Kathryn Graff Low

• Women’s health
• Sexual health, including sexual function and sexually transmitted infections
• College student health and mental health
• Cardiovascular disease, including psychological risk factors and metabolic syndrome
• Public Health
• Psychoneuroimmunology

Education

• B.A., Bowdoin College (1978)
• Ed.M., Harvard University (1981)
• Ph.D., Stanford University (1991)

Research Interests

Dr. Low has several current projects. One is a study is examining “flourishing” or mental health in college students, and is funded by the AACU/Bringing Theory to Practice. This research uses a dual continua model of well-being–one that assesses both mental illness and flourishing–to explore the adjustment of college students. A second project involves collaboration with a local cardiovascular practice and explores the intersection of psychological concepts and cardiovascular health. One recent project involves the use of motivational interviewing for weight loss in an obese cardiac sample. A second study will explore knowledge of lipids and cardiovascular risk factors in college students.

Courses Taught

• FYS 305 Corporal Culture: Body and Health in America
• Psychology 235 Abnormal Psychology
• Psychology 261 Research Methods
• Psychology 322 Child Psychopathology
• Psychology 333 Topics in Advanced Abnormal Psychology
• Psychology 303 Health Psychology
• Psychology/Women and Gender Studies 343 Women, Culture and Health
• Psychology 211 Personality
• S30 Contemporary Psychotherapies
• Public Health

Selected Publications

Coville, A., Miklowitz, D.J., Taylor, D.T., & Low, K.G. (2008). Correlates of high expressed emotion attitudes among parents of bipolar adolescents. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 64, 438-449.

Doherty, K. A., & Low, K.G. (2009). The effects of s web-based intervention on college students’ knowledge of HPV and attitudes toward vaccination. International Journal of Sexual Health, 20, 223-232.

Low, K.G., Charansomboon, S., Brown, C., Hiltunen, G., Long, K., Reinhalter, K. & Jones, H. (2003). Internalization of the thin ideal, weight and body image concerns. Social Behavior and Personality: an International Journal., 31, 81-90.

Low, K.G., Charansomboon, S., Lesser, J., Reinhalter, K., Martin, R., Jones, H., Winzelberg, A., Abascal, L., & Taylor, C.B.. (2006). Effectiveness of a computer-based eating disorders prevention program at long term follow up. Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention, 14, 17-30.

Low, K.G., Casey, G., Megroz, A., McGuffie, K., & Briand, L. (2001). Hostility, oral contraceptives, and cardiovascular reactivity in women. Psychology and Health, 16, 675-687.

Low, K.G. & Gendaszek, A. (2002). Stimulant abuse in college undergraduates. Psychology, Health and Medicine, 7, 283-287.

Low, K.G., Massa, L., & Lehman, D. (2005). Insulin pump use in young adolescents with type 1 diabetes: A descriptive study. Pediatric Diabetes, 6, 22-31.

Rosania, A., Low, K.G., Rosania, D. & McCormick, C. (2009). Stress, depression, cortisol and periodontal disease. Journal of Periodontology, 80, 260-266.