About
Kerth O'Brien conducts research on social psychological aspects of healthcare situations, such as perceived discrimination as a social stressor in healthcare. She takes a social determinants of health perspective and uses multiple methods (e.g., survey questionnaires, focus groups, in-depth interviews) to address applied research questions.
Dr. O'Brien has collaborated with Somnath Saha (PI; Oregon Health & Science University) on a project addressing the perspectives of African Americans, Latinas/Latinos and European Americans on patient-provider relationships. She has also collaborated with Jeanne-Marie Guise (PI) and other colleagues at Oregon Health & Science University to investigate the relationship of ethnic density to provider viewpoints on care. A new project continues to investigate experiences of discrimination in healthcare.
Dr. O'Brien teaches courses and workshops in social psychology, health psychology, ethics, social roles and identities, focus group methods and survey research methods. Technically she is not a member of one "area" of our department at this time -- "social psych is pivotal to all areas," she says, and she teaches one of the courses required of all grad students. She hopes to bring 1-2 new doctoral students aboard in Fall, 2022. If you're a possible graduate applicant who'd like to learn more about her research, please take a look at some of her publications cited below. It's probably ideal for you first to see some articles and then to email.
"In the United States and elsewhere, social psychologists draw from our long history of research on social problems," says Dr. O'Brien, adding, "Social psychology links psychology conceptually to other disciplines. We're ideally located to collaborate with colleagues across a range of disciplinary backgrounds and subdisciplinary areas." This includes but is not limited to community psychology, developmental psychology, industrial/organizational psychology, sociology, and health sciences and public health.
Classes taught, various years:
- Psychology 514/614: Advanced Applied Social Psychology
- Psychology 518/618: Ethics and Professional Issues in Applied Research and Practice
- Psychology 554/654: Social Psychology and Mental Health
- Psychology 589/689: Adult Socialization--Adult Roles and Identities
- Psychology 497/597: Applied Survey Research Methods
- Psychology 471/571: Health Psychology
- Psychology 410: Introduction to Focus Groups for Psychological Research
- Psychology 310: Psychology of Women
- Psychology 342/Sociology 342: Social Psychology - Self, Attitudes, Social Influence
- Psychology 343/Sociology 343: Social Psychology - Social Relationships and Groups
Selected Publications
Cuevas, A. G., O’Brien, K., & Saha, S. (2019). Can patient-centered communication reduce the effects of medical mistrust on patients’ decision making? Health Psychology, 38(4), 325-333. doi: 10.1037/hea0000721
Cuevas, A. G., & O’Brien, K. (2017). Racial centrality may be linked to mistrust in healthcare institutions for African Americans. Journal of Health Psychology, 24(14), 2022-2030. doi: 10.1177/1359105317715092
Cuevas, A. G., O’Brien, K., & Saha, S. (2017). What is the key to culturally competent care: Reducing bias or cultural tailoring? Psychology & Health, 32(4), 493-507. doi: 10.1080/08870446.2017.1284221
Guise, J.-M., Hansen, M., Lambert, W., & O’Brien, K. (2017, May 4). The role of simulation in mixed-methods research: a framework & application to patient safety. BMC Health Services Research. doi: 10.1186/s12913-017-2255-7
Cuevas, A.G., O’Brien, K., & Saha, S. (2016). African American experiences in healthcare: "I always feel like I'm getting skipped over." Health Psychology, 35(9), 987-995. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000368
Hansen, M., O'Brien, K., Meckler, G., Cauce, A.M., & Guise, J-M. (2016). Understanding the value of mixed methods research: The Children’s Safety Initiative-Emergency Medical Services (CSI-EMS). Emergency Medicine Journal, 33, 489-494. doi:10.1136/emermed-2015-205277
Cottrell, E.K., O'Brien, K., Curry, M., Meckler, G.D., Engle, P.P., Jui, J., Summers, C., Lambert, W., & Guise, J-M. (2014). Understanding safety in prehospital Emergency Medical Services for children. Prehospital Emergency Care, 18(3), 350-358.
Weir, B.W., O'Brien, K., Bard, R.S., Casciato, C.J., Maher, J.E., Dent, C.W., Dougherty, J.A., & Stark, M.J. (2009). Reducing HIV and partner violence risk among women with criminal justice system involvement: A randomized controlled trial of two Motivational Interviewing-based interventions. AIDS & Behavior, 13(3), 509-522.
Selected Presentations
O’Brien, K., and Cuevas, A.G. (2016, June). African Americans appraise discrimination-related stressors in social context. Presented at the 2017 Conference of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI), Albuquerque, New Mexico.
O’Brien, K., and Cuevas, A.G. (2016, June). Resolving Ambiguities in the Perception of Discrimination: Exploring the Social Context of Appraisal. Paper presented at the Fifteenth International Conference on Social Stress Research, San Diego, California.
Kerth's ORCID page is at http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1566-7364 .