Roxane Cohen Silver

At some point, most people encounter stressful events that can have a major impact on the course and direction of their lives. They or those they love may be confronted with a disabling accident, serious illness, death, or violent crime. In my work, I attempt to investigate systematically the acute and long-term reactions to these personal traumas, as well as the impact of larger community disasters such as terrorist attacks, earthquakes or firestorms, school shootings, and war. I seek to identify individual, social and societal factors that facilitate successful adjustment to stressful life events and to identify myths concerning the coping process. I also explore the long-term physical, cognitive, emotional, and social effects of traumatic experiences and consider the impact of beliefs and expectations of one's social network on the adjustment process. Finally, my research examines predictors of individual and community resilience, as well as collective responses to disaster. 

I was principal investigator of a multi-year longitudinal study of the national impact of the September 11th terrorist attacks on mental and physical health, and recent interdisciplinary research examined the political impact of the psychological response to the threat of terrorism and responses to turbulence in our society (e.g., the economic meltdown). I currently oversee two research projects, in collaboration with current and former students and national and international colleagues: a study on resilience and vulnerability following repeated natural disasters in Java, Indonesia (in collaboration with Psychology Beyond Borders, an international nonprofit organization for which I serve on the Board of Directors), and a study of a nationally representative sample of over 2000 adults following the massive 8.8 earthquake and subsequent tsunami in February, 2010 in Chile (with colleagues at the Universidad Andrés Bello in Santiago). I recently oversaw a multidisciplinary project to develop a quantitative index of the psychosocial impacts of natural and human-caused disasters (including health, social functioning, and political attitudes) through the use of vital statistics, archival and administrative information, and other secondary sources of data (in collaboration with Fran Norris from Dartmouth Medical School).

Audio of Roxane Cohen Silver on 9/11: Together We Feel (Public Radio International's living on earth; Air Date: September 9, 2011)

Video of Roxane Cohen Silver on Coping with Traumatic Life Experiences

Web Links

• Summer Research Program in Social Ecology (joint UCI/HBCU internship program)
• Psychology Beyond Borders

Selected Publications (click on links below to see or download publications)

