Tracey Revenson

Tracey Revenson

Professor
Research
Social Psychology, Health Psychology
Lab Website
CHiC (Coping and Health in Context) Lab

Dr. Revenson brings a social-ecological perspective to the study of how stress coping, and social support processes affect psychological adjustment to chronic physical illness, and how these processes are influenced by gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.

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Profile

Tracey A. Revenson, PhD is a Professor of Psychology at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.  She received a BA from Yale University in theatre and psychology, a PhD in psychology from New York University, and postdoctoral training in social ecology at the University of California, Irvine.


Trained as one of the first generation of health psychologists, Dr. Revenson brings a social-ecological perspective to the study of how stress and coping processes affect psychological adjustment to chronic physical illness, and how these processes are influenced by the social context. Her research on coping processes among individuals, couples, and families facing serious physical illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis and cancer as well as the influence of gender and race/ethnicity on psychosocial adaptation.

In addition to over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, Dr. Revenson is the co-author or co-editor of 13 volumes, including the Handbook of Health Psychology (2019), the Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health & Medicine (2019), Caregiving in the Illness Context (2015), Couples Coping with Stress (2015), and the forthcoming APA Handbook of Health Psychology, Volume III: Health Psychology & Public Health. A recent volume, Becoming a Health Psychologist (2020) was written as a guidebook for undergraduates interested in graduate school in health psychology and clinical psychology.

Dr. Revenson is the Editor-in-Chief of the Annals of Behavioral Medicine, after serving as the  joint Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine. She is a Past-President of the Society for Health Psychology of the American Psychological Association. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Society for Behavioral Medicine, the European Health Psychology Society, and the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research.  In 2013, she was awarded the Nathan Perry Award for Career Contributions to Health Psychology from the Society for Health Psychology, APA. She received the Award for Excellence in Mentoring from both the Society for Health Psychology and the Society for Behavioral Medicine.

She lives in the East Village in New York City and is very proud of her daughter, Molly, who is a preschool teacher.

Educational Background

  • Postdoc in social ecology, University of California, Irvine
  • PhD in psychology, New York University
  • BA in theatre and psychology, Yale University

Areas of Research

All of my research relates to a few simple questions: How do individuals and their families adapt to a major life stressor, specifically living with a serious illness, such as cancer? What risk and resilience factors help and hinder successful coping? And how can we translate the health-protective factors into brief, cost-effective interventions?


To answer these questions, the Coping and Health in Context (CHiC) lab http://traceyrevenson.wix.com/chiclab conducts research on stress and coping processes among individuals, couples, and families facings serious physical illness. We investigate these phenomena among children, adolescents, and adults, married couples, and families facing recently-diagnosed and long-term chronic illnesses, including cancer and rheumatoid arthritis; the influence of supportive and non-supportive social relationships on psychosocial adjustment, and dyadic coping - how couples face stress and illness together.

All my research adopts a social contextual perspective. That is, we conduct research primarily in naturalistic settings, and ask questions that have the potential to promote positive social and individual change. We use multiple methods, including in-person and internet-based interviews, written questionnaires, internet surveys, and focus groups. The audience for this work is broad, including psychologists, physicians and other health professionals.

Current Research Projects Include:

  • An NIH-funded radnomized controlled trial (RCT) to test a new decision tool adapted for Latinx adults who have been diagnosed with cancer that helps improve communication with oncologists (physicians) and family members, and ultimately to improve medical decisions about tumor genetic profiling (TGP) (MPIs: Sarah Bauerle Bass, PhD, Temple University and Michael Hall, MD, MPH, Fox Chase Cancer Center.
  • A multi-method study of the unique stressers younger adults in their 20s and 30s face when they are coping with blood cancers (lymphoma and leukemia).
  • A student survey of stress, coping and adjustment among the parents of young adults with cancer.
  • A study of illness intrusiveness and health outcomes among older adults with multimorbidity (multiple chronic diseases [PI: Irina Mindlis, PhD, former doctoral student]).
  • A qualitative (family interview) study of how family and cultural beliefs affect exercise adherence among 10 Bengali families in which one mmber has uncontrolled hypertension (PI: Sugandha Gupta, PhD, former doctoral student).

