Shawn O. Utsey

Associate professor
Editor in chief, Journal of Black Psychology

Contact information

Phone: (804) 828-1144
E-mail: soutsey@vcu.edu

Education

Ph.D. (1997), Fordham University

Program affiliation

Counseling Psychology

Research interests

My research interests are primarily in two areas, both of which are related to the psychology of the African-American experience. First is my interest in understanding how race-related stress impacts the physical, psychological and social well-being of African-Americans. More recently, however, I have sought to examine how trauma is manifested in the victims of racial violence. Other areas of interest include examining the influence of African-American culture (e.g., collective social orientation, spiritual centeredness, verve, etc.) on indicators of health and well-being. I have published numerous journal articles, book chapters and papers, and presented at professional conferences. I recently was recognized at the 2004 conference of the American Psychological Association, Division 45 and APAGS, for my work in the area of ethnic minority psychology and for my dedication and commitment as a mentor to students of African descent.

Selected publications

Utsey, S.O., & Constantine, M.G. (in press) Racism-Related Stress as a Mediator and/or Moderator of the Relation between Poverty-Related Risk Factors and Subjective well-Being in a Community Sample of African Americans.  Stress, Trauma, & Crisis: An  International Journal.

Utsey, S.O., Bolden, M.A., Williams, O., III., Lee, A., & Lanier, Y. (in press). Spiritual well-being as a mediator of the relation between culture-specific coping and quality of life in a community sample of African Americans. Journal of Cross Cultural Psychology.

Utsey, S.O., & Constantine, M. G. (in press). A confirmatory test of the underlying factor structure ofscores on the Collective Self-Esteem Scale in two independent samples of Black Americans. Journal of Personality Assessment.

Utsey, S.O., Lee, A., Bolden, M.A., & Lanier, Y. (in press). A confirmatory test of the factor validity scores on the Spiritual Well-Being Scale in a community sample of African Americans. Journal of Psychology and Theology.

Utsey, S.O., Williams III, O., Lanier, Y., Bolden, M. A., Lee, A., & Newsome, C. (in press). Moderator Effects of Cognitive ability and social support on the relation between racism-related stress and quality of life in a community sample of African Americans. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology.

Recent/current courses taught at VCU

• Research in Counseling Psychology, graduate level
• Personality and Behavior of African Americans