Elizabeth Raposa

• 2009 B.A. in Psychology and Comparative Literature, University of Pennsylvania
• 2010 M.A. in Clinical Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles
• 2015 Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles

My research focuses on the negative impact of early life stress on youth socio-emotional development, as well as protective factors that can mitigate the risk associated with early stress.

In one line of work, I examine the biological and interpersonal mechanisms that explain the mental health consequences of early stress exposure in marginalized communities of youth. Although some of this research examines the impact of a particular stressor, like maternal depression or poverty, most of my projects examine cumulative early life stress, given the frequent co-occurrence of stressors for at-risk youth.

In another line of work, I explore the ways in which supportive relationships can offset the risk associated with early adversities. I explore how close relationships with parents, mentors, and peers, or even fleeting positive interactions with strangers, can mitigate the negative effects of stress on youth. These projects are designed to illuminate the ways that prevention and intervention efforts can harness social behavior and close relationships in order to promote positive psychosocial development. Much of my recent work in this area has explored whether and how youth mentoring programs improve psychosocial and academic outcomes for youth growing up in risky environments, and how adjustments to mentoring programs could help to serve these youth more effectively. My ultimate goal is to leverage this body of research to reduce health disparities in traditionally underserved populations of youth.

• PSYC 2900 Abnormal Psychology
• PSYC 3930 Introduction to Clinical Psychology

• Association for Psychological Science
• Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies
• Society for Community Research and Action

Raposa, E. B. & Hurd, N. M. (in press). Understanding networks of natural
mentoring support among underrepresented college students. Applied Developmental
Science.

Raposa, E. B., Rhodes, J. E., Stams, G. J. J. M., Card, N., Burton, S., Schwartz, S., Yoviene
Sykes, L., Kanchewa, S., Kupersmidt, J., & Hussain, S. (2019). The effects of youth mentoring programs: A meta-analysis of outcome studies. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 48(3), 423-443.

Raposa, E. B. & Hammen, C. (2018). A daily diary investigation of the influence of
early family adversity on social functioning during the transition to adulthood. Social Development, 27(2), 431-446.

Raposa, E. B., Erickson, L. D., Hagler, M., & Rhodes, J. E. (2018). How economic
disadvantage affects the availability and nature of mentoring relationships during the transition to adulthood. American Journal of Community Psychology, 61(1-2), 191-203.

Raposa, E. B., Laws, H. B., & Ansell, E. B. (2015). Prosocial behavior mitigates the
negative effects of stress in everyday life. Clinical Psychological Science, 4(4), 691-698.