Dr. Morrow, Students Study Coping and Peer Provocation

By RetterJ | November 20, 2018

Dr. Michael Morrow, associate professor of Psychology, co-published research on coping and peer provocation in two academic journals.

“College Students’ Daily Coping, Mood, and Quality of Life: Benefits of Problem-Focused Engagement,” co-authored with Psychology alumna Leaha Shermeyer ’16 and Counseling grad student Nicholas Mediate ’19, was published in Stress and Health. The article— which emerged from Shermeyer’s thesis research on how college students cope with day-to-day stressors— focused on controlling stress, problem-focused engagement in college students, and whether certain forms of coping are linked to improved psychological functioning.

Dr. Morrow’s second study, “The Psychophysiology Supporting Assertive Responses to Peer Provocation,” was published in Merrill-Palmer Quarterly. Co-authored with several psychology experts, the study examines the physiological and behavioral responses of children who were provoked by a virtual peer. Their findings highlight the importance of physiology in understanding and helping children respond effectively to peer aggression.