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| Cynthia Berg , Ph.D. |
Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Univerisity of Utah |
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Contact
Information
Education
Recent Publications
Current Projects
Curriculum
Vitae (PDF)
Academic Writing Made Fun - NEW!
Personal Information/Philosophy
Current Grads and Post Docs
Former Graduate Students
Want to be a Research Assistant?
Type 1 Diabetes Lab |
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My research focuses on how different periods of the life-span (adolescence, young, middle- and late adulthood) are characterized by different contextual demands that affect how an individual can achieve a good fit between self and life context. I examine how individuals (in connection with others) deal with everyday demands through effective dyadic coping and collaborative problem solving. The context of a chronic illness (e.g., diabetes, prostate cancer, cardiovascular diabetes) places additional demands on individuals and close relationships (e.g., parents, spouses) that may alter their developmental pathways.
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| Contact Information |
Cynthia Berg, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
University of Utah
380 South 1530 East, Room 502
Salt Lake City, Utah 84112 -0251
Office: 622 Social And Behavioral Science Building
Office Phone: (801) 581-8239
E-mail: cynthia.berg@psych.utah.edu
Fax: (801) 581-5841 |
| Education |
- Yale University (Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology, 1987)
- Yale University (M. Phil. in Developmental Psychology, 1985)
- Yale University (M.S. in Developmental Psychology, 1984)
- University of Washington (B. S. in Psychology, 1981)
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| Recent Publications |
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- Berg, C., Butler, J. M., Osborn, P., King, G., Palmer, D. L., Butner, J., et. al.(in press).
The role of parental monitoring in understanding the benefits of parental acceptance on adolescent adherence and metabolic control of Type 1 Diabetes. Diabetes Care.
- Butler, J., Skinner, M., Gelfand, D., Berg, C. A., & Wiebe, D. J. (in press).
Maternal parenting style and adjustment in adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Journal of Pediatric Psychology.
- Berg, C. A., & Upchurch, R. (2007).A developmental-contextual model of couples coping with chronic illness across the adult life span. Psychological Bulletin, 133(6), 920-954.
- Berg, C. A., Wiebe, D. J., Beveridge, R. M., Palmer, D. L., Korbel, C. D., Upchurch, R., Swinyard, M. T., Lindsay, R., & Donaldson, D. L. (2007). Mother-child appraised involvement in coping with diabetes stressors and emotional adjustment.
Journal of Pediatric Psychology,32(8), 995-1005.
- Beveridge, R., & Berg, C. A. (2007).
Parent-adolescent collaboration: An interpersonal model for understanding optimal interactions. Clinical Child and
Family Psychology Review, 10, 25-52.
- Ko, K. J., Berg, C. A., Butner, J., Uchino, B. N., & Smith, T. W.(2007). Profiles of successful aging in middle-aged and older adult married couples. Psychology and Aging, 22(4), 705-718.
- Smith, T. W., Uchino, B. N., Berg, C. A., Florsheim, P., Pearce, G., Hawkins, M., & Hopkins, P. N. (2007). Hostile personality traits and
coronary artery calcification in middle-aged and older married couples: Different effects for self-reports versus spouse ratings. Psychosomatic Medicine, 69, 441-448.
- Story, T. N., Berg, C. A., Smith, T. W., Beveridge, R., Henry, N. J. M., & Pearce, G. (2007). Age, marital satisfaction, and optimism as predictors of positive sentiment override in middle-aged and older married couples. Psychology and Aging, 24,(4) 719-727.
- Beveridge, R. M., Berg, C. A., Wiebe, D. J., & Palmer, D. A. (2006). Mother and adolescent representations of illness ownership and stressful events surrounding diabetes. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 31, 818-827.
- Uchino, B., Berg, C. A., Smith, T. S., Pearce, G., & Skinner, M. (2006). Age-related differences in ambulatory blood pressure during daily stress: Evidence for greater blood pressure reactions in older individuals. Psychology and Aging, 21, 231-239.
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| Current Projects |
Mothers and Adolescents Coping with Type I Diabetes (with Dr. Deborah Wiebe)
The goal of the project is to understand how children and adolescents with Type 1 diabetes and their
mothers manage diabetes. Adolescence is a problematic time for managing diabetes as the child may be trying to assert her independence,
which may lead parents to be less involved in diabetes management. The study explores whether optimal parental involvement occurs as parents and children collaborate in dealing with stressful diabetes events, rather than when mothers are involved in a controlling manner or are uninvolved. A 4-year longitudinal study is currently underway.
Collaborative Problem Solving, Health and Hostility in Middle and Late Adulthood (in collaboration with Dr. Timothy Smith, Dr. Bert Uchino, and Dr. Paul Florsheim)
The study examines the effects of hostility on the quality of interaction, psychophysiological responses to marital conflict and
collaboration, and on health outcomes. Middle-aged and old married couples were involved in a multi-part study involving marital interaction
as couples discussed a source of marital conflict and solved a collaborative planning task. In addition, couples described stressful events and their spouse's involvement in coping efforts.