Selected Publications

Books

  • Revenson, T.A., & Abraído-Lanza, A. F. (Eds.) (forthcoming, 2024). APA Handbook of Health Psychology, Volume III: Health Psychology & Public Health. APA Books.
  • Revenson, T.A., Saab, P.G., Zoccola, P. M., & Traeger, L. (2020). Becoming a Health Psychologist. NewYork: Routledge/Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351201278
  • Revenson, T.A., & Gurung, R.A.R. (Eds.) (2019). Handbook of Health Psychology. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315167534
  • Ayers, S., Weinman, J., McManus,C., Newman, S.P., Llewellyn, C., Petrie, K., & T.A. Revenson (Eds). (2019). The Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health & Medicine, 3rd edition, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316783269
  • Revenson, T.A., Griva, K., Luszczynska, A., Morrison, V. Panagopoulu, E., Vilchinsky, N., & Hagedoorn, M. (2016). Caregiving in the Illness Context. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi:10.1057/9781137558985.0005

Book Chapters

  • Revenson, T.A., & Abraído-Lanza, A.F. (2024). A natural alliance: Exploring the interconnections between Health Psychology and Public Health. In T. A. Revenson, & A. F. Abraído-Lanza (Associate Editors.), APA Handbook of Health Psychology: Volume III: Health Psychology and Public Health. Washington DC: APA Books (pp. 3-11).
  • Saab, P., Zoccola, P. & Revenson, T.A. (2024). Reimagining the training of health psychologists for the 21st century. In T.W. Smith & N.B. Anderson (Eds.), APA Handbook of Health Psychology, volume I: Health Psychology: Foundations and Context. Washington DC: APA Books.
  • Revenson, T. A., Llave, K., & Hoyt, M. A. (2023). Chronic illness and mental health. In H. S. Friedman & C. Markey, (Eds.), Encyclopedia of mental health, 3rd edition. (pp. 392-402). Oxford, England: Elsevier/Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-91497-0.00018-7
  • Revenson, T.A., Gupta, S.K., & Zimmermann, C. (2021). Social support, caregiving and health. In R.A.R Gurung (Ed.), Routledge Encyclopedia of Psychology in the Real World. NY: Routledge.
  • Panjwani, A., & Revenson, T.A. (2021). Coping with chronic illness. In M. Robbins & K. Sweeny (Eds.), Wiley Encyclopedia of Health Psychology, volume 2 (pp. 61-70). John Wiley & Sons Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119057840.ch51
  • Revenson, T.A., & Gurung, R.A.R. (2019). Health psychology rising: The current status and future direction of health psychology. In T.A. Revenson & R.A.R. Gurung (Eds.), Handbook of Health Psychology (pp. 1-14). New York: Routledge.
  • Revenson, T.A., & Hagedoorn, M. (2019). Dyadic coping with illness. In S. Ayers, J. Weinman, C. McManus, S.P. Newman, C. Llewellyn, K. Petrie, & T.A. Revenson (Eds). The Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health & Medicine, 3rd edition (pp. 118-121). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ Press.
  • Kayser, K., & Revenson, T.A. (2016). Including the cultural context in dyadic coping: Directions for future research and practice. In M. K. Falconier, A. K . Randall, & G. Bodenmann (Eds.), Couples Coping with Stress: A Cross-Cultural Perspective (pp. 285-299). New York: Routledge.
  • Gamarel, K., & Revenson, T.A. (2015). Dyadic adaptation to chronic illness: The importance of considering context in understanding couples' resilience. In K. Skerett & K. Fergus (Eds.), Couple Resilience: Emerging Perspectives (pp. 83- 106). NY: Springer.