• Silver, R. C., Holman, E. A., Andersen, J. P., Poulin, M., McIntosh, D. N., & Gil-Rivas, V. (in press). Mental and physical health effects of acute exposure to media images of the 9/11 attacks and the Iraq War. Psychological Science.
• Scott, S. B., Poulin, M. J., & Silver, R. C. (2013). A lifespan perspective on terrorism: Age differences in trajectories of response to 9/11. Developmental Psychology. 49, 986-998. doi: 10.1037/a0028916
• Gelkopf, M., Berger, R., Bleich, A., & Silver, R. C. (2012). Protective factors and predictors of vulnerability to chronic stress: A comparative study of 4 communities after 7 years of continuous rocket fire. Social Science & Medicine, 74, 757-766.
• Silver, R. C. (Guest Editor) (2011). An introduction to 9/11: Ten years later. American Psychologist, 66, 427-428.
• Silver, R. C., & Fischhoff, B. (2011). What should we expect after the next attack? American Psychologist, 66, 567-572.
• Eisenberg, N., & Silver, R. C. (2011). Growing up in the shadow of terrorism: Youth in America after 9/11. American Psychologist, 66, 468-481.
• Holman, E. A., & Silver, R. C. (2011). Health status and health care utilization following collective trauma: A 3-year national study of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States. Social Science and Medicine, 73, 483-490.
• Andersen, J., Prause, J., & Silver, R. C. (2011). A step-by-step guide to using secondary data for psychological research. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 5(1), 56-75.
• McIntosh, D. N., Poulin, M. J., Silver, R. C., & Holman, E. A. (2011). The distinct roles of spirituality and religiosity in physical and mental health after collective trauma:  A national longitudinal study of responses to the 9/11 attacks. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 34, 497-507.
• Seery, M. D., Holman, E. A., & Silver, R. C. (2010). Whatever does not kill us: Cumulative lifetime adversity, vulnerability, and resilience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99, 1025-1041.
• Seery, M. D., Leo, R. J., Holman, E. A., & Silver, R. C. (2010). Lifetime exposure to adversity predicts functional impairment and healthcare utilization among individuals with chronic back pain. Pain, 150, 507-515.
• Shambaugh, G., Matthew, R., Silver, R. C., McDonald, B., Poulin, M., & Blum, S. (2010). Public perceptions of traumatic events and policy preferences during the George W. Bush administration: A portrait of America in turbulent times. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 33, 55-91.
• Poulin, M. J., Silver, R. C., Gil-Rivas, V., Holman, A. E., & McIntosh, D. N. (2009).  Finding social benefits after a collective trauma:  Perceiving societal changes and well-being following 9/11. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 22, 81-90.  
• Wicke, T., & Silver, R. C. (2009). A community responds to collective trauma:  An ecological analysis of the James Byrd murder in Jasper, Texas. American Journal of Community Psychology, 44, 233-248.
• Blum, S., & Silver, R. C. (2008). Coping. In W. A. Darity, Jr. (Ed.), International encyclopedia of the social sciences, 2nd Edition (Vol. 2, pp. 128-130).  Detroit: Macmillan Reference.
• Holman, E. A., Silver, R. C., Poulin, M., Andersen, J., Gil-Rivas, V., & McIntosh, D. N. (2008).  Terrorism, acute stress, and cardiovascular health: A 3-year national study following the September 11th attacks.  Archives of General Psychiatry, 65, 73-80.
• Poulin, M., & Silver, R. C. (2008). World benevolence beliefs and well-being across the lifespan.  Psychology and Aging, 23, 13-23.
• Seery, M. D., Silver, R. C., Holman, E. A., Ence, W. A., & Chu, T. Q. (2008). Expressing thoughts and feelings following a collective trauma: Immediate responses to 9/11 predict negative outcomes in a national sample. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 76, 657-667.
• Silver, R. C., & Matthew, R. (2008). Terrorism. In V. N. Parrillo (Ed.), Encyclopedia of social problems (Vol. 2, pp. 926-929). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Suvak, M., Maguen, S., Litz, B. T., Silver, R. C., & Holman, E. A. (2008).  Indirect exposure to the September 11 terrorist attacks:  Does symptom structure resemble PTSD?  Journal of Traumatic Stress, 21, 30-39.
• Updegraff, J. A., Silver, R. C., & Holman, E. A. (2008).  Searching for and finding meaning in collective trauma: Results from a national longitudinal study of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 709-722.
• Gil-Rivas, V., Silver, R. C., Holman, E. A., McIntosh, D. N., & Poulin, M. (2007). Parental response and adolescent adjustment to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 20, 1063-1068.
• Silver, R. C., & Wortman, C. B. (2007). The stage theory of grief. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 297, 2692.
• Westmaas, J. L., Gil-Rivas, V., & Silver, R. C. (2007). Designing and implementing interventions to promote health and prevent illness. In H. S. Friedman & R. C. Silver (Eds.), Foundations of health psychology (pp. 52-70). New York: Oxford University Press.
• Chu, T.Q., Seery, M. D., Ence, W. A., Holman, E. A., & Silver, R. C. (2006). Ethnicity and gender in the face of a terrorist attack: A national longitudinal study of immediate responses and outcomes two years after September 11. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 28, 291-301.
• Pizarro, J., Silver, R. C., & Prause, J. (2006). Physical and mental health costs of traumatic war experiences among Civil War veterans. Archives of General Psychiatry, 63, 193-200.
• Schlenger, W. E., & Silver, R. C. (2006). Web-based methods in terrorism and disaster research. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 19, 185-193.
• Silver, R. C. (2006). Attacking the myths. Science & Spirit, 17 (5), 26-29.
• Silver, R. C., Holman, E. A., McIntosh, D. N., Poulin, M., Gil-Rivas, V., & Pizarro, J. (2006). Coping with a national trauma: A nationwide longitudinal study of responses to the terrorist attacks of September 11. In Y. Neria, R. Gross, R. Marshall, & E. Susser (Eds.), 9/11: Mental health in the wake of terrorist attacks (pp. 45-70). NY: Cambridge University Press.
• Westmaas, J. L., & Silver, R. C. (2006). The role of perceived similarity in supportive responses to victims of negative life events. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 1537-1546.
• Holman, E. A., & Silver R. C. (2005). Future-oriented thinking and adjustment in a nationwide longitudinal study following the September 11th terrorist attacks. Motivation and Emotion, 29, 389-410.
