Improving Health Among Minorities
High-Impact Research
Arryn Guy is helping to improve the health of gender, sexual, racial, and ethnic minorities through the real-world research experience she is gaining as a graduate student in clinical psychology.
Arryn Guy (Ph.D. Clinical Psychology Student)Clinical psychology Ph.D. student Arryn Guy has found outlets for making an impact as a research assistant in the Du Bois Health Behavior Lab.
“I conduct research on the cognitive and emotional factors that influence the self-regulation of health behaviors, including timely medical care and following a treatment regimen as prescribed,” Guy says. “I am particularly interested in how to improve intervention and assessment procedures for sexual, gender, and racial/ethnic minority identified individuals. We have many projects focused on HIV, health in romantic relationships, sexual behavior, and sexuality and gender.”
In 2018 Guy received a $21,000 research grant from the 鶹APP Health Disparities Center to study treatment engagement among African Americans living with HIV and serious mental illness. The project spanned 2018, with dissemination of the team’s research findings extending into 2019.
“My experience in the clinical psychology Ph.D. program has been an excellent balance of training in clinical work and research design and methodology,” Guy says. “Above all, I have cultivated an enduring skill and attitude of critical thinking.”
After graduate school, Guy says her goal is twofold: she hopes to work in a psychological treatment setting while also continuing to conduct the research she is most passionate about.