Journal Articles

  • Epel, E.S., White, K., Rodin, J., Hollis, A.L., Brownell, K.D., Diefenbach, M.A., Alegria, K.E., Fromer, E.,.Czajkowski, S.M., Bacon, S.L., Revenson, T.A., Ruiz, J., & Maibach, E. (in press). Transforming Behavioral Medicine to Address the Climate Crisis: A Call for Strategic Research and Advocacy. A Behavioral Medicine Research Council Scientific SCo-published in Health Psychology, Annals of Behavioral Medicine, and Psychosomatic Medicine.
  • Mindlis, I., Revenson, T.A., Erblich, J., & Fern.ndez Sedano, B. (2023). Multimorbidity and depressive symptoms in older adults: A contextual approach. The Gerontologist. 63 (8), 1365-1375. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnac186
  • Panjwani, A.A., Applebaum, A.J., Revenson, T.A., Erblich, J, Rosenfeld , B. (2023). Intolerance of uncertainty, experiential avoidance, and trust in physician: A moderated mediation analysis of emotional distress in advanced cancer. Journal of Behavioral Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-023-00419-5
  • Mindlis, I., Kop, M., Teng, M., & Revenson, T.A. (2023). "Your cancer is no longer cancer": Psychological reactions to reclassification information and communication preferences. PEC Innovation, 2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pecinn.2023.100165
  • Panjwani, A. A., Erblich, J., Revenson, T. A., Badr, H., Federman, A. D., Wisnivesky, J. P. (2023). The indirect influence on "invisible" support on pulmonary function among adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Psychology, Health and Medicine, 28 (4), 831-842. https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2022.2061720
  • Marín-Chollom, A.M., & Revenson, T.A. (2022) Cultural values as a resilience resource for Latino/adolescents and young adults coping with parental cancer, Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 40 (1), 26- 44. https://doi.org/10.1080/07347332.2021.1881197
  • Davidson, K., Bacon, S., Bennett, G., Brondolo, E., Czajkowski, S. Diefenbach, M., Epel, E. Matthews, K.,Revenson, T.A., Ruiz, J., Segerstrom, S. (2021). Accomplishing breakthroughs in behavioral medicine research. Nature Human Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01134-4
  • Panjwani, A.A., Millar, B.M. & Revenson, T.A. (2021). Tolerating uncertainty in the dark: Insomnia symptoms, distress, and well-being among parents of adolescents and young adults with cancer. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 28, 14-20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-020-09869-6.
  • Ruiz, J. M., & Revenson, T. A. (2020). Behavioral Medicine in the COVID-19 Era: Dawn of the Golden Age. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 54(8), 541-543. https://doi.org/10.1093/abm/kaaa057
  • Mindlis, I., Livert, D., Federman, A. D., Wisnivesky, J. P., & Revenson, T. A. (2020). Racial/ethnic concordance between patients and researchers as a predictor of study attrition. Social Science & Medicine, 225, 113009. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113009
  • Gupta, S.K., Mazza, M.C., Hoyt, M.A. & Revenson, T.A. (2020). The experience of financial stress among emerging adult cancer survivors. Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 38 (4), 435-448. https://doi.org/10.1080/07347332.2019.1707928
  • Hoyt, M.A., Frost, D.M., Cohn, E., Millar, B.M., Diefenbach, M.A, & Revenson, T.A. (2020). Gay men's experiences with prostate cancer: Implications for future research. Journal of Health Psychology, 25(3), 298-310. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105317711491 PMID: 28810471.
  • Mikrut, E.E., Panjwani, A.A., Cipollina, R., & Revenson, T.A. (2019). Social constraints and distress among parents of adolescents and young adults with cancer: The roles of cognitive processing and fear of recurrence. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 43(2), 237-245. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-019-00072-x PMID: 31267408.
  • Panjwani, A.A., Marín-Chollom, A.M., Pervil, I.Z., Erblich, J., Rubin, L., Schuster, M.W., & Revenson, T.A. (2019). Illness uncertainties faced by young adult hematological cancer survivors. Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology, 8 (2), 149-156. https://doi.org/10.1089/jayao.2018.0024 PMID: 30489197.

Contact Details

Tracey Revenson

Psychology
68th Street East 1201
(212) 396-6769
tr227@hunter.cuny.edu