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Maureen Perry-Jenkins Receives 2022 Alexis J. Walker Award for Lifetime Achievement in Feminist Family Studies From the National Council On Family Relations

Maureen Perry-Jenkins and Abbie Goldberg, professor of psychology at Clark University and PBS alumna
(L-R) Maureen Perry-Jenkins and Abbie Goldberg, professor of psychology at Clark University and PBS alumna

Maureen Perry-Jenkins has received the 2022 Alexis J. Walker Award for Lifetime Achievement in Feminist Family Studies from the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR). Perry-Jenkins is a professor and current chair of the department of psychological and brain sciences.

This award recognizes her decades of contributions to feminist family scholarship, leadership, and service to NCFR. The award review committee noted her ongoing scholarship on working class families as essential to the field. Perry-Jenkins was conferred the award at the 2022 NCFR conference where she gave an address entitled "Work Matters: Lessons from Alexis Walker".

Research Findings Show Older Adults Live Longer in Counties With More Age Bias

a number of older adults pose in group photo

Findings surprise social psychologists

Older adults living in counties with greater age bias had better health outcomes than those living in areas with less age bias, according to University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers, who were surprised at the findings.

“Quite the opposite of what we expected emerged,” says Allecia Reid, associate professor of social psychology and senior author of the paper published in the journal Social Science & Medicine. “Rather than dying earlier in counties with more negative attitudes toward older adults, we found in fact that older adults were living longer in counties with more negative attitudes towards older adults.”

Berni Leidner (1983-2022)

Berni LeidnerBernhard (Berni) Leidner passed away on November 19th 2022. He was one of us: A social psychologist who spent half of his 39 years of life conducting research on intergroup relations. Berni graduated from the Free University of Berlin in 2006 and in the same year he joined Emanuele Castano’s lab at the New School for Social Research, where in 2010 received his Ph.D. He spent his entire academic career at UMass Amherst where, earlier this year, he was promoted to Full Professor.

Doctors may be more concerned about accidentally harming a patient than being sued for malpractice

doctor and nurse look at chart

Linda Isbell was featured in a MedPage Today article citing her recent co-authored paper "Perspectives of emergency clinicians about medical errors resulting in patient harm or malpractice litigation". She discusses results from a survey of Massachusetts clinicians as well as possible interventions to address practitioners who fear harming a patient.

Can a woman’s health during pregnancy reveal a risk for cardiovascular disease and depression later in life?

child uses stethoscope on woman's pregnant belly

UMass Amherst epidemiologist Lisa Chasan-Taber, along with neuroscientist collaborators Rebecca Spencer and Jerrold Meyer, will continue research that aims to understand how physical and mental health during pregnancy can help predict cardiovascular and mental health disorders in middle age.

2022 Faculty and Staff Social

On Oct. 6th, PBS held a social event for faculty and staff celebrating some of our great accomplishments over the past two years. Department members were honored for years of service milestones, newly awarded tenure, promotions, and awards of excellence received from UMass Amherst and beyond. This was an wonderful opportunity to get together, catch up, and congratulate each other on all we have achieved during a challenging few years. Here's to another awesome year in PBS!

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