Applying Psychological Science, Benefiting Society
By Efua Andoh (Public Interest Communications Staff) This is our 150th post and given that it is the end of the year, we would like to reflect on our blogging journey so far. When Public Interest began this venture in March 2013, we were total novices to blogging. We’ve come a long way since then […]
By Maggie Chartier, PsyD and Monica Rivera Mindt, PhD (Members, APA Committee on Psychology and AIDS) By 2015, an estimated one out of every two people living with HIV in the United States will be over 50. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC, 2012) estimated that the number of people living with HIV […]
By Sabrina Cox, MA, LMSW Zahara Green is a 25-year-old transgender woman who was placed in an all-male prison in May 2012. According to Green, she was targeted by another inmate, Darryl Ricard, immediately upon entering general population at Rogers State Prison in Georgia. Ricard was serving a life sentence for aggravated child molestation, rape, […]
By Michele Knox, PhD and Kimberly Burkhart, PhD Did you know that nationwide, nearly 1 in 3 U.S. students say they have been bullied at school? Does it make you wonder what we’re doing wrong? What are we missing? Maybe we’re missing parents. Research has shown that youth violence prevention and intervention are most effective […]
By Deborah DiGilio, MPH (Director, APA Office on Aging) Everyone has had the experience of losing their keys, misplacing their wallets, or forgetting someone’s name. For people nearing or over age 65, such common memory lapses can be frightening. They wonder if they have Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or another type of dementia. Developing Alzheimer’s disease […]
By Akhenaten B.S. Tankwanchi, PhD Although the word Ebola percolated into the American public consciousness over two decades ago owing to an Ebola outbreak in a Washington, DC suburb, it was not until Liberian citizen Thomas Eric Duncan, died from the disease, on October 8, 2014 in Dallas, Texas, that concerns about the spread of […]
This post continues our new blog series on poverty. As our nation reflects on its progress in fighting poverty over the last 50 years, this blog series will highlight how psychology can contribute further to this discussion. By Dawn X. Henderson, PhD (Assistant Professor, Winston-Salem State University) From Washington, DC and across the nation, numerous politicians, policymakers, […]
By Roberta Downing, PhD (Senior Legislative and Federal Affairs Officer, APA Public Interest Directorate – Government Relations Office) We are at risk of losing crucial data about some of the poorest, most vulnerable families in America. A new interpretation of a budget rule ended research funding for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program and […]
By Melba J. T. Vasquez, PhD, ABPP (2011 Past-President of the American Psychological Association) “You must speak up, you must speak out, you must get in the way.” These were the impassioned words spoken by Congressman John Lewis (D-GA) after receiving a Presidential Citation from APA President Nadine Kaslow, PhD, urging psychologists to become involved in […]
By Jack Tsai, PhD (Assistant Professor, Yale School of Medicine) & Lisa M. Brown, PhD (Associate Professor, University of South Florida) “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” —John F. Kennedy Don’t Forget Our Older Homeless Veterans On Veterans Day we […]
Psychology Benefits Society 