Expert Profile
Roxane Cohen Silver

Distinguished Professor of Psychological Science
Roxane Cohen Silver studies stress, traumatic events, coping, disasters, health psychology and social psychology.
Areas of Expertise
- Health Psychology
- Stress
- Traumatic Events
- Coping
- Social Psychology
Biography
Roxane Cohen Silver, Ph.D., is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychological Science, the Department of Medicine, and the Program in Public Health, and Associate Director of the ADVANCE Program for Faculty and Graduate Student Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the Office of Inclusive Excellence at the University of California, Irvine, where she has been actively involved in research, teaching, and administration since 1989. An international expert in the field of stress and coping, Silver has spent almost four decades studying acute and long-term psychological and physical reactions to stressful life experiences, including personal traumas such as loss, physical disability, and childhood sexual victimization, as well as larger collective events such as terror attacks, war, and natural disasters across the world (e.g., U.S., Indonesia, Chile, Israel). Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Mental Health, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Public Health Service. She has guided governments in the U.S. and abroad in the aftermath of terrorist attacks and earthquakes and served on numerous senior advisory committees and task forces for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, providing advice to the Department and its component agencies on the psychological impact of disasters and terrorism. She has also testified at the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Science and given several briefings to policymakers at the White House and on Capitol Hill on the role of social science research in disaster preparedness and response and the impact of the media following disasters. Silver is the President of the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences (FABBS) and was the 2016 President of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology. She was also a founding Director and Chair of the Board of Directors of Psychology Beyond Borders, an international nonprofit organization that facilitated research, intervention, and policy development in the prevention, preparedness, and response to terror attacks, conflict, or natural disasters across the world.
Media




Media Appearances
There’s a reason you can’t stop doomscrolling through L.A.’s fire disaster
Los Angeles Times, 1/10/2025
The latest news? Not right now, thanks.
The Washington Post, 11/24/2024
Graphic imagery online can lead to psychological harm, UC Irvine experts say
Los Angeles Times, 7/19/2024
The Trump Assassination Attempt Caused Psychological Distress and Fueled Polarization
Scientific American, 7/18/2024
Psychologists in the news
American Psychological Association, 7/1/2024
A man plunged to his death in front of me. I can’t get it out of my mind.
The Washington Post, 4/27/2024
The impact of bad news, compassion fatigue, and the psychology of whistleblowing
BCC - All in the Mind, 12/13/2023
Graphic images from catastrophic events have the potential to affect our mental and physical health
KNX News, 11/29/2023
Why we can't stop watching gruesome, graphic war videos on the internet
Insider, 10/19/2023
Fifty Years Later, the Orphans of Flight 723 Return to the Scene
The New York Times, 9/7/2023
Event Appearances
Psychological Science and COVID-19, Interview with Roxane Cohen Silver
Association for Psychological Science, 4/3/2020
Social isolation, mental health, and COVID-19: A media briefing
SciLine, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 3/30/2020
Using the psychological science of crisis leadership and communications to navigate the Coronavirus: A webinar for public officials
American Psychological Association, 3/20/2020
Articles
The Novel Coronavirus (COVID-2019) Outbreak: Amplification of Public Health Consequences by Media Exposure
Health Psychology
Associations between exposure to childhood bullying and abuse and adulthood outcomes in a representative national U.S. sample
Child Abuse & Neglect
Exposure to prior negative life events and responses to the Boston marathon bombings.
Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy
What Might Have Been: Near Miss Experiences and Adjustment to a Terrorist Attack
Social Psychological and Personality Science
When are assumptions shaken? A prospective, longitudinal investigation of negative life events and worldviews in a national sample
Journal of Research in Personality
Education
Northwestern University
PhD, Social Psychology, 1982
Northwestern University
BA, Psychology, 1976
Accomplishments
- Robert S. Laufer Ph.D. Memorial Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement
- Application of Personality and Social Psychology Senior Career Contribution Award
- Social Responsibility Award
- Daniel Stokols Award for Interdisciplinary Research
- Frank Ochberg Award for Media and Trauma Study
Affiliations
- American Psychological Association
- Association for Psychological Science
- International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies
- Society of Experimental Social Psychology
- Society for Health Psychology
- Society for Personality and Social Psychology
- Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues