Dr. Kristen Riley

Kristen E. Riley, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology 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 Psycho-Oncology and cancer prevention at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). 

Research: Dr. Riley studies Health Equity. She leads the Behavioral Medicine Lab at GSAPP. Current projects develop mindfulness-based stigma-reduction and smoking cessation interventions for diverse and underserved lung cancer patients, treat insomnia in Black pregnant women to reduce maternal mortality and mordidity, and integrate psychology and behavioral medicine into primary care, cancer, and medical settings for underserved groups, in English and Spanish.

Clinical Work: Clinically, Dr. Riley is the Director of the Health Psychology Clinic at GSAPP where she supervises doctoral students providing low-cost sliding-scale fee treatment to our NJ community. The Health Psychology Clinic works closely with colleagues at Morris Cancer Center, Robert Wood Johnson's Collaborative Sleep Clinic, and RWJBarnabas to provide services for cancer patients, people with insomnia and behavioral sleep disorders, and people in the perinatal period in English and Spanish. She supervises UBHC Integrated Care psychology internship residents in the Morris Cancer Center and the Chandler Clinic in New Brunswick NJ in English and Spanish.

Service: Dr. Riley proudly serves in many roles at Rutgers and in national and international organizations. At Rutgers, she serves on the Interprofessional Education Faculty Advisory Council and the Center for Tobacco Studies at the Institute for Nicotine and Tobacco Studies, and is an associate member of the Cancer Institute of New Jersey in Cancer Prevention and Control. She serves on the Diversity Council in the Society for Health Psychology of the American Psychological Association. She is a consultant faculty at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

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