Suzanne Segerstrom

Suzanne C. Segerstrom is a professor of Psychology and biostatistician at the University of Kentucky. She is known for her clinical research on optimism and pessimism in relation to health, stress, and general well-being.[1][2][3]

Suzanne Segerstrom
OccupationProfessor of Psychology
AwardsTempleton Positive Psychology Prize (2002)
Academic background
Alma materLewis and Clark College; University of California, Los Angeles; University of Kentucky
Academic work
InstitutionsUniversity of Kentucky

Segerstrom was the 2002 first prize recipient of the Templeton Positive Psychology Prize[4] for her work "aimed at understanding the processes behind optimistic dispositions and beliefs and, in particular, how these processes relate to the functioning of the immune system".[5] She is Editor-in-chief of Psychosomatic Medicine.[6] She previously served as president of the American Psychosomatic Society.[7] Segerstrom is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science.[8]

Biography

Segerstrom was born in Boston, MA and grew up in Oregon.[9] She attended Lewis and Clark College[10] where she received a bachelor's degree in psychology and music in 1990. Segerstrom went on to complete M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in clinical psychology at UCLA (1997), and a clinical internship in psychology at Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Center (University of British Columbia). She subsequently earned a M.P.H. degree in biostatistics from the University of Kentucky (2017).[11]

As a graduate student at UCLA, Segerstrom worked under the supervision of Shelley E. Taylor, Margaret Kemeny, and Michelle Craske.[4] Her dissertation titled "Optimism is associated with mood, coping, and immune change in response to stress"[12] received the American Psychological Association Martin E. P. Seligman Award for Outstanding Dissertation Research on the Science of Optimism and Hope.[9]

Segerstrom's research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Aging.[13]

Research

Segerstrom's research examines individual differences in cognition, emotion, and personality factors (e.g., dispositional optimism) in relation to psychological well-being, health, and physiological functions (e.g., immune system).[4] This includes studies of the effects of disappointment[14] and emotional approach coping[15] on health. Her collaborative research with Sandra Sephton has explored how law students' expectations for their future affect their immune response,[16][17] and suggests that optimism yields health benefits, including protection against viral infections.[18] Such findings align with other work indicating that people who have positive attitudes have better health outcomes.[19]

Segerstrom is the author of Breaking Murphy's Law: How Optimists Get What They Want and Pessimists Can Too[20] and the editor of The Oxford Handbook of Psychoneuroimmunology.[21]

Selected works
  • Nes, L. S., & Segerstrom, S. C. (2006). Dispositional optimism and coping: A meta-analytic review. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10(3), 235–251.
  • Segerstrom, S. C. (2007). Optimism and resources: Effects on each other and on health over 10 years. Journal of Research in Personality, 41(4), 772–786.
  • Segerstrom, S. C., & Miller, G. E. (2004). Psychological stress and the human immune system: A meta-analytic study of 30 years of inquiry. Psychological Bulletin, 130(4), 601–630.
  • Segerstrom, S. C., & Nes, L. S. (2007). Heart rate variability reflects self-regulatory strength, effort, and fatigue. Psychological Science, 18(3), 275–281.
  • Segerstrom, S. C., Taylor, S. E., Kemeny, M. E., & Fahey, J. L. (1998). Optimism is associated with mood, coping, and immune change in response to stress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(6), 1646–1655.
  • Segerstrom, S. C., Tsao, J. C., Alden, L. E., & Craske, M. G. (2000). Worry and rumination: Repetitive thought as a concomitant and predictor of negative mood. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 24(6), 671–688.

References
  1. Reddy, Sumathi (2014-08-05). "A Perfect Dose of Pessimism". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  2. Becker, Dana (2013-03-29). "Five myths about stress". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  3. Song, Sora (2004-07-12). "The Price Of Pressure". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  4. Crawford, Nicole. "Positivity pays off for winners of psychology's top monetary prize". American Psychological Association.
  5. "Psychologists Receive Profession's Largest Monetary Prize for Research on the Effect Positive Traits Such as Optimism Have on Psychological and Physical Health". APA.
  6. "American Psychosomatic Society Appoints Suzanne Segerstrom, PhD, MPH as the next Editor-in-Chief of Psychosomatic Medicine". American Psychosomatic Society. 2021-12-02. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  7. "APS Newsletter". www.psychosomatic.org. 16 May 2017. Retrieved 2018-10-10.
  8. "Segerstrom Named APS Fellow for Outstanding Contribution to Psychology | University of Kentucky Research". www.research.uky.edu. Retrieved 2018-10-10.
  9. Solberg Nes, Lise (2017), "Segerstrom, Suzanne", in Zeigler-Hill, Virgil; Shackelford, Todd K. (eds.), Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 1–4, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_341-1, ISBN 978-3-319-28099-8, retrieved 2022-03-13
  10. Schwartz, Todd. "Positive Thinking". www.lclark.edu. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  11. "Suzanne Segerstrom | Psychology". psychology.as.uky.edu. Retrieved 2018-10-10.
  12. Segerstrom, Suzanne C.; Taylor, Shelley E.; Kemeny, Margaret E.; Fahey, John L. (1998). "Optimism is associated with mood, coping, and immune change in response to stress". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 74 (6): 1646–1655. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.74.6.1646. ISSN 1939-1315. PMID 9654763.
  13. "$3.3 Million Grant Goes to Segerstrom to Study Brain Health | Psychology". psychology.as.uky.edu. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  14. Segerstrom, Suzanne C. (2006). "How does optimism suppress immunity? Evaluation of three affective pathways". Health Psychology. 25 (5): 653–657. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.25.5.653. ISSN 1930-7810. PMC 1613541. PMID 17014284.
  15. Hoyt, Michael A.; Wang, Ashley Wei-Ting; Boggero, Ian A.; Eisenlohr-Moul, Tory A.; Stanton, Annette L.; Segerstrom, Suzanne C. (2020). "Emotional approach coping in older adults as predictor of physical and mental health". Psychology and Aging. 35 (4): 591–603. doi:10.1037/pag0000463. ISSN 1939-1498. PMC 8199838. PMID 32271069.
  16. Segerstrom, Suzanne C.; Sephton, Sandra E. (2010-02-24). "Optimistic Expectancies and Cell-Mediated Immunity". Psychological Science. 21 (3): 448–455. doi:10.1177/0956797610362061. PMC 3933956. PMID 20424083.
  17. Segerstrom, Suzanne C.; Sephton, Sandra E.; Westgate, Philip M. (2017-04-01). "Intraindividual variability in cortisol: Approaches, illustrations, and recommendations". Psychoneuroendocrinology. 78: 114–124. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.01.026. ISSN 0306-4530. PMC 5362320. PMID 28192775.
  18. Jacobs, Tom. "Optimism's Links to Immunity". Pacific Standard. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  19. Allen-West, Catherine. "Optimism Boosts the Immune System". Association for Psychological Science.
  20. C., Segerstrom, Suzanne (2006). Breaking Murphy's law : how optimists get what they want from life-- and pessimists can too. New York: Guilford Press. ISBN 9781593855925. OCLC 62525100.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. The Oxford handbook of psychoneuroimmunology. Segerstrom, Suzanne C. New York: Oxford University Press. 2012. ISBN 9780195394399. OCLC 775894214.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
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