The EPIC Lab: Emergency Preparedness and Individual Coping

Nicolas DeArcangelis is a third year undergraduate at George Washington University, double majoring in Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience. His passion for psychology began in his Abnormal Psychology course his senior year of high school while also enrolled at Frederick Community College. He studied the prevalence of psychological disorders as well as the importance of treatment; from there his interest in psychology bloomed. During his junior year at GWU, he enthusiastically enrolled in a psychology class titled “Research Methods.” In this class Nicolas designed and conducted a qualitative research study on the impact of physical exercise on the mental health of college students. Under Dr. Cynthia Rohrbecks supervision, Nicolas is particularly interested in the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and emergency preparedness behaviors across different socio-cultural backgrounds. He hopes to gain first-hand experience on how people with varying socio-cultural backgrounds are affected by COVID-19. Nicolas plans to go to graduate school and earn his Doctorate in Psychology to become a clinical psychologist. In his free time, he loves spending time with family, friends, animals, and watching TV and movies.

Talisman, N., & Rohrbeck, C. A. (In press). Anxiety and fear: Testing distinctions with theoretically-informed vignettes. Personality and Individual Differences.

Murphy, B., Rohrbeck, C. A., & Wirtz, P. W. (2021, Nov. 4). Self-efficacy as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Perceived Threat and COVID-19 Anxiety Symptoms: Differences for Racial Groups. [Poster presentation] Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood Conference, San Diego, CA, United States. https://virtual.10cea.org/

Talisman, N. W., White, D. A., & Rohrbeck, C. A. (2021, Nov. 5) College Stressor Index: Development and Preliminary Validation of a Measure of Stressful Life Events in Undergraduates. [Paper presentation]. Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood Conference, San Diego, CA, United States. https://virtual.10cea.org/

Sadly, New Orleans turned into online, but we pushed on:

Murphy, B., Rohrbeck, C. A., Reed, A., Talisman, N. W., Vasaya, N., Wirtz, P. W., & Eivers, C. (2021, Nov. 19). Optimism as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Perceived Threat and COVID-19 Anxiety Symptoms. [Poster presentation]. Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA, United States. https://www.eventscribe.net/2021/ABCT/searchGlobal.asp?mode=Posters&SearchQuery=Rohrbeck

Reed, A.E., Rohrbeck, C. A., Talisman, N. W., Vasaya, N., Murphy, B., Eivers, C., & Wirtz, P. W. (2021, Nov.20). Disability and Disasters: The Role of Self-Efficacy in Emergency Preparedness Behaviors Five Years Later. [Poster presentation]. Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA, United States. https://www.eventscribe.net/2021/ABCT/searchGlobal.asp?mode=Posters&SearchQuery=Rohrbeck

Reed, A., Rohrbeck, C. A., Talisman, N., Vasaya, N., Murphy, B., Eivers, C. & Wirtz, P.W.(2021, Nov. 19). The Moderating Role of Perceived Social Support on the Relationship Between COVID-19 Perceived Threat and Anxiety. [Poster presentation]. Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA, United States. https://www.eventscribe.net/2021/ABCT/searchGlobal.asp?mode=Posters&SearchQuery=Rohrbeck

Talisman, N., Rohrbeck, C., & Vasaya, N. (2021, Nov. 20). Isolating Fear from Anxiety: An Emotion Vignette Study. [Poster presentation]. Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA, United States.

Please congratulate Nick Talisman who successfully defended his dissertation, Anxiety and Fear: Distinctions and Similarities, earlier on August 3rd. Nick’s committee members were Drs. Jody Ganiban, Sharon Lambert and Cindy Rohrbeck (director). Nick’s two examiners were Drs. Phil Wirtz and Mark McKellop (from Juniata College). The Orals defense was chaired by Dr. Maria Cecilia Zea. Many thanks to everyone involved. The lab held a practice defense with Nick last week which was very helpful.

Welcome to our new first year graduate student, Reem Alrabiah! You can read about her on her page. We’re lucky to have such a great team going into this academic year.

Congratulations to Catherine for her fine dissertation defense yesterday (7/29/2020)! Titled “Theory of Planned Behavior and Bystander Intentions to Prevent Sexual Assault: The Role of Gender” Committee members included Sharon Lambert and Phil Wirtz, examiners were Sylvia Merotta-Walters and Christina Gee, and myeongHo Sohn was the chair.

Welcome to Blakely, a new (first year graduate student) member of our lab. Please see her page for information about Blakely and her research. Please also congratulate her on her recent journal article: https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/jsbhs/vol14/iss1/10/

Why people are not abiding by social-distancing rules https://au.news.yahoo.com/coroanvirus-people-not-abiding-social-distancing-rules-110822872.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=ma

Vox
“I’ll do what I want”: Why the people ignoring social distancing orders just won’t listen
As a few cling to old mottos of patriotism and perseverance in the face of the coronavirus crisis, one expert warns it could be a “formula for disaster.”
By Eleanor Cummins Mar 24, 2020, 4:00pm EDT

https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2020/3/24/21191184/coronavirus-social-distancing-pandemic-spring-break-keep-calm-carry-on
(also in The Miami Herald and The News and Observer, Raleigh, NC)

Q & A: Talking to Kids about COVID-19
CCAS Professor of Psychology Cynthia Rohrbeck shared some tips on the best approaches to discussing the global pandemic with children.
By Briahnna Brown March 30, 2020

https://gwtoday.gwu.edu/q-talking-kids-about-covid-19

Congratulations to Nick who will be doing his internship at American University’s Counseling Center. Catherine is already there, and Nick has completed an externship there, so we know it’s a great choice.

Her paper is based on work she completed as an undergraduate. Though not from our lab, it is certainly relevant to our work. The title: Companion animals & online discourse: victim-blaming and animal evacuation. Its in press in the journal Anthrozoos.

Nick just received our department’s first annual Graduate Student Teaching Award. He had an impressive number of classes, high ratings by students, recommendations and a history of mentoring undergraduates and involvement in scholarship research. Congratulations Nick!

Nick and I talked for a few years about a lab bowling outing. It finally happened!

Students presenting at GWU Research Day

Catherine and Meghan, Jared with President (of GWU) LeBlanc, and Meghan, Jared and me.