Home ยป Faculty

Roxane Cohen Silver

Professor of Psychology & Social Behavior and Medicine
Ph.D. Northwestern University
Phone: 
(949) 824-2192
Email: 
rsilver@uci.edu
Office: 
MPAA 405
Specializations: 
coping with traumatic life events (personal losses and collective traumas), stress, social psychology, health psychology
Department: 
Psychology and Social Behavior
Curriculum Vitae: 
application/pdf icon
Silver_CV_9-09.pdf

 

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 psychological and physical reactions to these personal traumas, as well as the impact of larger community disasters such as war, firestorms, the Columbine High School shootings, and the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. I seek to identify factors that facilitate successful adjustment to stressful life events and to identify myths concerning the coping process. I also explore the long-term effects of traumatic experiences, and consider how beliefs and expectations of one's social network impact on the adjustment process.

I was principal investigator of a 3-year national longitudinal study of responses to the September 11th attacks, and my current interdisciplinary research examines the political impact of the ongoing psychological response to the threat of terrorism and responses to turbulence in our society (e.g., the economic meltdown, a flu pandemic).

Selected Publications

  • Poulin, M. J., Silver, R. C., Gil-Rivas, V., Holman, A. E., & McIntosh, D. (2009).  Finding social benefits after a collective trauma:  Perceiving societal changes and well-being following 9/11. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 22, 81-90.  
  • 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.  
  • 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. 
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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., 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.
  • 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.
  • 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: Journal of the American Medical Association, 288, 1235-1244.
  • 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.
  • 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, 802-811.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Wortman, C. B., & Silver, R. C. (1989). The myths of coping with loss. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 57, 349-357.
  • 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.
  • 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. (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.