• Gil-Rivas, V., Holman, E. A., & Silver, R. C. (2004). Adolescent vulnerability following the September 11th terrorist attacks: A study of parents and their children. Applied Developmental Science, 8, 130-142.
• Hawkins, N. A., McIntosh, D. N., Silver, R. C., & Holman, E. A. (2004). Early responses to school violence: A qualitative analysis of students’ and parents’ immediate reactions to the shootings at Columbine High School. Journal of Emotional Abuse, 4, 197-223.
• Silver, R. C. (2004). Conducting research after the 9/11 terrorist attacks: Challenges and results. Families, Systems & Health, 22, 47-51.
• Silver, R. C. (2004). The myths of healing. Families, Systems & Health, 22, 61-63.
• Silver, R. C., Poulin, M., Holman, E. A., McIntosh, D. N., Gil-Rivas, V., & Pizarro, J. (2004). Exploring the myths of coping with a national trauma:  A longitudinal study of responses to the September 11th terrorist attacks.  Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 9, 129-141.
• Silver, R. C., Holman, E. A., McIntosh, D. N., Poulin, M., & Gil-Rivas, V. (2002). Nationwide longitudinal study of psychological responses to September 11. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 288, 1235-1244.
• Allen, L. A., Gara, M. A., Escobar, J. I., Waitzkin, H., Silver, R. C. (2001). Somatization: A debilitating syndrome in primary care. Psychosomatics, 42, 63-67.
• Elderkin-Thompson, V., Silver, R. C., & Waitzkin, H. (2001). When nurses double as interpreters: A study of Spanish-speaking patients in a U.S. primary care setting. Social Science and Medicine, 52, 1343-1358.
• Westmaas, J. L., & Silver, R. C. (2001). The role of attachment in responses to victims of life crises. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 425-438.
• Wortman, C. B., & Silver, R. C. (2001). The myths of coping with loss revisited. In M. S. Stroebe, R. O. Hansson, W. Stroebe, & H. Schut (Eds.), Handbook of bereavement research: Consequences, coping and care (pp. 405-429). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
• Davis, C. G., Wortman, C. B., Lehman, D. R., & Silver, R. C. (2000).  Searching for meaning in loss:  Are clinical assumptions correct?  Death Studies, 24, 497-540.
• Holman, E. A., Silver, R. C., & Waitzkin, H. (2000). Traumatic life events in primary care patients: A study in an ethnically-diverse sample. Archives of Family Medicine, 9, 802-810.
• Rivadeneyra, R., Elderkin-Thompson, V., Silver, R. C., & Waitzkin, H. (2000). Patient centeredness in medical encounters requiring an interpreter. The American Journal of Medicine, 108, 470-474.
• Elderkin-Thompson, V., Silver, R. C., & Waitzkin, H. (1998). Narratives of somatizing and nonsomatizing patients in a primary care setting. Journal of Health Psychology, 3, 407-428.
• Holman, E. A., & Silver, R. C. (1998). Getting "stuck" in the past: Temporal orientation and coping with trauma. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1146-1163.
• Davis, C. G., Lehman, D. R., Silver, R. C., Wortman, C. B., & Ellard, J. H. (1996). Self-blame following a traumatic event: The role of perceived avoidability. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 557-567.
• Holman, E. A., & Silver, R. C. (1996). Is it the abuse or the aftermath? A stress and coping approach to understanding long-term responses to incest. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 15, 318-339.
• Lepore, S. J., Silver, R. C., Wortman, C. B., & Wayment, H. A. (1996). Social constraints, intrusive thoughts, and depressive symptoms among bereaved mothers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 271-282.
• Davis, C. G., Lehman, D. R., Wortman, C. B., Silver, R. C., & Thompson, S. C. (1995). The undoing of traumatic life events. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21, 109-124.
• Wayment, H. A., Silver, R. C., & Kemeny, M. (1995). Spared at random: Survivor reactions in the gay community. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 25, 187-209.
• McIntosh, D. N., Silver, R. C., & Wortman, C. B. (1993). Religion's role in adjustment to a negative life event: Coping with the loss of a child. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 812-821.
• Herbert, T. B., Silver, R. C., & Ellard, J. H. (1991). Coping with an abusive relationship: I. How and why do women stay? Journal of Marriage and the Family, 53, 311-325.
• Downey, G., Silver, R. C., & Wortman, C. B. (1990). Reconsidering the attribution-adjustment relation following a major negative event: Coping with the loss of a child. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 925-940.
• Gray, J. D., & Silver, R. C. (1990). Opposite sides of the same coin: Former spouses' divergent perspectives in coping with their divorce. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 1180-1191.
• Klar, Y., Mendola, R., Fisher, J. D., Silver, R. C., Chinsky, J. M., & Goff, B. (1990). Characteristics of participants in a large group awareness training. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 58, 99-108.
• Silver, R. C., Wortman, C. B., & Crofton, C. (1990). The role of coping in support provision: The self-presentational dilemma of victims of life crises. In B. R. Sarason, I. G. Sarason, & G. R. Pierce (Eds.), Social support: An interactional view (pp. 397-426). New York: Wiley.
• Fisher, J. D., Silver, R. C., Chinsky, J. M., Goff, B., Klar, Y., & Zagieboylo, C. (1989). Psychological effects of participation in a large group awareness training. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 57, 747-755.
• Tait, R., & Silver, R. C. (1989). Coming to terms with major negative life events. In J. S. Uleman & J. A. Bargh (Eds.), Unintended thought (pp. 351-382). New York: Guilford.
• Wortman, C. B., & Silver, R. C. (1989). The myths of coping with loss. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 57, 349-357.
• Silver, R. L., Boon, C., & Stones, M. (1983). Searching for meaning in misfortune: Making sense of incest. Journal of Social Issues, 39 (2), 81-102.
• Silver, R. L., Wortman, C. B., & Klos, D. S. (1982). Cognitions, affect and behavior following uncontrollable outcomes: A response to current human helplessness research. Journal of Personality, 50, 480-514.
• Silver, R. L., & Wortman, C. B. (1980). Coping with undesirable life events. In J. Garber & M. E. P. Seligman (Eds.), Human helplessness: Theory and applications (pp. 279-340). New York: Academic Press.