Couples Coping with Type II Diabetes
A wide variety of different conceptualizations of the idea of interpersonal or dyadic coping have been advanced with different
operationalizations associated with findings concerning the benefits or liabilities of dyadic coping on adjustment. An important contribution of the ongoing study is
to compare different measures and conceptualizations of dyadic coping to understand when dyadic coping is positive or negative for adjustment and mood. Couples where
one individual has been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes are being recruited to complete multiple measures of dyadic coping. In addition, couples are observed as they
discuss a problematic issue surrounding diabetes management
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Couples Coping with Prostate Cancer (in collaboration with Dr. Deborah Wiebe)
The long-term goal of the project is to understand the psychosocial adjustment of couples experiencing prostate cancer. The project uses
a developmental model of the social context of coping to understand whether the negative consequences that women experience in dealing with their husband's
prostate cancer are reduced when wives are actively involved as collaborators, rather than excluded from their husband's illness. The aim of the study is to
identify whether wive's and husband's appraisals of the everyday stressors of prostate cancer (e.g., viewing stressors as shared with their partner versus as
only mine) and the collaborative nature of their coping strategies are associated with wive's positive psychosocial adjustment (measures of well-being, lower rates of depression, more positive affect) and are predicted by aspects of the relationship of the couple (e.g., marital satisfaction and long-term relationship goals). The project involves a survey component in which measures of stress appraisal, well-being, overall self-concept, and psychological adjustment are measured at diagnosis and a daily diary component to examine ongoing relationships between stress appraisal and daily distress.
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Personal Information/ Philosophy
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I have two children, aged 16 and 13 and spend my time as debate judge, piano coach, and all around soccer mom. We are avid skiers, bikers, and hikers, taking as much advantage as time will allow of the Wasatch mountains. In addition, I love to ocean fish and spend time in the summer on the Oregon and Washington Coast hiking, fishing, and beachcombing.
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Mentoring Philosophy
My mentoring approach is guided by the contextual approach that I take in my research toward intelligence. Within this approach, how individuals adapt to their environments may look different across individuals as they possess different interests and basic abilities and across contexts that may afford different opportunities. As I guide students through their academic experience, I transmit to students the strong belief that there is not a single path toward an academic career in psychology. Rather, each student may have particular strengths and interests that need to be nurtured and developed.
I view mentoring as a process of development, consonant with Vygotsky's ideas of the sociocultural approach to cognitive development. Through a process of scaffolding and apprenticeship in thinking, students become acculturated into the scientific discipline of psychology. In my research group we create a community of learners (very much based on Ann Brown's ideas), so that the scaffolding and apprenticeship occurs among students as well. Collaboration is a key guiding principle to my approach to mentoring. Initially as students begin their apprenticeship, this collaboration takes the form of an expert guiding a novice in the field. As students become more senior, they are equal collaborators in our endeavors, making important theoretical, empirical, and methodological contributions. As Vygotsky describes that development proceeds from the social to the intermental, students have internalized my voice into their thinking and I as well have internalized their voice. This collaborative enterprise has been such a part of the way that students and I work, that I continue to collaborate with students after they have left in both formal and informal ways.
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| Current Grads and Post-Docs |
Post-Doctoral Fellows
Former Post-Doctoral Fellow
- Paul
Klaczynski, Ph.D
Program Director
Developmental and Learning Sciences
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22230
email: pklaczyn@nsf.giv
phone: 703-292-7307
fax: 703-292-9068
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| Former Graduate Students |
- Batya Elbaum, Ph.D., Associate Professor , Department of Teaching and Learning and Department of Psychology, University of Miami
- Tracy Masiello, Ph.D., Associate Research Director, Orelena Hawks Puckett Institute, Ashville, NC
- Sean Meegan, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Western Illinois University
- Barbara Ross, Ph.D., Rehabilitation Psychologist/Neuropsychologist, Wausau Hospital, Wausaus, WI
- JoNell Strough, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, West Virginia University
- Frances Deviney, Ph.D., Senior Research Associate, Kids Count Director Center for Public Policy Priorities, Austin TX
- Debra Palmer, Ph.D., Assistant Professsor, Department of Psychology, University
of Wisconsin - Stevens Point
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| Want to be a Research Assistant? |
We are looking for students who are excellent workers as well as independent and able to take
direction well. We are particularly interested in applicants who are majoring in psychology or a health-related field (at least in their sophmore year)
with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. We do require at least 3 hours of work per week, and prefer 6, so only those students who are able to commit to that time
should inquire. We will provide all the necessary training so no previous research experience is required, although any students who have had experience
should not be discouraged from applying. Interested students should have some degree of computer experience (i.e., familiar with the internet and Microsoft Word
and have access to email). Interested parties with special skills (e.g., bilingual with excellent communication skills in English and Spanish, data entry
experience) are particularly encouraged to apply.Click here to download application.
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