|
Cynthia Berg, Ph.D.
Professor & Department Chair - Developmental Area
Department of Psychology | The University of Utah Curriculum Vita  Type 1 Diabetes Lab
Academic Writing Made Fun
|
 |
 |
|
 |
|
Contact Information
Cynthia Berg
Department of Psychology
University of Utah
380 South 1530 East, Room 502
Salt Lake City, Utah 84112 -0251
Webpage: www.psych.utah.edu/cynthiaberg
Office: 622 Social & Behavior Sciences Tower
Phone: (801) 581-8239
Email: cynthia.berg@psych.utah.edu
Department Fax: (801) 581-5841
Research Interests
My research examines how individuals across the life span collaborate together to solve everyday problems and deal with daily stressors. For example, we examine how parents may facilitate or derail problem solving in collaboration with their adolescents as they deal with problems surrounding the adolescent’s type 1 diabetes. In addition, we examine how collaborative problem solving may provide a context for understanding physiological processes in married couples in normal interaction and in interaction as they deal with treatment decisions regarding chronic illness (e.g., making treatment decisions regarding prostate cancer). Our research shows that in addition to having cognitive benefits, collaboration can serve to enhance relationship satisfaction, reduce psychosocial distress, and in the case of dealing with health-related problems, enhance adherence to a medical regimen.
Opportunities For Students
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
Education
| Ph.D. | Yale University (Developmental Psychology, 1987) |
| M.Ph. | Yale University (Developmental Psychology, 1985) |
| M.S. | Yale University (Developmental Psychology, 1984) |
| B.S. | University of Washington (Psychology, 1981) |
Recent Publications
Butner, J. M., Berg, C. A., Osborn, P., Butler, J. M., Godri, C., Fortenberry, K. T., Barach, I., & Wiebe, D. J. (2009).
Parent-adolescent discrepancies in adolescents' competence and the balance of adolescent autonomy and adolescent and parent well-being in the context of Type 1 Diabetes. Developmental Psychology, 45(3),835-849.
Fortenberry, K. T., Butler, J. M., Butner, J., Berg, C. A., Upchurch, R., & Wiebe, D. J. (2009). Perceived diabetes task competence mediates the relationship of both negative and positive affect with blood glucose in adolescents with type 1 Diabetes. Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
Palmer, K. L., Berg, C. A., Butler, J., Fortenberry, K., Murray, M., Lindsay, R., Donaldson, D., Swinyard, M., Foster, C., & Wiebe, D. J. (2009). Mothers', fathers', and children's perceptions of parental diabetes responsibility in adolescence: Examining the roles of age, pubertal status, and efficacy. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 34, 195-204.
Berg, C. A. (2008). Everyday problem solving in context. In S. Hofer & D. Alwin (Eds.), Handbook of Cognitive Aging: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (pp. 207-223). Sage.
Berg, C. A., Butler, J. M., Osborn, P., King, G., Palmer, D. L., Butner, J., et. al.(2008).
The role of parental monitoring in understanding the benefits of parental acceptance on adolescent adherence and metabolic control of Type 1 Diabetes. Diabetes Care, 31, 678-683.
Berg, C. A., Schindler, I., & Marajh, S. (2008). Adolescents' and Mothers' Perceptions of the Cognitive and Relational Functions of Collaboration and Adjustment in Dealing with Type 1 Diabetes. Journal of Family Psychology, 22,865-874.
Berg, C. A., Wiebe, D.J., Bloor, L., Butner, J., Bradstreet, C., Upchurch, R., Hayes, J., Stephenson, R., Nail, L., Patton, G.(2008). Collaborative coping and daily mood in couples dealing with prostate cancer. Psychology and Aging, 23,505-516.
Olsen, B., Berg, C. A., & Wiebe, D. J. (2008). Mother-child similarity in illness representations and adjustment to type 1 diabetes. Psychology and Health, 23, 113-129.
Smith, T. W., Uchino, B. N., Berg, C. A., Florsheim. P., Pearce, G., Hawkins, M., Henry, N., Beveridge, R., Skinner, M., Hopkins, P. N., & Yoon, H. (2008). Associations of self-reports versus spouse ratings of negative affectivity, dominance, and affiliation with coronary artery disease: Where should we look and who should we ask when studying personality and health? Health Psychology, 27,676-684.
Wiebe, D., Berg, C. A., Fortenberry, K., Sirstins, J., Lindsay, R., Donaldson, D., & Murray, M. (2008). Physician recommendations about maternal involvement in adolescent diabetes management. Diabetes Care, 31,690-692.
Current Projects
Families Coping with Adolescents' 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 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.
Personal Information / Philosophy
I have two children, aged 19 and 16 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.
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.
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
Former Graduate Students
Batya Elbaum, Ph.D., Associate
Professor and Associate Chair, Department of Teaching and Learning, Department of Psychology, University of Miami
Tracy Masiello, Ph.D., CO Director, Orelena Hawks Puckett
Institute, Ashville, NC
Sean Meegan, Ph.D., Senior Researcher at Intermountain Healthcare
Barbara Ross, Ph.D., Rehabilitation Psychologist/Neuropsychologist,
Wausau Hospital, Wausau, WI
JoNell Strough, Ph.D., 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., Associate Professsor, Department of Psychology, University
of Wisconsin - Stevens Point
Ryan Beveridge, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Delaware
Kelly Ko, Ph.D., Life Sciences Research Consultant, Cerner Corporation, Beverly Hills, CA
Research Areas
Developmental, Diversity, Clinical-Developmental, Interpersonal Process, Health
My Graduate Students
Jorie Butler
Malinda Freitag
Amy Hughes
Julia Mackaronis
Peter Osborn
Phung Pham
Jordan Rullo
