Research Interests
Stress and Resiliency- I study stress and resiliency in children. That means I want to know what enables children who have experienced stressful life events (parental divorce, moving, etc.) to be okay after the event. In particular, I’m interested in spirituality, family environment, and social support in protecting kids from the negative effects of stressful events. I’m open to looking at other factors that protect children, interventions to help children better cope with life events, and looking at children’s reactions to specific life events.
Current Projects:
Resilience - Data collection is currently underway on a survey of stressful life events, family environment, social support, spirituality and child behavioral and emotional functioning. For questions about research opportunities, please email me at sarah.sifers@mnsu.edu.
Family Typologies- I am preparing for publication a manuscript based on my dissertation, Family Typologies and Child Behavior: A Cluster Analysis.
Sifers Children's Spirituality Scale- The results of a study piloting the Sifers Children's Spirituality Scale, which I wrote have been submitted for publication. For questions about the Sifers Children's Spirituality Scale, please email me at sarah.sifers@mnsu.edu.
Ethics- I’m interested in ethics in psychology. In particular, I am currently working on a study of cultural competence in licensed psychologists. That is, I am looking at whether psychologists are effective at working with people from different backgrounds and what about their training or experience makes them effective.
Cultural Competence- I am currently preparing for publication a national survey of cultural competence, training, and experience with diverse populations in licensed psychologists. A follow up survey will be conducted online fall of 2005. If you are a licensed psychologist and would like to participate, please contact me at ethicrsch@mnsu.edu.