Marilyn Stern

Professor of psychology and pediatrics,
Co-Director of Counseling Psychology Program

Contact information

Phone: (804) 827-0400
E-mail: mstern@vcu.edu

Education

Ph.D. (1984), University at Buffalo
Postdoctoral Fellow, Health Psychology (1983-85), Roswell Park Cancer Institute

Program affiliation

Counseling Psychology

Research interests

My primary professional focus has been in child health psychology. I have specifically examined issues related to the impact of stereotyping processes on caregiver-infant interactions, patient-physician interactions and adolescents with cancer. Most recently, I have played an integral role in the establishment of a multidisciplinary clinical research program through the VCU Department of Pediatrics targeting obese adolescents and their families. I was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to Israel in l994 to conduct research related to my work in the area of prematurity stereotyping and another Fulbright scholarship in 2006 for research on adolescent cancer survivors through the University of Haifa, Israel. I am an APA Fellow (Divisions 17/Counseling Psychology and 54/Pediatric Psychology) and am the 2005 recipient of the Dorothy Booz Black Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Counseling Health Psychology from Division 17.

Selected publications

Porter, J., Stern, M., & Zak-Place, J. (in press). Prematurity stereotyping and perceived vulnerability at 5-months:  Relations with mothers and their premature and full-term infants at 9-months. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology.

Bitsko, M., Stern, M., Dillon, R., & Russell, C., Laver, J. (2008). Happiness and time perspective as potential mediators of quality of life and depression in adolescent cancer. Pediatric Blood and Cancer, 50(3), 613-619.

Stern, M., Mazzeo, S. E., Gerke, C., Porter, J., Bean, M., & Laver, J. (2007). Gender, ethnicity, psychosocial factors and quality of life among severely overweight, treatment seeking adolescents. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 32, 90-94.

Stern, M., Karraker, K., McIntosh, B., Moritzen, S., & Olexa, M. (2006). Relations between mothers' prematurity stereotyping and interactions with their infants during the first year. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 31, 597-607.

Clay, D. L. & Stern, M. (2005). Pediatric psychology in primary care. In L. E. James & R. A. Folen (Eds.). Primary care clinical health psychology: A model for the next frontier (pp. 155-172). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Recent/current courses taught at VCU

• Health Psychology, graduate level
• Research in Counseling Psychology, graduate level
• Counseling Practicum, graduate level