kiviniemi, M. T. (2019). Lay Beliefs about Risk Relation to Risk Behaviors and to Probabilistic Risk Perceptions. Journal of Behavioral Medicine.

Ostroff, J. S., Riley, K. E., Shen, M. J., Atkinson, T. M., Williamson, T.J., & Hamann, H. A. (2019). Lung cancer stigma and depression: Validation of the Lung Cancer Stigma Inventory. Psycho-Oncology.

Riley, K. E., Park, C. L., & Laurenceau, J-P. (Fall 2018). A Daily Diary Study of Rumination and Health Behaviors: Modeling Moderators and Mediators. Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

Finkelstein-Fox, L., Park, C. L., Riley, K. E. (Fall 2018). Mindfulness’ effects on stress, coping, and mood: A daily diary goodness-of-fit study. Emotion.

Ostroff, J. S., Riley, K. E., & Dhingra, L. (Fall 2018). Smoking Cessation and Cancer Survivors. Handbook of Cancer Survivorship.

Park, C. L., Elwy, A. R., Maiya, M., Sarkin, A. J., Riley, K., Eisen, S. V., … Groessl, E. J. (2018). The Essential Properties of Yoga Questionnaire (EPYQ): Psychometric Analysis. International Journal of Yoga Therapy.

Hamann, H. A., Riley, K. E., & Ostroff, J. S. (2017). Lung cancer survivorship needs assessment. Psycho-Oncology, 26, 86-88.

Riley, K. E., Ulrich, M. R., Hamann, H. A., Ostroff, J. S. (2017). Decreasing Smoking but Increasing Stigma?: Anti-tobacco Campaigns, Cancer Patients, and Public Health. AMA Journal of Ethics, 19, 475-485.

Hay, J. L., Riley, K. E., & Geller, A. C. (2017). Tanning and teens: Is indoor exposure the tip of the iceberg? Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, & Prevention, 26, 1170-1174.

Riley, K. E., Lee, J. S., Safren, S. A. (2017). The relationship between automatic thoughts and depression in a CBT-AD intervention for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA): Exploring temporality and causality. Cognitive Therapy and Research.

Riley, K. E., Park, C. L., Wilson, A., Sabo, A., Antoni, M.H., Harris, A., Braun, T. D., Harrington, J., Reiss, J., Pasalis, E., Harris, A., & Cope, S. (2016). Improving physical and mental health in frontline mental health providers: Yoga-based stress management versus Cognitive Behavioral Stress Management. Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health, 6, 1-23.

Park, C. L., Riley, K. E., George, L., Hale, A., Cho, D., Guitierrrez, I., & Braun, T. D. (2016). Assessing Disruptions in Meaning: Development of the Global Meaning Violation Scale. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 40, 831-846.

Park, C. L., Riley, K. E., Braun, T. D., Jung, J. Y., Suh, H. G., Antoni, M. H., & Pescatello, L S. (2016). Yoga and cognitive-behavioral interventions to reduce stress in incoming college students: A pilot study. Journal of Applied Biobehavioral Research.

Park, C. L., Riley, K. E., Braun, T. D. (2016). Practitioners’ perceptions of yoga's impact and positive and negative effects: Results of a national survey. The Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, 20, 270-279.

Groessl, E. J., Maiya, M., Elwy, A. R., Riley, K. E., Sarkin, A. J., Eisen, S. V., Braun, T. D., Gutierrez, I., Kidane, L., Park, C. L. (2015). The Essential Properties of Yoga Questionnaire: Development and methods. International Journal of Yoga Therapy, 25, 51-59.

Riley, K. E., & Park, C. L. (2015). How does yoga reduce stress? A systematic review of proposed mechanisms of change and guide to future inquiry. Health Psychology Review, 3, 379-396.

Riley, K. E. & Kalichman, S. C. (2014). Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction for people living with HIV/AIDS populations: Preliminary review of intervention trial methodologies and findings. Health Psychology Review.

Park, C.L., Groessl, E.J., Maiya, M., Sarkin, A., Eisen, S.V., Riley, K., & Elwy, A.R. (2014). Comparison groups in yoga research: a systematic review and critical evaluation of the literature. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 22, 920-929.

Riley, K. E. & Park, C. L. (2014). Problem-focused vs. meaning-focused coping as mediators of the appraisal-adjustment link. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 33, 587-611.

Park, C. L., Groessl, E., Maiya, M., Sarkin, A., Eisen, S., Riley, K. E., & Elwy, E. R. (2014). Comparison groups in yoga research: A systematic review and critical evaluation of the literature. Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

Park, C. L., Riley, K. E., Bedesin, E. Y., & Stewart, V. M. (2014). Why practice yoga? Practitioners’ motivations for adopting and maintaining yoga practice. Journal of Health Psychology, 21, 887-896.

Elwy, R. A., Groessl, E. J., Eisen, S. V., Riley, K. E., Maiya, M., Lee, J. P., Sarkin, A., & Park, C. L. (2014). A systematic scoping literature review of yoga intervention components and intervention quality. American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 47, 220-232.

Park, C. L., Riley, K. E., Bedesin, E. Y., & Stewart, V. M. (2013). What do yoga students want? Discrepancies between perceptions of real and ideal yoga teachers and their relations with emotional well-being. International Journal of Yoga Therapy, 23, 53-57.

Riley, K. E., Park, C., Marks, M., & Braun, T. (2012). Characteristics of yoga practice in an undergraduate student sample. BioMed Central (BMC) Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 12 346-347.

Park, C. L., Riley, K. E., Snyder, L. B. (2012). Meaning making coping, making sense, and posttraumatic growth following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Journal of Positive Psychology, 7, 198-207.

Riley, K. E. (2011). “Benefit Finding.” Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer Publishing.

Chief, Health Policy Council, Society for Health Psychology, Div 38, APA, 2019-

Chief Fellow, T32 Postdoctoral Training in Psycho-Oncology, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 2017-2018

Health Research Council, Society for Health Psychology, Div 38, APA, 2016-2018

Center for Health, Intervention, and Prevention (CHIP) Affiliate, Cancer Research Interest Group, University of Connecticut 2010-2016

APA Primary Care Training Task Force, 2014-2015

Connecticut Psychological Association Integrated Care Task Force, 2014

Graduate Student Advisory Committee, Clinical Psychology Representative, UConn, 2013-2015

President, Psi Chi National Honors Society, University of Delaware Chapter, 2008-2010

Peer Advisor & Curriculum Consultant, University of Delaware Psychology Department, 2007-2010

Fellowships, Awards:

Scholar, Summer Institute on Randomized Behavioral Clinical Trials, 2017

Doctoral Dissertation Award, University of Connecticut, 2015

Cum Laude, University of Connecticut, 2016

Cum Laude, University of Delaware, 2010

Warner & Taylor Award for Most Outstanding Senior in Psychology, University of Delaware, 2010